February 14, 2006
Perhaps it’s a little early to mention, but Austin (Texas) based accessibility group Knowbility are putting together a special two-day web accessibility training session entitled Access U 2006. From their site:
An intensive, two-day training conference to provide professional web masters all they need to know about how and why to create web sites that meet federal, state, and industry mandates for accessibility. Accessibility University will help you develop policy, meet standards, understand how to use testing tools and much much more. You will have the unequalled opportunity to meet accessibility experts and learn from them how to ensure that your on-line applications are accessible to everyone.
Registration is open now.
February 12, 2006
With all the hoo-ha currently taking place over the Target.com
case (including
some
rather surprising comments from the web design and building community),
perhaps it’s worth remembering that in the world of web accessibility we’re
not solely concerned with blind users. I was recently sent a note from Jesper
Rønn-Jensen regarding a post on his blog, and I thought it was worth
repeating here:
25% of all web users are disabled
At least that’s what the Danish Center for Accessibility have claimed. The
point they make (and admittedly it’s not a new one) is that there are many
other factors at play that can affect how usable or accessible your web site
may be. Whether you agree with the definition of accessibility here, it’s still
a timely reminder that there are a lot of people out there who may have issues
with how your web site works.
So, do your best now. That includes you too, Target.
Publicly Available Specification (PAS) 78 has been developed by the Disability Rights Commission (DRC) in collaboration with BSI. This PAS outlines good practice in commissioning websites that are accessible to and usable by disabled people.
1-Day Launch event - How to Enhance Your e-Business, 8 March 2006, Novotel London West, London W6
Launching Publicly Available Specification (PAS) 78 - Guide to Good Practice in Commissioning Accessible Websites
Utilising the Latest Guidelines on Website Accessibility to Underpin Your Company’s Business Strategy and Optimize Returns
More information about the event is available from the BSI Business Information page on PAS 78.
The fourth annual Visionary Design Awards, sponsored by Barclays, will be held at the Russell Hotel, London on Thursday 2 March 2006.
Red Dwarf and Scrapheap Challenge star Robert Llewellyn will host the awards ceremony, which will recognise achievement in accessible web design.
Awards will be made for best practice in accessible design of websites for children, young adults, public sector, commercial enterprises, voluntary sector, and news and information. There will also be a presentation of a Special Award for Innovation to a website which is accessible but has also excelled in creating a unique and interesting experience for the visitor too.
For further information on the Visionary Design Awards please contact Claire Briscoe, Press and PR Officer on 0161 355 2050 or via email at claire.briscoe@nlbuk.org
See the NLB’s Visionary Design site for further details.
February 9, 2006
A US retail chain has found itself up in court in California over its inaccessible web site. The National Federation of the Blind have claimed discimination by the retail giant and are looking at raising a class action on behalf of all blind Californians who want to use the site. It looks like this one could be a biggie, as far as ‘quotable’ accessibility cases go. I particularly like the way that NBC news explain the technical side of things, asserting that Target.com "fails to include features such as an invisible code embedded beneath images that would enable blind customers to use the screen-reading software." Once again, the most basic accessibility requirement - and one that is just so darn easy to fix - has been overlooked. Much to Target’s inconvenience. I’ll be watching this one with interest.
Spotted over at Matt Bailey’s accessibility blog:
The Blind Access Journal is rising up to ask Google to give them access. [...] The Blind Access Journal has created an online petition for users to sign and request that Google come up with an option for their CAPTCHA (Visual Turing Test) or visual word confirmation.
Read the Blind Access Journal press release: Google Asked to Make Its Visual Word Verification Accessible.
January 20, 2006
Just a quick note from the rest of the team to say “congratulations” to Ian (founder of Accessify) and Manda, who are getting married today.
January 19, 2006
Is page source order important to screen reader users? Recently, the idea of placing the informational content of a web page before the navigation has gained some currency. This paper reports on our research into the relevance and importance of page source order, skip links and structural labels for screen reader users.
Read the results of the Source Order, Skip links and Structural labels research carried out by Roger Hudson, Russ Weakley and Lisa Miller, presented at the OZeWAI Conference, 9 December 2005.
See also:
January 15, 2006
If you’ll excuse the self-congratulatory trumpet blowing, Accessify has been named by Practical Web Design as a Star Site in the Online Tools section, where the magazine had this to say:
Not a legit word, but Accessify is certainly a useful site. From its Tools and Wizards page you can access five free accessibility tools, some of which are available for download, plus even more general web developer tools. Accessify.com has a busy forum where you can get feedback on your site accessibility. It also links you to other great accessibility resources with features, reviews, tutorials and wizards.
A warm welcome to all our new readers.
