Via Russ’ entry over at web-graphics:

Bring on the tables

Roger Johansson’s surprisingly in-depth look at the correct way to mark up both simple and fairly complex data tables.

Accessible forms

Roger Hudson explains the basics of accessible forms (which, despite a few points which I don’t particularly agree with, is still a good read).

Andrew Arch (NILS) just let me know about an interesting statistic. The Australian Bureau of Statistics states:

“The 2003 SDAC (Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers) estimates that one in five Australians (3,951,000 or 20%) had a disability. This rate was the same for males and females. The rate increased with age, reaching 81% for those aged 85 years and over.”
http://www.abs.gov.au

As announced by Julie Howell:

RNIB Techshare 2004 highlights the role of technology in the everyday life of people with sight problems.

The conference will be held on 18-19 November 2004 at Jury’s Inn, Birmingham, UK.

Techshare will interest anyone wishing to learn more about accessible technology.

The main theme of Techshare 2004 is web accessibility.

Our keynote speakers are well-known names from the world of web accessibility:

18 November morning:

Judy Brewer, Directory, IBM Web Accessibility Initiative

Judy will share the latest news from WAI and will provide an update on the development of version 2.0 of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.

18 November afternoon:

Greg Pisocky, Adobe Systems

Adobe is working to make Adobe PDF files more accessible to blind and partially sighted people. In his keynote, Greg will describe how Adobe has worked with the American Foundation for the Blind to improve the accessibility of the company’s e-publishing products.

Greg will present an additional paper on 19 November: Achieving accessibility in PDF files with the new Adobe Acrobat

Techshare delegates will enjoy an extremely rare opportunity to listen to two of the world’s experts on web accessibility at the same conference.

Other papers on the theme of web accessibility:

Building an accessible transport website

Allison Tynan, Consultant, System Concepts Limited and Shane Snow, Customer Relations Manager, Transport Direct

IBM Web Adaptation Technology — an integrated client solution

David Banes, Director of Operations, AbilityNet

Journey to an accessible website

Alice Dryden, Website Developer and Marianne Lindfield, Website Manager, College of Occupational Therapists

Practical solutions to difficult web design problems

Crista Earl, Director of Web Operations and Elizabeth Neal, Web Content Manager, American Foundation for the Blind

The successful development of an accessible web authoring tool in cooperation with its partially sighted and blind users

John Norgaard, Technical Developer, Sonokids Foundation, Denmark and Phia Damsma, Creative Developer, Sonokids Foundation, the Netherlands

Web accessibility and disability — a practical introduction

Robin Christopherson, Web Consultancy Manager and Jon Gooday, Senior Consultant Assessor, AbilityNet

Web content accessibility guidelines: accessibility panacea or only part of the picture?

Ruth Loebl, Senior ICT Development Officer, RNIB

RNIB is also delighted to announce a one-day pre-conference workshop on PDF accessibility:

17 November: DIY accessible PDF: How to publish and not be damned

Presented by David Stevenson, Senior Consultant, Adobe and Jeremy Ali, Technology Officer, RNIB

Conference price: Full conference (two days) - £235; one day - £150; pre-conference workshop - £150

To find out more and book your place visit http://www.techshare.org.uk

6.30pm. 25 October 2004

The Melbourne Web Standards Group will be holding a presentation night with Steve Faulkner (NILS) and Brett Jackson (Fairfax Digital) as guest speakers.

Steve’s presentation is titled “Techniques for making forms more accessible”, whilst Brett will be presenting “Managing the transition to CSS/XHTML”.

Further information on the presentation night

On the 27th of August 2004, the Consultants Working Group “Barrier-free (accessible) Internet Technology” (BabIT - BeraterInnen-Arbeitskreis barrierefreie Internettechnologie) has met for the official start-up of activities in Cologne, Germany. […] We have set up this group in order to exchange knowledge, experience that we gain and encounter during our daily workflow or while working on projects from a web developer/web designer’s point of view. Further goals are to develop trainings and establish knowledge resources. Everyone who is interested is welcome to contact or join the working group.

Read the full press release (PDF). Via: Minz Meyer.

This course is not about creating unattractive ‘text only’ pages; accessible design is about designing for disabled people and non-disabled people. The training combines off-line discussion and learning, with online experience and examples - including hands-on experience of surfing websites with text browser, a screen reader and using the keyboard only.

See further information about the course content.

These full day workshops provide attendees with an introduction to accessibility issues in terms of Australian policy contexts and internationally recognised requirements, including the Online Council adoption of the World Wide Web Consortium’s Content Accessibility Guidelines. The workshops also provide a thorough overview of accessibility issues and how to address them along with an in-depth review of the World Wide Web Consortium’s Content Accessibility Guidelines and their implementation and a consideration of assessment tools and techniques.

These workshops are targeted at business managers, web-development team leaders and corporate communications professionals as well as content authors, web programmers and designers.

For more details, including registration instructions, visit the workshop site.

In early 2003, Microsoft Corporation commissioned Forrester Research, Inc., to conduct a comprehensive, two-part study (Phase I: The Market for Accessible Technology, and Phase II: Accessible Technology in Computing) to measure the current and potential market of accessible technology in the United States and understand how accessible technology is being used today.

The two documents are available, both in HTML and Word format, from Microsoft’s Accessibility section:

• The Wide Range of Abilities and Its Impact on Computer Use
• Accessible Technology in Computing?Examining Awareness, Use, and Future Potential

The key findings seem far from startling, but nonetheless an interesting read. For instance:

• Users seek solutions to make their computers easier to use, not for solutions based on their health or disability.
• Making accessibility options easier to discover and use will result in computers that are easier, more convenient, and more comfortable for computer users.

Thanks to Austin Govella for the heads-up.