On 2006.04.28, I had the honour of addressing Iceweb 2006 in ReykjavÃk, Iceland’s first Web-development conference. My topic was Ajax accessibility. I knew nothing about it, so I ran some user tests and presented original research.
See Joe Clark’s Iceweb 2006 speaking notes and user testing results.
There’s something of an oxymoron going on there in the heading. Can you spot it? The words ‘accessibility’ and ‘AJAX’. They really are not the best of bed fellows, as many people have discovered. However, although many of us web professionals just ‘kinda know’ that AJAX is bad for web accessibility, when pushed many would not be able to say exactly why or how certain screen readers cope with content that’s been changed using AJAX (or using DOM Scripting methods that don’t make use of AJAX at all). One man who can claim to know a bit about it is James Edwards (aka Brothercake):
Over the last few months (and earlier) I’ve been involved in researching how the leading screen readers and other assistive devices respond to JavaScript: what kinds of events they generate or respond to, and under what circumstances. The research is based at Access Matters , and coordinated by Bob Easton, Derek Featherstone, Mike Stenhouse and myself.
In addition to that, I did a great deal of primary research for my recently published book, The JavaScript Anthology . The research was designed to find out how assistive devices respond to scripts that update the DOM periodically or asynchronously, such as the items in a scrolling news-ticker, or responses to an XMLHttpRequest.
The above is an excerpt from an article that James has published on Sitepoint entitled AJAX and Screenreaders: When Can it Work? which I strongly advise all web professionals to read and absorb. Even if you’re not currently doing ‘cool’ things with AJAX, you should read it so that you are aware of the impact of any future development work, should you choose to go down that road. Top work, James.
This is cross-posted at webstandards.org. If you have any comments, please add them over there
A Last Call Working Draft of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 (WCAG 2.0) as well as two supporting documents were published 27 April 2006. W3C strongly encourages broad community review of this Last Call Working Draft, and submission of comments on any issues which you feel could present a significant barrier to future adoption and implementation of WCAG 2.0.
(Note that only the WCAG 2.0 is in Last Call and only the WCAG 2.0 will become a Recommendation.
Understanding WCAG 2.0andTechniques for WCAG 2.0are being developed to support WCAG 2.0, and will be released as Working Group Notes when WCAG 2.0 becomes a Recommendation.)In particular, we encourage you to comment on the conformance model and success criteria. Reviewers are encouraged to provide suggestions for how to address issues as well as positive feedback, and commitments to implement the guidelines. This message contains information on the documents and how to comment.
Comments should be received on or before 31 May 2006. Comments should be made in one of four formats:
- online form,
- downloadable excel form,
- downloadable html form, or
- downloadable text form.
Instructions and downloadable files for comments on WCAG 2.0 Last Call Working Draft.
WCAG 2.0 addresses accessibility of Web content for people with disabilities. It will apply to a wider range of Web technologies than WCAG 1.0, and is intended to be understandable to a wider audience.
Note: Until WCAG 2.0 becomes a W3C Recommendation, WCAG 1.0 will continue to be the current and stable document to use. Most Web sites that conform to WCAG 1.0 should not require significant changes in order to conform to WCAG 2.0, and may not need any changes.
This 27 April 2006 release of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 is a Last Call Working Draft by the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines Working Group (part of the Web Accessibility Initiative). Publication as a Last Call Working Draft indicates that the WCAG WG believes it has addressed all substantive issues and that the document is stable (see below for more information on subsequent stages). The first public Working Draft of WCAG 2.0 was published 25 January 2001. Since then, the WCAG WG has published nine Working Drafts, addressed more than 1,000 issues, and developed a variety of supporting resources for the guidelines.
A good place to start a review of WCAG 2.0 is with the
Overview of Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0documents. The Overview explains the relationships between WCAG 2.0 and the supporting documents, and links to the current version of each document.The documents published on 27 April 2006:
The WCAG WG believes that after Last Call, WCAG 2.0 will be ready to move on to the remaining stages of the W3C Recommendation Track Process:
- Candidate Recommendation - when the WCAG WG will collect implementation experience on use of WCAG 2.0 to design and evaluate Web content for accessibility;
- Proposed Recommendation - when W3C will seek endorsement of the specification from W3C Member organizations;
- Recommendation - when WCAG 2.0 will be published by W3C as a technical report appropriate for widespread deployment and the promotion of W3C’s mission.
