WebXACT from Watchfire (the maker's of Bobby)

Michael Cooper from Watchfire has been kind enough to join us on the forum to discuss the accessibility of their new accessibility checking tool WebXACT.

Accessify Forum: Watchfire: WebXACT

Austin Internet Rally (AIR) Sites for 2003 Announced

Thanks to James Craig for mentioning that the AIR 2003 sites are now live. For those that don't know about AIR, go check out the FAQs. Anyway, on with the post - if you are after examples of accessible sites that are visually appealing you could do worse than check out For The Children, Casa of Travis County, Austin Adaptive Sports and the Coalition of Texans with Disabilities.

The complete list of entries for this year are here, grouped into two categories - 'stock car' and 'formula one'. They're not all great - in fact some look downright awful - but take encouragement from the fact that people are trying.

Tables vs CSS for Layout Presentation

I can't think of any kind of visitor to this site who wouldn't be interested in seeing this presentation, the content is excellent, the design is really nice and it's also funny, check it out.

When you're done with it, discuss it in the forum.

Cheers,
Nigel.

Holding Out The Begging Bowl

Since I started Accessify I have never asked for anything in return for any of the articles, tools or anything else. I've simply enjoyed positive feedback and the feeling that I've been able to help in some way (as have others who also contribute to this site now). However ...

As some of you may know, I am taking a break soon - from the web (partially), from the UK (totally), from my job (which I have quit) - and am going to be going travelling around the world for a year. Accessify will carry on, though, and I have a babysitter all lined up for my absence. But to take this break I have not only quit the job, I've also remortgaged the house to finance the trip. It's all a little bit scary.

On this site, I've always proudly claimed that Accessify is a not-for-profit site, but I get many emails from people telling me how much time and effort I've saved them for one thing or another (mainly the tools and wizards on this site), and as I sit here contemplating a year without income, I wonder about how much I've helped others to profit from my sharing. With this in mind, I've decided that I should see how useful this site really is to you, the visitors.

If you use, or have used, any of the tools on this site and feel that I have saved you development time or cut down your learning curve, I'd really appreciate a donation (using Paypal). It's voluntary, of course. I don't know what the response will be, but if you value the site, you may be able to help me stay at a reasonable hostel (not hotel, hostel) rather than a crappy one every now and then - it's as simple as that!

I will be putting a donation button on all of the tools in the tools and wizards section, and there will be permanent link on the home page somewhere to make a donation. It's not something that I've ever done before, and it's not something that I would intend to keep once I am back in the UK and once more in gainful employment, but if this site is really useful for people in the interim it seems silly not to at least try to get something back from it.

Trust me, it's not in my nature to do this normally and I hope that visitors, regular or otherwise, don't think I'm trying to force people to pay for anything. It is totally voluntary.

Please note: This is entirely separate from the donation facility on AccessifyForum. Donations made on the forum go directly to Nigel for running/admin costs of the forum.

Thank you, all.

1-day Introduction to Accessibility

The Usability Company is now offering a one-day Accessibility Training course. The course aims to cover the most important issues surrounding accessibility on the Internet and Intranet and help managers (or anyone responsible for website development/success) to gain a clear understanding of the digital accessible arena. Course objectives are to help the attendee to:

• make sense of web accessibility by aggregating and clarifying the current issues, guidelines and legislations
• gain a clear understanding of the digital accessible arena
  • the key issues from a business, legal, technical and moral standpoint
  • the key guidelines and real world examples of problems and solutions
• receive clear advice on implementing a simple, practical and effective approach to accessibility on the Internet and Intranet within organisations and projects

We're not sure who's actually taking the course, but if you're interested, the next dates are 23 October 2003, 20 November 2003 and 16 December 2003.

2004 1 Day Courses In Sheffield

Added by Nigel.

If the above dates are no good to you and you're close to Sheffield you could always try a course I will be delivering in 2004 (but forgot to post about).

Another way of looking at accessibility

Lorraine Ireland contacted us about her experiences of learning about web accessibility, having been in the business of selling adaptive technology for a number of years. We thought that it deserved somewhere more public than a personal email, so here's what Lorraine had to say.

Discussion of: Another way of looking at accessibility

You Can't Beat This Beta

Get yourselves to Matthew Ogston's AccessibleNet.org and check out all the resources listed there. The site is currently a beta and Matthew is after any feedback that all you good people can provide. From the site itself:

AccessibleNet.org is an independent, online directory of links and resources about Web Accessibility.

Included are some of most popular, well-researched resources available in this field. New resources are always welcome and those that are accepted will be added to the directory. The database is updated daily with news, resources, reviews or ratings.

