- 1. Boosting New Media AccessibilityDr Scott HOLLIER
Presentation for Web Directions South 2009
2. Who is Media Access Australia?
- Not-for-profit organisation addressing access issues in:
- Access issues include captioning, audio description,
computer-related and Internet-related access issues
3. Who am I?
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- Project Manager New Media, Media Access Australia
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- Advisory Committee member of the W3C
- Academic: PhD thesis examined ways to make computers and the
Internet more accessible to people with disabilities
- Personal: Legally blind, first-hand knowledge of access
issues
4. Introduction
- Why should you care for the IT needs of people with
disabilities?
- Brief history of access: benefits and barriers
- User perspective: how do people with disabilities use computers
and the Internet?
- Developer perspective: W3C, WCAG 2.0 and ATAG 2.0 (draft)
- Online video: perception and the reality
- How MAA can support your development projects
5. What is new media?
- New Media used to be about the emergence of digital
technologies: now its about convergence
- MAA looks at new media in terms of usability and
accessibility
- Usability is generally associated with intuitiveness and ease
of use.
- Accessibility focuses on application and design issues
specifically for people with disabilities.Usability is an important
part of accessibility
6. Cases for accessibility
- Moral/Social case: care for others in society, good thing to
do
- Educational case: accessible online resources leads to improved
educational opportunities, then to a reductions in unemployment and
poverty
- Corporate case: inaccessibility may prevent customers from
purchasing goods and services
- Legal case: danger of being sued if accessibility not
considered (SOCOG, Target USA, HSBC)
7. Brief history of access
- For the mainstream population, Internet was viewed primarily as
an information and communication resource
- For people with disabilities, Internet was viewed as a gateway
to independence
8. Where we are
- Today, both mainstream and people with disabilities view the
Internet as an essential service due to:
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- Choice of media type: text, audio and video on demand
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- Real-time information delivery: Internet TV and radio
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- Real-time AV communication: Skype
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- Collaboration: Cloud computing and social networking
9. Access issues
- Although these products sound great, people with disabilities
are 18% less likely to have any form of Internet access in the
home.Issues include:
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- Broadband access remains poor
-
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- 30% of people with core disabilities
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- Website accessibility issues (social networking)
10. Access issues
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- Limited captioning and audio description availability
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- Cloud computing:some good hardware options (netbooks) but still
access issues with phones/PDAs/online applications and OS.
11. Why your work is important
- Initial premise of PhD study: people with disabilities are not
using the Internet as much as the able-bodied population because
they try to access computers and the Internet, but give up after
running into barriers.
12. Why your work is important
- People surveyed were aware of importance of IT and highly
knowledgeable
- Although there were barriers, they dont give up and continue to
fight for access
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- Communication and engagement between developers and the end
user is the key
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- Improvements to policy and legislative frameworks
13. User experience
- Today, people with disabilities generally use assistive
technologies to help use a computer
- Assistive Technology is the practical implementation of
technology to support and help people
- OS contains many tools, but additional products often required
for full featured access
- AT software costs about $1200-$2000
14. Windows XP/Vista features
- Change the icon and text size
- Adjust cursor width and blink rate
- Mouse pointer size and movement
- Mouse Lock and Toggle Keys
- Change the colour scheme to high contrast
15. Additional Windows products
- Screen reader (JAWS, Window Eyes)
- Screen magnifier (ZoomText, MAGic)
16. Mac features
- Improvements over Windows XP/Vista:
- Improved screen reader VoiceOver
- VoiceOver doesnt work with the Office suite (only works with
Cocoa apps)
