Converging research towards AccessForAll

Research convergence to

enable accessibility to be

customised for individual users

Liddy NevileLa Trobe

UniversityAustralia

ASK-IT - Nice - 2006 [email protected]

Ideas …

• Concepts behind AccessForAll– personal choice of adaptation

– accessibility for everyone

– discovery of what “I” need

– interoperability

• Approaches to accessibility – universal design and/or

– distributed and cumulative metadata


AccessForAll Accessibility

• What do we want to achieve?

• Flexibility with respect to resources and services so everyone can use them as they choose.

• Let’s see what TILE does:http://inclusivelearning.ca/tile/

http://inclusivelearning.ca/tile/





TILE

E-learning environment that enables learner-centric

transformation of learning content and delivery

• Authoring support for transformable content and

Metadata

• Browser

• Learning Object Repository

• Learner Preference System







So what’s happening?


DRD metadata


In fact, ……


TILE is …

• A centralised system• All resources are digital• All resources standards compliant• All resources are ‘atomic’ • All resources are appropriately

described


Digital resources (Microsoft research)


Digital resources (Microsoft research)


AfA definition of accessibility

• the accessible relationship between the user and the resource enables the user to make sensory and cognitive contact with the content of the resource.

See http://www.imsglobal.org/accessibility/

http://www.imsglobal.org/accessibility/




Sensory needs and preferences

• I can’t see now• I like Braille but screen-reading is OK• I can’t see well now• I may have an epileptic seizure if I

see flashing• I read (Braille) slowly and may need

extra timeNote - no mention of disabilities!


Relationship Descriptions

• So how do we describe sensory and other accessibility needs and preferences for digital resources?

• We have opted for display, control and content as the three relationships that can be affected and can change.


QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressorare needed to see this picture. QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

Adapting to all devices & contexts


Adaptive technologies

• Some replace standard technologies and some have special requirements.

• Many have features users like to use.• In addition, there may be requirements

for other display characteristics, and there may be separate needs for content adjustment.


Adaptive technologies

• Some requirements can conflict, eg an on-screen keyboard and a ‘full-screen’ resource.

• For this reason, descriptions of needs and preferences for display, control and content characteristics need to be separated.


Needs and preferences

• Some people can choose between several alternative resources

• Some people can use only one


Multiple PNPs

• Descriptions of users needs and preferences (PNPs) will be used according to the context or circumstances and may differ according to the occasion.

• PNPs may be personal, situational, contextual, etc.

• PNPs should be stored and available any time, anywhere.


• Accessible resource components – in general this means WCAG

compliance– BUT …..

• resources may be distributed• resources may be produced ‘just in

time’

Dependencies


What else is happening?

• IMS and Dublin Core and IEEE/LOM and CEN ISSS/LT and INCITS/V2 and W3C and ISO JTC1 SC …. and


Metadata is …

• Structured, machine-readable information about resources – (data about data)

• Used when Google can’t help…• Human-input is valued• but interoperability is not implied….• And now it might be tagging as

well….


Personal Needs and Preferences (PNPs)

• Display: – how resources are to be presented

and structured, • Control:

– how resources are to be controlled and operated, and

• Content: – what supplementary or alternative

resources are to be supplied.


Display preferences

• Where the person can’t see text, it may need to be transformed into another mode - auditory or tactile (Braille).

• Text may need to be bigger and a different colour.

• Images may need to be bigger.


Control preferences

• Some assistive technologies effectively replace the typical mouse and keyboard combination without any adjustment

• but others use technologies that require special configuration.

• An on-screen keyboard will use screen space e.g.


Content preferences

• A dyslexic person may need additional images to avoid excessive text density

• a ‘foreigner’ may need an alternative language

• a eyes-busy person may need a text description of an image.


Digital Resource Description (DRDs)

• Display: – how the resource can be presented and

structured,

• Control: – how the resource can be controlled and

operated, and

• Content: – what supplementary or alternative resources

are supplied with the resource.


Basic DRD metadata includes:

– Access Mode: vision, hearing, touch, text

– Access Mode Usage: informative or

ornamental

– Display: amenability of a resource to

transformation of the display

– Control: how the method of control is flexible

– Alternatives: any known alternatives


and, where appropriate,

• Components: any parts that make up this resource (a sound file, an image, etc.) or a

composite resource of which it is a part

• Hazards: any dangerous characteristics

• Support tools: electronic tools associated with the resource (calculator, dictionary, etc.)


& DRD for alternatives also includes:

• Identity of the original resource

• Type: kind of alternative

• Extent: extent of coverage of original resource

• Detailed description of the alternative: description of its characteristics necessary for matching it to details of the PNP.


AfA is an approach …

PNP

DRD

Dlfkng fg jhgj fglhk fghRt hrtj hlkjg hklj thkkj ttRt grlkthklj thk thl kjrthkRthnk tlhkk jthk rth th lrt

Fra

mew

ork

PN

PD

RD


Resource metadata

With abstract models …


The conversations flow …


Multi-lingual/multi-cultural

• Definition of languages and cultures

• etc….


Accessibility of events and places, ….

• Location-based– Location dependent– Location independent

• What divisions?– Physical needs?– Electronic needs?


Thank you!

• To participate, please contact me…

– [email protected]– [email protected]

• Check the new standards and work at– http://dublincore.org/groups/access

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

Converging research towards AccessForAll

Design

alternative resources

content preferences

screen resource

resources data

display preferences

distributed resources

resource calculator

composite resource