Just to reassure people, although we are RNIB, the Web Access Centre and the focus of our team is strongly pan-disability, and as such we won’t be just focusing on sight loss issues.

What % of users are using a device which can expand <abbr title> or <cronym title>?
What % of users know if their device has this facility?
What % of users turn this on (or leave it off) for regular browsing?
What are the common recovery techniques users employ when finding a shortened term (or a regular term) whose meaning they are unfamiliar with?

More fundamental things like the videos showing how different ATs are used is more widely applicable, though. Mobility enabling peripherals like switches, voice activation, tongue joysticks and eye-tracking systems are rarely mentioned. It would be cool to see some of them in action, even if it’s beyond what RNIB is strictly about.

Basically, videos are best: of different disabilities, different skill levels, and different pieces of assistive technology ideally.

And if they’re presented by one of the über-cool people from the web access team, well, that’d just be perfect :-)

It’s interesting that Yahoo! should have been mentioned in this context. Yes, we have the videos about using screenreader technology etc. However, the same Yahoo! tells us that its mail beta cannot accommodate screenreaders at this time and they still haven’t done anything about that bugbear for blind people, the CAPTCHA. The left hand seemeth not in this case to know what the right hand doeth! Is there any point I ask myself in campaigning about the more esoteric aspects of web accessibility when blind people are increasingly being kept out of even the most accessible of websites by the presence of the visual verification CAPTCHA? This is surely a ‘real world’ issue which organisations like RNIB which claim to be promoting web accessibility should be campaigning hard about.

back on topic: this sounds like an excellent idea.

“Profiles/text interviews, accompanied by photographs of how each individual uses the web.”

Very helpful and would be an excellent start.

“Audio interviews/podcasts (with transcripts, of course)”

Again, anything that gives developers an insight into how disabled users tackle the web is going to assist us developers.

“Surveys of groups of disabled people”

Good, assuming the results of the survey are passed on. :)

“Videos (technology and hosting permitting)”

This is the one I’m really keen on. Could Camtasia be used for screen capture with audio commentary? Camtasia can convert into a variety of formats, which could be stored on a server for download and then viewed offline.

I’m really looking forward to any of this stuff as soon as it can be implemented. Tomorrow? ;-)

So the more personal insight you can provide into the difficulties that people with disabilities have using the Web, the better, but only so long as solutions are provided.

And I agree with Chris that extending what to cover to a broader range of people would make what you do even more useful.

I know its probably a bit out of your remit but it would be great if you could include older users too, to promote the fact that Accessibility is not just about disabled users.

On a side note: Julie Howell at a PSF event spoke about how one of your IT guys managed a PC, a screen reader, a phone and delivered high quality tech support to people. I was truly blown away by that - really eye opening.