ATIA Forum to Focus on Accessibility Business Case
]The 2010 ATIA Leadership Forum on Accessibility will be held January 28-29, 2010 at the Caribe Royale Hotel & Convention Center, Orlando, Florida.
At the Forum, you will find:
- The business case for providing accessible solutions to customer/constituents and employees
- Case studies from today’s leading corporations, government agencies, and educational institutions on successful accessibility integration strategies
- Targeted educational sessions for organization-wide solutions
- Access to 125+ assistive technology exhibitors
- Networking with IT and AT company accessibility executives and your peers.
I think this will be very interesting to see how accessibility is justified at the business case level. I would present the topic from a web technology point of view.
- Simplified software development and productivity through the use of plain text and less dynamic scripts.
- Improved Web Search Engine Optimization and Marketing (SEO and SEM) through plain text
- Enhanced website usability via accessibility fratures.
- Improved traffic from being inclusive to disabled users.
Accessibility makes good busines sence. I am looking forward to next year’s ATIA Leadership Forum
iPhone Trick
I was having a lot of trouble using my iPhone. I could not get close to the phone while on a call. The phone display would be shut off by the sensor. This is a useful feature to keep the touch screen from acidently being pressed while holding the phone close to the head. I had to get close to see the address book or mail applications and every time I did I would be able to read the screen. I had to beat the sensor to get a peak.
I found a work around. When the earbuds are plugged in, the screen sensor will not shut off the display. So if I neeed an address while on a call, I plug in my ear phones. I would rather have a preference setting to turn the sensor on or off. Maybe in iPhone 3.0.
Distance Learning Here to Stay
KITV had a great article on the top 10 aspects of distance learning. The two that struck me were:
- Distance learning will be used by businesses to help market their products.
- Distance learning is here to stay.
I agree with these trends. Businesses will use distance learning to help make their potential customers knowledgeable about their products and services. If a business has a quality product/service, knowledgeable customers will want to know more about what makes the product/service so valuable. Distance learning is a step up from static web pages. Distance learning helps the customer obtain knowledge, not just infromation. Accessible distance learning increases the potential market penetration. Accessibile distance learning is inclussive and should help grow market share. DigitalChalk is trying to be the most rich in content and accessible distance learning platfrom.
The Authors Guild Responds to Amazon
On their web site, The Author’s Guild has responded to the protest over their law suite against Amazon for supporting text-to-speech on the Kindle device. They wrote, “Knowing how difficult the road ahead is for the already fragile economics of authorship, we are particularly troubled at how all this arose, with Amazon attempting to use authors’ audio rights to lengthen its lead in the fledgling e-book industry. We could not allow this rights grab to happen. Audio books are a billion dollar market, the rights for which are packaged separately from — and are far more valuable than — e-book rights.”
The Guild did have a thoughtful solution for their copyright concerns. The Authors Guild suggests, “The first step is to take advantage of a special exception to the Copyright Act known as the Chafee Amendment, which permits the blind and others with certified physical print disabilities access to special versions, including audio versions, of copyrighted books. Technology makes this step easy: certified users of existing Kindles could activate their devices online to enable access to voice-output versions of all e-books. This process could be ready to go within weeks.”
I don’t know about weeks. I don’t know how serious The Authors Guild is about finding a solution when they accuse Amazon of a “rights grab”. My company, DigitalChalk, values its partnership with Amazon and has found them to be very easy to work with and possessing the utmost of integrity. I have some questions for The Authors Guild:
- Does the robotic voice of the Kindle threaten The Authors Guild professional book readers? I would encourage the professional readers to show confidence in their skilled craft and not be afraid of the Kindle robotic voice. No one wanting an audio book would find the Kindle text-to-speech entertaining or enjoyable to listen to. Blind people find it necessary and are used to listening to less than optimal speech technologies. I don’t think sighty would use the feature. Whatever you do keep the Zane Grey westerns coming with your so very talented readers that will entertain generations to come.
