Everything you wanted to know about.. Accessibility and more.... Presented by Reece Lamshed and Marsha Berry (with Internet Guru, John Pierce)

Everything you wanted to know about..

Accessibility and more . . . .

Presented by Reece Lamshed and Marsha Berry(with Internet Guru, John Pierce)

What we will do.

1. Define and discuss Accessibility2. Look at what’s happening OS3. Look at what’s happening in Oz4. Investigate some helpful resources5. Identify implementation processes6. Invite you to ask the technical gurusome challenging questions

Why Accessibility?

1. Internet - principle of universal access

2. Disability and assistive technologies

3. W3C and the Accessibility guidelines

Why Accessibility?

1. Internet - principle of universal access

General principlesHuman RightsLegislation

Audiences - 18%Community responsibility

Competitive positionParticipating in the new economy

Why Accessibility?

2. Disability and assistive technologies

They may not be able to see, hear or move.

They may not be able to process information easily.

They may have difficulty reading or comprehending text content.

They may not have or be able to use a mouse or keyboard.

Why Accessibility?

2. Disability and assistive technologies

They have a text-only screen, a small screen or a slow Internet connection.

They may not speak or understand fluently the language in which it is written.

They may be working in environments that interfere with eyes, ears or hands.

They may have an early version of a browser, a different browser, a voice browser or a different operating system.

Why Accessibility?

3. W3C and the Accessibility guidelines

•W3C - what is this?

•Looking at the guidelines and checkpoints - w3c.org

International Accessibility

1. The OS experience

2. The Oz experience

International Accessibility

1. The OS experienceUSA Legislation driving compliance:

Section 508 requires that when Federal agencies develop, procure, maintain, or use electronic and information technology, they shall ensure that the electronic technology allows Federal employees with disabilities to have access to and use of information and data that is comparable to the access and use of information and data by Federal employees who are not individuals with disabilities, unless an undue burden would be imposed on the agency.

International Accessibility

1. The OS experienceUSA - Case study

•National Center on Accessible IT in Education•University of Wisconsin-Madison leader in web accessibility policy based on W3C•All new and revised pages to conform to W3C/WAI standards•Priority for core institutional information - course work, registration, etc•Top 20% most frequently used be placed in the first priority•Pages with info for people with disabilitiesin the first priority•Each department responsible

International Accessibility

1. The OS experienceUSA - Case study (continued)

•Each University web site should have accessible link or contact person•Variety of web browsers be used to test access to web pages•Teachers to make it known if a course Requires use of GUIs, interactive screen, visualisation tools, etc, and that people withdisabilities consult the department concerned•Exceptions to policy may be granted if the extraordinary circumstances

International Accessibility

1. The OS experience

European UnioneEurope Action Plan

“Public sector web sites and their content in member states and in the European Institutions must be designed to be accessible to ensure that citizens with disabilities can access information and take full advantage of the potential for e-government”

International Accessibility

1. The OS experience

European UnionEU Policy

•Complex process due to composition of the EU •Individual Member States legislative landscape

•Level of engagement with ‘new economy’ industries differs between Member States

•Exchange of best practice between Member States

•Progress of policy development and implementation varies

International Accessibility

1. The OS experience European UnioneEurope Action Plan

•e-Inclusion is now a main objective of the overall European Social Inclusion Strategy so that a digital divide may be avoided. This builds on a detailed analysis of practices in the member states.

·WAI standards have been adopted by member states for the construction of their public sites.

·Publication of “Design for All” standards now has a co-ordination group that is linked to the e-Accessibility group.

International Accessibility

1. The OS experience

European UnioneEurope Action Plan

The e-Accessibility Group has conducted a review of relevant legislation and standards and has defined a framework for analysis.

•Most member states have identified centres of excellence and their networking is ongoing. Recommendations regarding curricula are under discussion.

International Accessibility

1. The OS experience Case study - Ireland

•Plans to create legal climate similar to USA and Australia•Urges developers to comply to gain competitive edge internationally•Public policy requires government conformance at Priority 1 & 2 WAI Guidelines•General Accessibility Process sets clear process for designers•New situations covered by GAP including interactive TV, public access terminals, etc•ICT Accessibility Coordinator has been appointed to provide advice

International Accessibility

2. Oz experience

•Legislation - Disability Discrimination Act (1992)

•Sydney Olympics

•Commonwealth - National Office of Information Economy

•State variation - Victoria and New South Wales examples

Accessibility deconstructed

1. Conformance A, AA and AAA

2. The 14 guidelines

3. How they impact on the visually Impaired

Accessibility deconstructed1. Conformance A, AA and AAA

A: This is the minimum level. Content developers must satisfy all the checkpoints at this level. Otherwise, one or more groups of users will find it impossible to access information from the web document.

AA: Content providers should satisfy all checkpoints at this level. Otherwise, one or more groups of users will find it difficult to access information from the web document.

AAA: This is the highest level. Content developers may satisfy all checkpoints at this level. Otherwise, one or more groups of users will find it somewhat difficult to access information from the web document.

Accessibility deconstructed

2. The 14 guidelines

Guideline 1. Provide equivalent alternatives to auditory and visual content. Guideline 2. Don't rely on colour alone. Guideline 3. Use markup and style sheets and do so properly.Guideline 4. Clarify natural language usage Guideline 5. Create tables that transform gracefully. Guideline 6. Ensure that pages featuring new technologies transform gracefully. Guideline 7. Ensure user control of time-sensitive content changes. Guideline 8. Ensure direct accessibility of embedded user interfaces.

Accessibility deconstructed

2. The 14 guidelines

Guideline 9. Design for device-independence. Guideline 10. Use interim solutions. Guideline 11. Use W3C technologies and guidelines.Guideline 12. Provide context and orientation information.Guideline 13. Provide clear navigation mechanisms.

Guideline 14. Ensure that documents are clear and simple.

Accessibility deconstructed

3. How they impact on the visually Impaired

http://www.doit.wisc.edu/accessibility/video/screenreader22.mov

Accessibility Implementation

Where are you at? Survey discussion

Mandatory or voluntary compliance

Where to next? A way forward…

Accessibility ImplementationDeveloper process

Provide accessibility checking software (eg Bobby,

http://bobby.watchfire.com/bobby/html/en/index.jspA-prompt http://aprompt.snow.utoronto.ca/)Validate HTML and XML syntaxValidate style sheets (CSS)Provide text-only browser or emulatorProvide a range of browsers, and versionsEncourage the use of spell and grammar checkersReview documents for clarity and simplicityEncourage use of Flesch and Fog IndexProvide small screen reader, magnification software, self-voicing browser, small display, etc.Invite people with disability to review documents (user testing)

Accessibility Q and A

We invite you to ask technical questions to stump our resident

accessibility guru.

Accessibility resources

1. WebAim - www.webaim.org

2. Optionkey -www.oten.edu.au/optionkeys/accessible/definition.htm

3. MMV resourcewww.egov.vic.gov.au/Victoria/StrategiesPoliciesandReports/Reports/Accessibility-Toolkit/Accessibility-Toolkit.htm

Accessibility resources

4. Swinburne resource http://www.vetonline.vic.edu.au/accessibility/

5. Accessibility Wizard

THE END