Note that the WCAG WG will start collecting implementation examples early in the Last Call review period. Please visit the WAI home page for more information.
Just a brief heads- up - I have given CSS Mastery a (slightly overdue) review. For anyone who’d been debating whether to buy a copy or not, perhaps this will tip the scales a little.
I had to flag this one up - a great example of a company that seems to ‘get it’ (on one hand) but then manages to foul it up at the same time. What’s wrong with this picture? It’s clear for all to see. Or rather it’s not.
The Web Standards Project Accessibility Task Force has finally released its ambitious manifesto:
- We will work ceaselessly to demonstrate that accessibility and well-formed markup can go hand-in-hand with effective interactivity, branding and aesthetics.
- We will demand more from our tools. All of them. We will push for browsers, media players and assistive technology to support UAAG, and for WYSIWYG code editors, CMSes, blogging tools, converters and media tools to support ATAG.
- We will impartially attempt to engage all vendors in constructive dialogue to help them support web standards and thereby enhance accessibility.
- We will strive to educate corporations and their web developers, so that they can make informed decisions without falling prey to “Accessibility Snake Oil Salesman”.
- We will work closely with other WaSP Task Forces and relevant Working Groups such as the WCAG WG to develop reliable patterns and methodologies for developing standards-compliant, interactive and accessible web sites that work consistently for users with disabilities.
- Finally, when a vendor is unwilling to engage and willfully continues to pursue discriminatory practices, we will use the resources we have available to force the issue.
Don’t forget that the Web Standards Project is first and foremost a grassroots coalition. We’re part of the global community of web designers and developers, and we appreciate and value the community’s input and support. So get in touch if you have any issues, ideas or suggestions!
Location: Novotel, West London, W6
This introductory-level, practical and non-technical conference will explain the content and best usage of Publicly Available Specification (PAS) 78 - guidance which enables you to effectively request and implement accessible, usable websites which can:
With an aging population, and the untapped spending power of disabled people, it makes good business and legal sense to ensure your site is accessible.
The PAS, developed by BSI for the Disability Rights Commission (DRC), has just been published and applies to all organizations that provide or sell products and/or services on line.
Attend this event to gain the advantage for your organization - be among the first to learn:
Who should attend?
To book your place call +44 (0)20 8996 9001 or email seminars@bsi-global.com
For more details, see the BSI PAS 78 conference information page.
Friday 28th April
6.30pm for 6.45pm, followed by drinks and networking at 8:00
Prudential Group Head Office, Laurence Pountney Hill, London, EC4R 0HH
Free for UPA members, £10 for Non UPA members (£5 for students)
Last month, the Disability Rights Commission and the British Standards Institute launched PAS 78: Guide to good practice in commissioning accessible web sites. The guide puts user-centred design at the heart of accessibility and will change the way site owners think about accessibility.
This is your chance to put questions to some of the people involved in writing and reviewing PAS 78 and debate how it will change the landscape. What are the practical implications of PAS 78? What will it mean for designers, developers and testers? How should usability professionals prepare?
The meeting will take the form of a panel discussion with questions from the floor.
To reserve your place, email events@ukupa.org.uk with your name, affiliation and stating whether you are a UPA member or not. If you do not specify membership, it will be assumed that you are not a member.
If you are allocated a place and then cannot attend, please let us know so that someone else can take it.
Over on A List Apart (which apparently has had some kind of colour shift with the changing of the seasons, although you’d be hard pushed to tell) is a cracking article entitled A More Accessible Map, in which Seth Duffey demonstrates how to create a CSS-based, semantically rich map that shows information about cities of the world when you tab to or hover the link. What struck me about the article is the way the author neatly steps through the process from the most basic data requirements up to the full-blown visual version, then finally recapping in English the various steps that he went through (similar to the way that Jeremy Keith does in his Dom Scripting Book). If only the real mapping services would (or could) approach online maps in the same standards-friendly and visually appealing manner.
Reposted from the earlier news item.
Just a quick note to give you first option on the next MDAWG which will be on Thursday 20th April at 18:00 at the MDDA premises as usual.
We have just secured a presentation from Julie Howell, Digital Policy Manager for the RNIB, who was very heavily involved with the development of PAS 78.
Rescheduled: to accommodate the rather heavy demands on Julie Howell’s time, the presentation has been brought forward. We will now be starting a little earlier at 15:45 pm in the Cube Gallery next door to the MDDA on the 20th April. This is one to be very prompt for as Julie has very little time and will be starting at 16:00.