- Should assistive technology not be allowed because of The Authors Guild rights? Should all assistive technologies be eliminated because of copyright laws? Amazon is not charging extra for the text-to-speech feature. They are trying to make the text accessible. I don’t see a rights grab.
- Has the Kindle copied the audio books in intent, quality or packaging? Again, I would hope The Authors Guild products would have a higher quality reading for entertainment purposes. If not, I would suggest that The Authors Guild find some new readers and not worry about copyright violations.
- What is the process for certifying vision impaired users to use the text-to-speech feature of the Kindle? Will the Kindle provide a retina scan, (I am being facecious), or force me to electronically sign a legal agreement everytime I listen to a book? Will I need a doctor’s note?
I would like to encourage The Authors Guild to think seriously about their litigation. Please don’t do anything that would take this Amazon Kindle feature from the visually impaired. I finally have a device that I can use to access text. Thank you Amazon for caring about the blind!
Amazon Commits to Kindle Accessibility
Amazon has openly discussed supporting additional accessibility features for low vision users of the Kindle. Some of my requests include:
- Provide low light support – provide a white background for higher contrast.
- Allow for larger font size selections.
- Support font enlargement for lists and menu items.
- Provide text-to-speech support for menu items.
- Ensure that the Author’s Guild does not impact any of the existing text-to-speech features.
I encourage any and all who feel strongly about keeping the text-to-speech feature in Kindle to contact the Author’s Guild via email, or use the below contact information.
The Authors Guild
31 East 32nd Street, 7th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Phone: (212) 563-5904
Fax: (212) 564-5363
The Mythical Apple iPad
There have been many blog posts in the last few days suggesting that Applie is working on a new mobile device. CNET had a very good summary article of these posts this morning. Some of the articles even have mocked up art work suggesting what the device looks like. This mid-sized mobile device is reported to be bigger than an iPhone, but smaller than a Mac Book. Some have named the device, the iPad, a device that’s more portable than notebooks and lacks a keyboard.
It would be great if someone could produce a mobile device that could replace a collection of devices we typically use now. Such a device could be very helpful to low vision users: It would be great if the iPad had these features:
- A higher resolution and larger touch screen to better display images and videos.
- Enhanced touch screen gestures that to eliminate visual buttons, icons and user interface controls.
- Enhanced screen technology to work in both low light and bright light environments.
- Enhanced on-screen keyboard support for application specific situations.
- Superior speech-to-text and text-to-speech application interfaces.
- Higher function zoom application support for all applications.
- A pedestrian and vehicle mode real time GPS application
- Support for Mac OS and the App Store for new applications.
- Support for both Sony and Kindle book reader applications.
- Additional Safari browser shortcuts for low vision users, (such as pop-up tags to jump to primary focus areas of the page).
- Support for assistive technologies for WCAG 2.0.
This would be a really neat device and could reduce the load in our computer bags. Being a gadget nerd, I would buy it if the price were below $500. Apple would really have a hot item. The support for low vision users would benefit all users. Let’s hope the rumors are true.
iPhone 3.0 Accessibility
iPhone Mail screen
Apple has not yet released any iPhone 3.0 accessibility information. I love my iPhone, but I have some recommendations for improving the UI for low vision users.
- In the Mail app, why not allow users to zoom the header of the e-mail message. If a user needs to zoom the body, wouldn’t they need to zoom the header information?
- In the settings, why not allow the user to set the font size for all applications? Why only allow font size settings for just some of the applications?
- Add text to speech. It would be nice to have a screen reader.
- The youTube application could use closed captioning.
- The iPhone screen shuts off when close to your ear, (or face), when talking on the phone. This makes it hard for low vision users to use other applications while talking on the phone. I could plug in the ear phones to stop the screen from shutting off, but wouldn’t it be nice to have a setting to leave the screen on when using the phone?
- The Notes application could use some navigation help for low vision users.
- The Maps application could use a finger gesture magnifier, (like the one used to place the cursor in Mail).
- Maps could use voice navigation. You ask what for? Blind people don’t drive! (I have – it’s fun!) Well I navigate for other drivers a lot.
