Tag Archives: Accessibility

Web Accessibility Educational Media

Posted by Steven Swafford on March 2, 2011

I have been working on educating myself and tackling the subject of web accessibility for since early 2010. As information  technology  continues  to  evolve  and  embeds  itself  more  and  more  in  our  daily  lives,  it  is  important  that  the  digital   age  account  for  every  individual  when  it  comes  to the  area  of  accessibility.

There  are  a  wide  variety  of  disabilities  that  inflict  individuals.  When the needs of this  population  are not  taken  in  account  in software  and  website  design,  it  can be  a  negative  force that restricts access and participation.  Perhaps  those  involved  with  information  technology  planning  and  deployment  should  ask  themselves  the  following  question:  why  should  we  care  about  accessibility as it relates to software, hardware, and the virtual world?

As you may know you can find some great content on YouTube if you look hard enough and I thought I would share a number of videos that hopefully will raise awareness of what those individuals with disabilities face every day.

WebAnywhere: A Screen Reader On-the-Go

Web accessibility for people with vision impairments

Bruce talks about refreshable Braille

Accessibility  doesn’t  just  happen,  it  takes  a  great  deal  of  preparation  and  knowledge.

Introduction To Web Accessibility Presentation

Posted by Steven Swafford on December 18, 2010

The goal is universal design that is integrated and equal: Don’t make disabled people use a different Web structure but make it so they can use it too.

What are you doing to address accessibility?

Accessibility Benefits Everyone

Posted by Steven Swafford on October 28, 2010

A very common misconception when talking about accessibility is accessibility is meant only designing for users with disabilities. Nothing could be further from the truth, in fact accessibility is relevant to everyone. More often than not when accessibility is addressed early the outcome it usability increases for everyone. More often than not designers to not fully account for the disabled community and for persons using an assistive technology or facing situational constraints, accessible design becomes much more essential. For example, let me outline limitations, constraints, and accommodations.

Accessibility limitations, constraints, and accommodations
Limitation Constraint Accommodation
Blindness; low vision Poor lighting; low screen resolution Re-sizable or large fonts
Deafness; hard of hearing Noisy workplace Text alternatives; captioning
Mobility; physical weakness Cannot use a mouse Provide keyboard navigation

What can you do to ensure your content is accessible by everyone? Adopt and follow standards to help designers deal with the variety of  technologies. Writing valid HTML is the designer’s job; rendering content appropriately is the browser’s. I realize that chasing down ever quirk between the various browsers is often not realistic. In this case do the best job possible or you could possible determine the user’s browser agent and deny access if they come from an unsupported agent. I personally would never do this, but it is an option you may consider.

The best thing you can do is familiarize yourself the WC3 Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI). The techniques provide by the WAI are widely accepted as the industry standard and provide clear direction on how to achieve accessibility. In fact, at the core of WAI I recommend the following:

  • Provide equivalent alternatives to auditory & visual content.
  • Don’t depend on color alone.
  • Use markup and style sheets correctly.
  • Create tables that can be used by accessible technology.
  • Use W3C technologies and guidelines.
  • Provide context and orientation information.
  • Provide clear navigation.

So what are you waiting for? It is not as difficult as you may think and remember no one is perfect and if you follow the direction from the WC3 Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) you will quickly find yourself on the path to accessibility.

Technology Meets Accessibility

Posted by Steven Swafford on October 23, 2010

Over the last decade Americans have truly become a wired society. If you disagree with this statement, stop and observe the sheer number of mobile devices and the households that have internet access. Due to the fact that more and more individuals are coming online the reality of addressing the accessibility raises to the forefront.

The United States Census Bureau conducted a survey titled American Community Survey back in 2006 and estimated 193,568,216 Americans have a disability of which 13,667,248 are directly related to employment disabilities. Physical disabilities are typically what comes to mind when thinking of accessibility, but it is equally important to keep in mind the process of aging and the potential loss of vision, hearing, and motor skills associated with simply growing older. The statistics in the area of disabilities are difficult to overlook and demonstrate a true challenge to many Americans.

As a greater number of people gain access to the internet, so does the need to ensure everyone can easily use the internet. Accessibility in the context of usability becomes much more important when one begins to account for each and every individual that will be consuming a service. On 23 July, 2010 the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) released Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Accessibility of Web Information and Services Provided by Entities Covered by the American Disabilities Act (ADA). This notice is important from the aspect of services that companies provide to their internal and external customers.

As we move further into the world of accessibility it is important to remember the key aspect is users. The user community as a whole will benefit from websites and content that is designed with accessibility in mind. Websites are typically the digital medium that comes to mind when you begin thinking of barriers, but in reality it extends much further. Stop and consider for a moment your own personal daily activities and the wide range of content that you’re exposed to. Chances are you work with a variety of documents that may include but are not limited to Word documents, PDF documents, Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint slides, and the daily grind of email. As you can see a trend begins to develop and taking in account this trend have you ever considered that the person on the receiving end of the digital artifact may have a disability?

It is important to understand the definition of disability per the federal government standards. Agencies by and large use definitions that is specific to a law or set of laws. For example, The Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act are nondiscrimination laws that define a person with a disability as someone who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, an individual who has a history or record of an impairment, or an individual that is perceived by others as having an impairment.

Fell free to download the following wallpaper to keep accessibility as fore thought rather than and after thought.

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Accessibility Resources: Week Of 20 August 2010

Posted by Steven Swafford on August 20, 2010

This week I felt it was important to address a topic that I am passionate about and that I have not discussed in the past. Accessibility is extremely important in the terms of providing a good or service such as a website, audio, and video just to name a few. I have always been interested in finding solutions in this area that can greatly reduce barriers for those individuals who struggle with a disability. The following resources I hope you find useful and if you also are passionate in this area why not drop a comment and share your own thoughts and tips?

Now that I have laid the groundwork and hopefully raised you curiosity I hope to be adding articles on the subject of accessibility in the near future.