Web Access Centre Blog

For those with an interest in standards overall and not just accessibility the guys over at I18n Core Working Group at W3C have launched Planet i18n .

It gathers together posts from various blogs that talk about internationalization (i18n). While it is hosted by the W3C Internationalization Activity, the content of the individual entries represent only the opinion of their respective authors and does not reflect the position of the Internationalization Activity.

If you own a blog with a focus on internationalization, and want to be added to this aggregator, please get in touch with Richard Ishida.

While in London at the beginning of June Shawn Henry gave a number of presentations. She kicked off the week at an event we hosted talking about “What’s new, WCAG 2.0 and current issues”, then presented at @Media and wrapped up the week speaking at Yahoo!.

Shawn’s presentation at Yahoo! “Web Accessibility Guidelines update” is available on video and well worth a watch if you were unable to catch her at any of the events. And if you haven’t already seen them Yahoo! have also been putting online some great video’s of people using various access technologies.

We’ll be posting a transcript of the presentation Shawn gave with RNIB soon.

Christian Heilmann, over at Yahoo! has set up a Wiki dedicated to the business case for web standards.

Now I’m really happy about this not just because of the power of the Wiki but also because it is about web standards in general and not just the business case for web accessibility. Accessible web design really is an integral part of a greater whole. Christian has also pinpointed a subtlety that myself and my team encounter every day which is of putting together a business case that is relevant to the audience you are talking to:

The first problem I realized is that a lot of presentations start from the premise that the person we are trying to convince knows and is interested in web standards. This might not be the case, therefore I am thinking that we need to approach the sale with the premise that we need to solve the issues the person has and find the solutions web standards provide that relate to these.

So whether you are putting a business case together for the budget holder in your organisation or aiming to get buy-in form your developers and designers the approach, or sale, needs to be well thought through, tailored and pitched to address their particular concerns. This Wiki is a great place to start together with some background on the business case in the Web Access Centre as well as resources on the business case from the Web Accessibility Initiative.

It’s a great resource, enjoy!

There are only a few days left until the Techshare call for papers closes on July 1st! Have you submitted yours? Will you be among the speakers at the first pan-disability Techshare conference?

Techshare 2007 will be held: 4 - 5 October at Novotel London West (Hammersmith), London, UK.

The Techshare 2007 conference is an international event for professionals who are interested in technology and the role it plays in
learning, work and society for people with disabilities. This year the conference is organised by RNIB in partnership with other leading disability organisations, and we are looking for presentations that contribute to the conference content covering a variety of disabilities.

We are also delighted to announce that Techshare 2007 will include the DAISY International Conference and are therefore interested in presentations that relate to this leading standard for digital talking books.

Presentations should relate to technology but not necessarily be technical in content and should be relevant to the use of technology in work, learning or everyday life.

We are looking for insight into leading edge technology research and development, as well as presentations around technology specifically relating to disability and case studies highlighting the use of technology. We hope to offer delegates a range of technical depth to match their experience, to interest those without significant knowledge of disability technology, as well as the experts in the field.

Submit your paper now by completing the word or plain text document attached to this email and sending it to: techshare@rnib.org.uk

Closing date for submissions: 1 July 2007, decisions will be notified to the main presenters by 3 August 2007.

If you have any questions about presenting at Techshare or submitting your paper, please contact the Techshare Team. Further information about the conference and the call for papers can also be found on the Techshare website.

Telephone: +44 (0)121 665 4240
Email: techshare@rnib.org.uk
Web: www.rnib.org.uk/techshare

Best wishes
The Techshare Team

A few weeks ago Victor Tsaran, Accessibility Program Manager over at Yahoo!, released a video introducing screen readers and web accessibility. The next in the Yahoo! series introduces screen magnification and web accessibility by Karo Caran.

This is a great introduction to screen magnification and not to be missed.

A few days ago Judy Brewer, Director of the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI), World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), gave a presentation on “Accessibility in the 3-D Environment: Virtual Worlds and People with Disabilities” in Second Life. She was also joined by Bruce Bailey (Phivo8 Writer in SL) who is an Accessibility IT Specialist on the United States Access Board. A write up of the presentation can be read on the Second Life News Network.

Second Life is a 3-D virtual world entirely built and maintained by its residents. Described as a “vast digital continent” it is a place where your avatar, your online persona, can buy land, build houses, meet people, fly, go to concerts and generally just hang out. You’re as likely to get chatting to a man wandering about in a shopping trolley as you are with somebody with a lion’s head dressed in a ball gown - the best way to describe it is like being at a festival.

The opportunity that Second Life offers to people otherwise constrained by first life is enormous. If, for some reason you are unable to easily leave the house you suddenly have this whole new world open up before you. With it’s own currency, Linden Dollars, Second Life also offers some very real opportunities to make a living as well. People trade in land, buy and sell art as well as clothes and accessories for avatars. You name it you can create it, sell it and buy it. A quick look at the Second Life home page shows that $211,060 Linden Dollars was spent in the last 24 hours alone which equates to US $1,703,488.