- Hit-and-miss with Safari, although improved with Snow
Leopard
17. Whats changing?
- Mainstream options reducing the need for expensive assistive
technology products
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- Predictive text in on-screen keyboard
- Free screen readers: WebAnywhere, NVDA
- Netbooks becoming 3G and touch-capable
- Reliance on collaboration and the cloud
- iPhone 3GS with VoiceOver now an option
18. Web development
- World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) formed by Tim Berners-Leein
1992
- Initially inaccessible as AT products couldnt read out
graphics
- Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 published in 1999,
became definitive standard for web accessibility
- 65 checkpoints across three Priority levels
19. WCAG 2.0
- Original WCAG very HTML-specific, became rapidly outdated
- In 2001, WCAG 2.0 working group formed
- Shift in focus from developer code compliance to user task
achievement
20. WCAG 2.0 controversy
- Development process went for seven long years:
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- To Hell With WCAG 2: a frustrated Joe Clark felt that 165 pages
for the easy to understand manual was too obscure, vague, and a
backwards step
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- To Hell With Joe Clark by Martin Kliehm felt that WCAG 2.0
simplified the issues, provided achievable goals and better
supported new web technologies
21. WCAG 2.0
- Released in December 2008
- Although WCAG 1.0 still used in Australia, 2.0 quickly adopted
in US, EU
- Based around four POUR design principles:
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- Operable (finding what you want)
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- Robust: (other technologies)
22. WCAG 2.0
- Provide text alternatives for non-text content.
- Provide captions and alternatives for audio and video
content.
- Make content adaptable; and make it available to assistive
technologies.
- Use sufficient contrast to make things easy to see and
hear.
23. WCAG 2.0
- Make all functionality keyboard accessible.
- Give users enough time to read and use content.
- Do not use content that causes seizures.
- Help users navigate and find content.
24. WCAG 2.0
- Make text readable and understandable.
- Make content appear and operate in predictable ways.
- Help users avoid and correct mistakes.
- Maximize compatibility with current and future
technologies.
25. Application development
- W3C also provides the Authoring Tool Accessibility
Guidelines
- ATAG 2.0 supports WCAG 2.0, but still in draft
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- PART A: Make the authoring tool user interface accessible
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- PART B: Support the production of accessible content
26. ATAG 2.0 (draft)
- PART A: Make the authoring tool user interface accessible
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- Authoring tool user interfaces must follow applicable
accessibility guidelines
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- Editing views must be perceivable
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- Editing views must be operable
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- Editing views must be understandable
27. ATAG 2.0 (draft)
- PART B: Support the production of accessible content
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- Production of accessible content must be enabled
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- Authors must be supported in the production of accessible
content
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- Accessibility solutions must be promoted and integrated
28. Online video
- Most online video lacks accessibility features
- Many arguments as to why its not possible
- Perception and reality are different
29. Online video
- The technology cant support closed captions or audio
description.
30. Online video
- Flash, Windows Media, Real, QuickTime and open standards all
support closed captions.Internet Captioning
Forum:http://ncam.wgbh.org/icf/tech.php
- Only Windows Media doesnt support multiple audio tracks for AD,
but Microsoft have released AMP to resolve
this:http://www.codeplex.com/amp
31. Online video
- Its all too hard and time-consuming.
32. Online video
- CaptionTube: an easy way to caption YouTube
clipshttp://captiontube.appspot.com
- Captions can be saved back onto local machine, dont have to be
put on YouTube
- If uploaded to YouTube, captions can be translated in real-time
to different languages
33. Online video
- Theres no point:hardly anyone is captioning online, and online
audio description is like the Yeti: you hear about it but no one's
ever seen it.
34. Online video
- BBC iPlayer now features both closed captions and audio
description
- In a nutshell: if TV shows are already captioned, it can be
easily included online
- HTML 5 info in Silvias presentation up next
35. AWARe
- AWARe: Australian Web Access Review
- 5 websites per month for testing
- Answer some simple questions
- MAA will take data to government, industry to create
change
- Forum to discuss access issues
36. Addressing the issues
37. Addressing the issues
- AWARe Participate section
38. Further information
- Large collection of web
resources:www.mediaaccess.org.au/newmedia