Category: Accessibility

The Other Web Accessibility 2.0

There is plenty of discussion happening on the upcoming version 2.0 of the WCAG. Fortunately, there has also been some good discussion regarding impact of the Web 2.0-volution on accessibility. The rush to ajaxify user interactions and the opening of the floodgates of user contributed floodgates has not necessarily been a good thing for accessibility.

Bruce Lawson noted his concerns back in 2005:

I also worry about accessibility. It strikes me that people are so busy adding extra Ajax loveliness that the separatestripped-down “html-only” versions they offer are unthinkingly accepted as a legitimate sop to people with disabilities. We reject separate “text-only sites” in Web 1.0 ; why should we accept them in “Web 2.0″?

Roger Johansson echoes those sentiments (with some good commentary from his readers):

There is some truth to Bruce’s observations, and it would be a sad step backwards if the perceived coolness of “Web 2.0” brings back the old days of non-graceful degradation.

Ian Lloyd comments with a post titled, AJAX, Accessibility & Screen Readers:

There’s something of an oxymoron going on there in the heading. Can you spot it? The words ‘accessibility’ and ‘AJAX’. They really are not the best of bed fellows, as many people have discovered.

Joe Clark provided notes from a presentation titled Build Half a Product: Is Ajax accessible? At all?, including the results of some usability tests on popular Web 2.0 application Basecamp.

There’s more where all of that came from:

Everyone seems to agree that there is a problem. Fortunately there are also some great resources to set you in the right direction if you are working to create an accessible Web 2.0 application:

In this outdated comment on Bruce Lawson’s above post, someone from Wild Apricot states:

Unfortunately, we could not afford to make the system backend support all the accessibility standards because it would mean two or three times more coding (not 10% or 25% — and I am NOT exaggerating). Creating interactive AND usable interfaces is very hard — and I do not know if many developers can manage to do it on their own. Development frameworks and browsers have to help too.

What is your experience in developing accessible Web 2.0 sites or applications? What AJAX/Javascript frameworks do you use that encourage accessible best practices? What are some good examples of accessible Web 2.0 experiences?

Where to Discuss Accessibility– Forums, Mailing Lists and Blogs

Let’s say that you have a burning accessibility question that you are dying to ask someone and your roommate/spouse/pet are no help at all– where do you go? Here are a few good places to start:

If none of those suit your fancy, there are a few other options. Some of the largest web developer communities have forums specifically for accessibility issues, such as the accessibility and usability forum at the Webmaster World and the accessibility forum at Webdeveloper.com. Even if there isn’t a specific forum at your favorite web development form, people are likely still talking about accessibility (from Dev Shed).

Also, while you may not be able to initiate the discussion, there are always lots of great discussions happening at your favorite accessibility blog (thanks Jared) or web magazine.

If you are looking for a more specific category of accessibility, it may be out there somewhere as well. For examples, check out the fairly active Yahoo! Group on Captioning or the Java Access listserv from Sun Microsystems. Similarly, there are a number discussion lists and forums that are specific to a disability population, such as the Computer Use by and for the Blind list

Lastly, don’t miss out on any local groups. There are a number of university and government organizations that provide venues to discuss accessibility issues with people in your own backyard– anyone from the Phillipines?

Where do you go to ask that burning accessibility question?

10 Reasons People Care About Accessibility

I don’t know why you are reading this blog, but I there are a number of reasons that people become interested in accessibility issues. Do any of the below categories sound familiar to you or maybe someone you have worked with? Presented with no authority and in no particular order:

Why do you care about accessibility?

  1. Following the Crowd. My favorite A-list blogger keeps talking about accessibility and I don’t want to be left behind.
  2. Curiosity Killed the Cat. Enough about alt tags already, what’s the big deal with accessibility?
  3. Working for a Living. My boss cares and therefore so do I.
  4. The Plaintiff will now Approach the Bench. The lawyer guy keeps telling me that I need to care about accessibility.
  5. Me, Myself and I. I have a disability– I create accessible sites so that I can use them.
  6. We are Family. I have a family member/friend with a disability.
  7. We are the World. You know, “It’s true we’ll make a better day. Just you and me”.
  8. Powerful Market Forces. Why on earth would I make my site harder for customers to use?
  9. Pride cometh Before the Fall Of course my site is accessible, it also validates as XHTML Strict, I have never used a table in my life and I read W3C meeting minutes for fun.
  10. I don’t. Oh, okay– fine. (there– that makes 10).

Any others you would add to the list?

As long as a web developer is motivated to create an accessible site, does it matter what their motivation is?

Accessibility, Availability and Affordability

Of these three, which is the largest obstacle to the free and open flow of online information?