But can everybody really access all areas? Making virtual worlds accessible has always been a challenge and Second Life is no different especially now it is open-source. Peter Abrahams of Bloor Research wrote about “Second Life open-source accessible client“ earlier this year which has opened the debate on the accessibility of Second Life and made a list of suggestions of how to achieve this.

Over the coming weeks I’ll be having a look at Second Life from different user’s perspectives and am interested in hearing about anyone else’s experiences.

Already a resident is Second Life? Then teleport to the venue now. Alternatively try is for yourself and sign up to Second Life

The latest release for the Web Accessibility Toolbar is available for download was announced today.

Whats new version 2.0

Compatible with IE 7 and Vista
All functions (except third party) no longer rely upon external scripts.
Most functions now work when javascript is disabled Most functions (where applicable) work across frames & iframes HTML validator - checks files from a local server or folder.

New functionality:

- Log window: when the log text box is opened, any messages that a function provides are written to the log window (instead of an alert box). Text can also be entered into the log text box. this info can be saved to a text file.
- Open in Firefox and opera buttons: opens the current page in firefox or Opera (if installed)
-HTML validation quick check: returns summary check results from the W3C validator.
- Frames list: provides access to any framed documents generated source highlighter: generated source views with elements highlighted.
- Focus highlighter
- Functional Accessibility Evaluator
- Plus others and upgrades to existing functions

Feedback welcome

Thanks to the latest post on Matt Obee’s blog, I found out that the See it Right book, which was republished at the end of last year, has been chosen as this months Book of the Month by .net Magazine, against stiff competition from Bulletproof AJAX by Jeremy Keith and PHP5 Advanced by Larry Ullman.

They say:

As our industry continues apace in technology terms, it’s more important than ever to maintain standards. The RNIB’s own publication, geared towards “making information accessible for people with sight problems”, is a must-read for any professional, conscientious web developer, yet also considers print and audio media.

It’s really great to see a book such as the See it Right book (which covers more than just web, print and audio - it includes tactile information and images, electronic documents and signage too, along with checklists and other useful stuff) rubbing shoulders with more “mainstream” titles, and considered a must-read.

So if you haven’t got a copy yet, why not buy the See it Right book online today? It costs £30 (or charities can purchase it at the cost price of £22.50).

We’ll be out in force again this year for @Media in London with Ann Mcmeekin, Bim Egan, Jim Carne and myself attending. Apart form the chance to catch up with many of you and meet new people we’re looking forward to what is an impressive line up of speakers.

Top of my list will be seeing Richard Ishida from the W3C Internationalization working group speaking about “Designing for International Users: Practical Tips”. This has so much more importance than many of us give credit and also has a very close overlap with some of the web WCAG 1.0 (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) and Mobile Web 1.0 guidelines which I will be posting about in the blog soon. This will go down well with Andy Clark’s “Royal with cheese” a presentation on his findings from five months of research looking at designs from around the world.

There is also a good spread of presentations around Ajax and JavaScript which is very much top of the agenda at the moment. Speakers include Jeremy Keith presenting on “Bulletproof Ajax”, Jesse James Garrett presenting on “Beyond Ajax” and Dan Webb presenting on “The Mysteries Of JavaScript-Fu”.

The last session of the conference is the Hot Topics panel which is always the interesting one. Last year Gez Lemon, Ian Lloyd, Patrick Lauke and Andy Clarke discussed WCAG 2.0. Can’t help wondering what will be covered this year.

Anyway, look forward to seeing some of you there and also at the meet ups in the evenings over the next few days.

We’re really looking forward to seeing so many of you for Shawn Henry’s presentation on “What’s new, WCAG 2.0, and current issues” on Tuesday 5th June. If you haven’t already booked a place then book a place online now as they’re going fast.

Shawn will also be selling copies of her book Just Ask: Integrating Accessibility Throughout Design for £22. This is a great book that looks at usability, accessibility and user testing with people with disabilities and comes highly recommended. We can’t process electronic payments so please bring either cash or cheque if you would like a copy.

We’ll also be meeting up at the Bricklayers Arms in Greese Street and all are welcome. If you can’t make it then we hope to have a podcast of the session as well as a write up of the evening posted here, in the Web Access Centre, after the event.

If you have any questions for us or a question you’d like to submit to Shawn ahead of time then email us at wac@rnib.org.uk

Date:Tuesday June 5th
Time: 6.45 so we can start at 7pm
Venue: Department of Electronics, Communications and Software Engineering, Westminster University, New Cavendish Street campus
Getting there: The campus is a short walk from Goodge Street tube - map of the venue