- I find the Blackberry text typing easier than with the iPhone. The Blackberry has a superior user defined dictionary for text replacement.
- There should be some application standards for button placement. For example, I find the Calendar buttons to close together at the top of the screen. I have trouble touching the “<” previous month button and the Calendars button. They are too close together. In other applications, the buttons are too small.
- Some of the application providers have selected low contrast UI elements. Standards are needed for this as well.
- It would be great if the App Store would designate applications as having met an “Accessibility” standard. Apple could help WIA write this standard.
Cognitive & Learning Disabilities Need (CC)
People with cognitive or learning disabilities, such as dyslexia and short-term memory deficit, need more general web accessibility solutions, which include providing a consistent design and using simplified language. For example, by using a template, a Web developer can reuse the same layout and design for each page, so a person with a cognitive disability can more easily navigate through a Web site. People with cognitive or learning disabilities can also benefit from redundant input, such as providing both an audio file and a transcript of a video. By simultaneously viewing the text and hearing it read aloud, they can take advantage of both auditory and visual skills to comprehend the material better.
DigitalChalk, Hunter College and IBM completed a Federal Government Department of Education, National Institute for Disabilities and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) grant to automate translation of audio/video speech to text for web based learning. This project used the speech to text software from IBM Research and the DigitalChalk learning platform to deliver closed captioning to the hard of hearing and cognitive learning disabled. This project was a technical success, according to Dr. David Vandergoot of Hunter College. Business issues remain a sticking point in bringing this technology to market. Hopefully, this solution will be brought to market soon.
The Future of Touch
CNET had an interesting artilce about the future of touch screen technologies. As with any new technology, innovation leads to acceptance, but I had some other questions.
- Standards – who is participating in touch screen user interface standards? Apple typically has not been interested in sharing its user interface technologies with others. Microsoft is not standards minded. Do we have to learn different touch screen gestures for all of our Operating Systems and devices? Can touch screen gestures be so obvious that standards are not needed?
- Applications – how can touch screen technologies be used for educational applications? Can people learn how to apply touch screen technologies without standards? Are there universal gestures that are not copyrighted that canbe used in all applications?
- Web Accessibility – how can touch screen technologies be integrated with other accessibility technologies? Can touch screen technologies be used with other assistive technologies to produce a better user interface? Can gestures be used to help blind users find user interface objects? Can gestures be used to provide blind users with ways to identify user interface objects?
- Alternatives – will device manufacturers provide alternatives to touch screen user interfaces? Apple has not done so for the iPhone. Other phone makers are following the iPhone.
It will be interesting to watch the role standards play as touch screen netbooks, phones and other devices become available in the marketplace.
IBM Interviews Judy Brewer of WAI
IBM interviewed Judy Brewer of the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI). The WAI just released the WCAG 2.0 standard for Web Accessibility. Judy discussed the accomplishments of WCAG 2.0. Below is a snip from the interview.
There are many improvements in WCAG 2.0, which W3C/WAI finalized in December 2008, as compared with the previous version.
- WCAG 2.0 can be applied to any technology used on the Web, so it is more flexible for developers. For instance, WCAG 2.0 allows the use of scripting. WCAG 2.0 therefore opens up all types of Web content to be more accessible for people with disabilities and older users.
- The provisions in WCAG 2.0 can be more precisely tested. This enables developers to know when they have met the requirements of the standard.
- WCAG 2.0 was tested successfully across a broad range of Web technologies, languages, and types of Web sites before it was finalized; so, developers can use it with confidence.
- WCAG 2.0 is accompanied by extensive technical materials that provide developers with proven design approaches, but which also allow developers to use their own innovations to meet the requirements of WCAG 2.0, and to share their innovations with other developers.
- WCAG 2.0 was developed with input and implementation experience from all over the world. It is expected to become the unifying standard for Web content accessibility.
Item 4 above is of particular interest. No one will have an excuse not to implement WCAG 2.0. There are resources and samples available to help any development effort. If you have not read the IBM interview it is worth the time, ( WCAG 2.0 and the Future of Web Accessibility). Great post IBM!