Consider the following:

  1. A 12-year old boy in Western Africa has learned how to read Braille. He has also recently received an inexpensive laptop as part of a corporate initiative to save the world with cheap computers. Unfortunately, he is unable to access the information on his own because he was born blind and the computer did not come with any software that can read the content of web pages.
  2. In rural Idaho a high school student has an inexplicable desire to “make websites”. There are no technology classes at her school, but a teacher allows her to use a school computer during the last part of lunch to practice her craft. She has found a couple of online communities that the school filter allows where she is able to find answers to many of her questions. After school she has a 50 minute bus ride to a small home at the bottom of a hill bordering a National Forest in Central Idaho. Her family does have an older computer, but they haven’t been able to find local Internet service provider.
  3. A young woman in Albania constantly hears her friends talk about people that they have met online. She found a job at a local byrek stand where she earns enough money to accompany her friends to a local Internet Cafe to participate in their online activities. However, her father recently lost his job because of illness and her family expects her to contribute all of her earnings to the family pot. She occasionally gets a few minutes to check her email by tagging along with her friends, but by and large she no longer able to use the Internet.

Each of the above problems might be overcome with some combination of technology, awareness or money. However, each situation does present a problem of accessibility, availability or affordability that might be generalized to include a larger number of people.

Which of these is the most significant obstacle to ubiquitous, affordable technology to allow everyone to connect to this vast collection of tubes that we call the Internet?

What other obstacles keep people from accessing the Internet?

Quick Catch Up on Links

A few links that I would like to unload off of my docket:

Disability, Accessibility and Alternative Format Symbols

I’ve recently been looking for a standard set of icons to represent materials available in alternate formats. I didn’t find much, here are a couple that I came across:

Assuming that there must be more than these two resources, I started exploring disability iconography in general. A while back, Scott from Rolling Rains was was asked, “Is there an international standard that is used in the iconography depicting people with disabilities?” Scott replied:

Unfortunately, the answer is, ‘No.’

It may be arguable that the standard person in the wheelchair symbol is international in scope, but even if it is there are many good arguments that it is not a good representation of disabilities in general.

The need for better accessibility symbols is definitively laid out in a Symbolizing Accessibility article from Joe Clark wherein he critiques some of the current symbols and provides some suggestions on what is needed. In addition, Joe worked with Melanie Goux to develop an improved symbol for audio description and wrote about the process.

Is there anything better out there… anywhere? If so, please leave a note in the comments. If not, are there any ambitious graphic designers out there?

Further Reading:

For more information on alternate formats, see
User-Friendly Materials and Alternate Formats from the National Center for the Dissemination of Disability Research.

Accessible Content Management Systems

I like the idea of using a content management system for on some projects. However, if accessibility is a priority then options are quickly go from many to far fewer. Fortunately, many of the larger open source content management systems have taken on a goal of achieving some level of accessibility, if only as a byproduct of being standards compliant.

The question of whether a content management is accessible is a complicated one, regardless of what measure of accessibility someone chooses to use. Every content management system has different areas which may or not be accessible. Here are some of those factors:

  • CMS generated content When a user submits content to be included for display in a CMS, inaccessible tags/structure is sometimes used to present that content to the end user.
  • Template System The template system controls how the content is presented. How much does the system allow the site administrator to define his/her own structure and tags? While all systems facilitate template customization to some degree, many will still require inaccessible tags or structure to be used.
  • Administrative Features While the above points primarily reference what a site visitor would see, the tool used to input content also needs to be accessible, whether is is the backend of a website or a standalone application.
  • Third-party Plugins The content management systems that I have worked with have all allowed people to develop modules or plugins to provide additional functionality to the system. What kind of guidelines are developers required to adhere to when submitting new modules?
  • Anything Else?

That’s a short list that’s too general to really be useful for anything, but may be a helpful framework when looking at different content management systems. With all of the standards based design evangelism out there right now most of the major systems are at least discussing development in a direction that will lead to greater accessibility with some projects already claiming some form of standards compliance. That said, I know at least a couple of people who weren’t found existing systems lacking in the area of accessibility and opted to develop their own homegrown system to meet their needs.

I’m hoping to explore this issue in greater detail– do any of you have any experience with an accessible CMS? Here is a (very incomplete) list of links I’ve recently found on the topic…

Sorry– comments were turned off earlier, they are on now– thanks.

Matt Baily’s Web Site Accessibility Blog

I have been wandering around online tonight trying to find I’ve missed in the last few months and came across the Web Site Accessibility Blog from Matt Bailey. Here are just a few examples of great posts from his blog: How To: Create Accessible PDF’s, IBM urges US senate for accessibility standards in information technology, and Are Blind Users Able to Blog?.

It looks like the Accessibility Blog is still fairly new so stop by and give Matt a welcome.

Accessible collaborative documents

Despite the pooh-poohing of the format, I am still backing the idea of a universal accessible web policy for developers. But lets take a step back and take care of the format issue first. I chose to publish this in a Word Doc, because everybody I know uses word to edit and write content (including those with screen readers). It also has some features for tracking changes, which we have already used on this document within my office.

So lets hear some constructive ideas on what format we should all be working in, as I am going to try and drag more people into this. I looked into Wikis a little bit, but it didn’t seem like a great fit for this project. Using and XML or HTML document seems like it might exclude people who don’t work with those formats.

Go.