Topics are listed as follows:

• Books
• Campaigns and Initiatives
• Checklists
• Companies and Consultants
• Directories and Resources
• Disability Research
• Groups
• Journals
• Legal
• News
• Organisations
• Other Media
• People
• Policies
• Reference
• Standards and Guidelines
• Tools and Software
• Training and eLearning

Phew. Quite a list.

Canada: Satcom / WiFi POPs for Deaf and Hard of Hearing

As pointed out by Michael on the forum:

SkyFrames and The Canadian Hearing Society Sign Letter of Intent to Establish International Satellite WiFi Hotspots in Support of Deaf and Hard of Hearing People

Canadian Hearing Society and SkyFrames to Create Satcom / WiFi POPs for Deaf and Hard of Hearing

Discussion of: Canada: Satcom / WiFi POPs for Deaf and Hard of Hearing

Ouch! That's One In Yer Eye for RNIB

The RNIB has often come in for criticism in the past for 'hijacking' web accessibility (sometimes a little unfairly, I would say). And if it's not that it's something else - like this animated icon, for example:

On the BCAB list Leon Gilbert writes: "The average frame duration is just 2 tenths of a second, and you get about 3 seconds to read the whole thing. Which is surely likely to cause eye strain (ironic). & The whole animation is just 120 x 60 pixels in size & is set to loop just 3 times."

But Damon Rose (a writer on the BBC website's Ouch microsite) goes even further:

Does anyone ever go to the RNIB website anyway?

Isn't it really more aimed at sighted people who need reassurance and/or advice about elderly relatives? Or, more importantly, it's about fundraising!

I put it to you, fellow debaters, that the RNIB website, with its distancing weird language and its begging cup out, is not really there for its 'members' or users.

I would like to see a really good lifestyle hub for blind people that doesn't give me details about how bad my glaucoma might get ... But might tell me the latest talking books being recorded are so I can look forward to it.

Come on RNIB, make this website blind friendly in content as well as in design innit!

Is the RNIB so bad? And if it is, what other content-rich sites that are aimed at the blind do you recommend?

Julie Howell Interview

I've just published my interview with Julie Howell at the RNIB:
An Interview with Julie Howell of the RNIB.

Discussion of: Julie Howell Interview

A Workaround to That MS Update

As you have probably read elsewhere (e.g. Tom Gilmore, Jeffrey Zeldman, WaSP, What Do I Know), Microsoft have revealed how they are going to cripple their browser in an attempt to avoide infringing the patent that they have already been sued a cool $500m+ for. There is developer documentation already available out there - Apple have already provided the following:

• Creating the Best User Experience for Active Web Content
• Authoring Websites for Compatibility with Internet Explorer for Windows FAQ
• Preparing Websites with Active Content for Upcoming Changes to Internet Explorer for Windows

One of the recommendations is to use an external script to write the <embed> tag - this is quite common practice anyway, normally for reasons of sniffing for the correct version of a plug-in and serving the appropriate content. However, others may need to convert plain old HTML into a script. And here's where we can help ...

First things first: putting anything into a <script> block causes accessibility problems - what if scripts are turned off? What if the browser does not support scripting? Well, I take a pragmatic approach - that being that the majority of content that would be linked in this manner is likely (but not certain) to be largely inaccessible anyway. If this does not ring true to you, I apologise. But if we take it that we're looking at embedding Flash, it's highly unlikely to be fully accessible. I won't run through all the reasons why here - let's get to the point!

If you do decide to embed an external file such as a Flash movie, and you do decide to use a <script> block to do that, be sure to make proper use of the <noscript> element. But hey, you knew that anyway, right?

Anil Dash writes today: "I'd guess most companies will start seeing a rash of error reports ("Why do I get a popup on your site?") around January, and then they'll want to start moving all their OBJECT tags to javascript document.writes. Macromedia's announced that they'll be creating a tool to automate this, I assume Microsoft will as well, and it would seem likely for Real and Apple's QuickTime group to follow suit."

Well, there's already one such tool available on this very site - HTML to JavaScript convertor.

As an example, here's a before-and-after, performed simply by copying/pasting and pressing one button:

<OBJECT CLASSID="yahtzee.py" CODETYPE="application/x-python" STANDBY="Ready to play Yahtzee?" TITLE="My Yahtzee Game">
</OBJECT>
<OBJECT CLASSID="java:Yahtzee.class" CODETYPE="application/java" WIDTH=400 HEIGHT=250 STANDBY="Ready to play Yahtzee?" TITLE="My Yahtzee Game">
</OBJECT>
<OBJECT DATA="yahtzee.gif" TYPE="image/gif" TITLE="A Yahtzee animation" WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=100>
Yahtzee is my <EM>favorite</EM> game!
</OBJECT>

Gets converted to:

<script language="JavaScript" type="text/javascript">
<!--
function writeJS() {
var str='';
str+='<OBJECT CLASSID="yahtzee.py" CODETYPE="application\/x-python" STANDBY="Ready to play Yahtzee?" TITLE="My Yahtzee Game">';
str+='<\/OBJECT>';
str+='<OBJECT CLASSID="java:Yahtzee.class" CODETYPE="application\/java" WIDTH=400 HEIGHT=250 STANDBY="Ready to play Yahtzee?" TITLE="My Yahtzee Game">';
str+='<\/OBJECT>';
str+='<OBJECT DATA="yahtzee.gif" TYPE="image\/gif" TITLE="A Yahtzee animation" WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=100>';
str+='Yahtzee is my <EM>favorite<\/EM> game!';
str+='<\/OBJECT>';
str+='';
document.write(str);
}
writeJS();
//-->
</script>


It's a basic tool, admittedly, but it may be useful for some. I leave you to decide.

AccessifyForum.com: European Legislation

mikea has provided a nice overview of the European legislation on the forum:
AccessifyForum.com: European Legislation

Accessible Showcase

Some time ago I put together a small article demonstrating that accessible sites did not need to be pig-ugly - they could actually be things of beauty! Initially, I was hoping to get examples of large corporate sites but I've since come to the conclusion that this is about as likely as me growing a second head. Nevertheless, I have been sent lots of examples of accessible sites that a worth a look, but there's just one thing to clarify ...

A CSS-based site does not automatically mean an accessible one. Some people have pointed this out to me before, as it is not clear from the previous article that this is the case. It just so happens that the sites are both accessible and table-free CSS-based designs.A table-based design may actually be far more accessible for a large audience - for example, the content may have far more navigation tools to take you around the page and the content may be excellent, well-written copy that is totally relevent to the person browsing the site and as such may be far better than a CSS-based layout.

There's no hard-and-fast rule, but the general trend seems to be that the people who have taken steps to learn how to make a site accessible usually don't stop at simply providing alt attributes and providing <noscript> elements - they invariably go 'the whole hog' and take the accessible site to its extreme. Thus nearly all of the sites submitted will work on a handheld almost as well as they might on a PC/Mac. Anyway, now that I've got that disclaimer out of the way, shall we look at what I've been sent?

Each of the entries below include quotes from the people who submitted the URLs - I leave it up to you to decide how genuine the claims are or whether!

• Trinity College Oxford [Matthew ... erm ... something]. Matthew suggested this site as well as his version of an Odeon cinema listings site: "An example of how they could do things properly"
• BHP Billiton [David McDonald]. "We tried to reach Priority Level 1 of the W3C WCAG and I think we came fairly close. The site can be read in text only browsers. There are alternate links to the site map and the content areas for navigation using non-javascript browsers. Font size can be altered by the user and we used access keys for all forms. The forms can also be sumbitted by non-javascript browsers. Tabbed navigation via the keyboard is also enabled.". The problem is that on my browser - Firebird 0.6 - the navigation failed to work completely. Ah well
• Kokhaviv Publications [Alexander Becker]. "Kokhaviv publications is a non-profit, Germany-based think-tank: 15.000+ pages; XHTML 1.0 Strict & CSS; 50+ RDF-feeds; Section 508-accessibility ... The redesign is still in progress and performed live."
• Guru Instruction [Scott Kosman]. "... a completely standards-compliant, accessible site ... I was contracted to rebuild their website a few weeks ago. Their old site was filled with kludgy DHTML hacks and 1998-era browser sniffers. Now it's all built in XHTML 1.0 Transitional code, and has been getting really good reviews from studetns, faculty, and other industry personnel."
• Quote.com [Bryan O'Neill]. "I used to be the designer for this site, which just released using web standards. I've gotten feedback from a visually-impaired user, so I guess that means we did something correct." More information on the project available here.
• Web Solutions [Bob Sawyer]. "WebSolutions of Georgia recently underwent a major redesign, adding in accessibility features in addition to a tableless, css-based layout." [Ian comments - "I like this one!"]
• University of Minnesota Duluth [Laura Carlson] "I originally designed and created this web site in 1998. Since then I have continually update the maintained the site. This past summer I redesigned the site with a version of our new campus templates in mind. My goals [were to make it] XHTML Strict, WCAG Triple A (AAA) plus 508 (the old pages were just 508) and no layout tables (positioning via css floats)"
• Hexatex [Sasa Velickovic] "It could be more accessible, but I think our site is more accessible than the majority of sites of Web design agencies." [Ian comments: "Possibly ... but possibly not. I don't see any skip navigation links and the design is OK but not up to the standard that design agencies would insist upon"]
• More sites have been submitted in the forum discussion ...

Ian's Getting Married

Ian hasn't mentioned it here so I thought I would, Ian's popped the question. Congratulations and good luck.