AWARE-TECHNIQUES

A Ha... the beginning of a thread. (and there's other action going on too...
yeah!!!)

OK Lauren, you've got some questions. And you've raised some good points.
Sorta...

First, the web (in my mind) is not just a visual medium.  Oh sure, the
visual aspect of it takes front and center, but wasn't the promise of HTML
(in fact it's origins), that the content could be available regardless of
the user's platform?  You know, PCs, Macintosh, the many varieties of Unix,
etc.?  Yes, a picture is worth a thousand words, but it's the message which
is ultimately of importance isn't it? Not the way it was delivered.
Remember too that as we continue to rely on the web, newer and smaller
appliances are emerging which access information via the web, but not using
17" monitors (cell phones, PDA's etc.)

Two, accessibility _ISN'T_ just about making sites accessible to blind
people (although watching a blind person access the web is both humbling and
inspiring).  What about paraplegics?  The deaf?  Someone who's mother tongue
is not English, or who's cultural norms is not the same as yours or mine?

Think about this...  My dad is in his mid sixties.  His problem is that his
arms are shrinking... he can't hold the phone book far enough away to read
the numbers <grin>.  Yep, like many people his age, his vision is
diminishing.  He's not blind, but, well (sorry dad), getting old.  Now web
developer "Joe", using the latest technologies (no font tags anywhere), sets
his style sheet so that all of the text is outputted at 10 points, 'cause
it's a cool sight (why do cool sights always have to have small text?).  Now
my dad hit's Joe's cool site, and tries to increase the text so he can read
it... only he can't, because it's been locked down by Joe and Joe's style
sheet.  Who benefits here?  Had Joe used a scalable font setting (either as
a percentage or using the little known and even less understood "ems"), Dad
could have scaled up the text to the point that he could have read the
content.  Accessibility!

Here's another one (this one's my favourite).  I've been to web sites where
down at the bottom there's an icon of a hand, with one finger pointing (sort
of like a gun).  In my house growing up, if Dad stuck his finger out like
that, we all left the room, 'cause we knew what was coming next ("pull my
finger, pull my finger...").  Now 99.9% of the people reading this could
probably figure out that "in context", the icon I'm referring to meant "Next
Page"... but if that's the case, why not say so?  As a content developer, we
should never _presume_ that the next person reading our pages understands
and has lived the same history we have.  It's a great big world out there...

Colour Blinded ness... according to most experts, anywhere between 1 and 5
out of 100 American males suffer from some type of colour-blindness
(http://members.aol.com/nocolorvsn/color2.htm).  Therefore, relying on
colour alone to convey information may be shutting out close to 5% of your
sited audience.  That's an accessibility issue too.

OK John (she says), so you've made a point.  But isn't it a lot of extra
work?  Lauren, yes and no.  It's some extra work to be sure, but if you plan
for and develop to the guidelines, it's not really that hard.  The biggest
mistake you made in your response is thinking that there should be some kind
of parallel "accessible" content for those that need it, but the real issue
is that web developers must start to think about the issues in the planning
stages so that when they develop their content the issues are being
addressed up front.  It's a lot easier to plan for wheel chair ramps in new
building than it is to retro-fit buildings that were built in the 1800's.
The advantage we as web developer's have is that our creations are never
static... they are always changing and sooner or later we will be doing a
re-make of our existing site.  That's when we need to bring the issues to
the fore front.

So by now, I've tipped most of my hand.  Yes, I'm a believer, and yes, I
know about a lot of this stuff.  For me, the biggest issue is education...
teaching folks why this is important and correcting some false
pre-conceptions.  But at the same time, I'm hoping to see this list actually
take off.  There will be a real need for sharing of ideas and solutions to
hard questions, like how can we make data base driven info accessible?  When
the content is normally outputted dynamically, how do we address and
anticipate making it accessible for all?  Has anyone come across tools which
aid and assist web developers to achieve these goals? (I originally asked
about the M*crom*dia Seminars)  Who out there is prepare to help mentor
those developers who want to create accessible sites, but aren't sure how to
do (fill in the blank)?  Surely with section 508 being  a law for some time
now, real developers are dealing with real problems... what are they? (what
were they?) What solutions were employed to solve them?  To paraphrase (or
just plain plagiarize), it takes a village...

Let's go!

JF



-----Original Message-----
From: Lauren Hanka [mailto:bluejay(at)starband.net]
Sent: January 23, 2002 3:01 PM
To: John Foliot - Another 4:00 AM Web Thing
Subject: Re: Hello?


I'm here John, and have been watching with hesitated interest. Please, be
don't be disgusted, but I find accessibility issues annoying. Tell me why
one must study, on top of all the other studies that are required to keep up
with this ever-changing, and highly competitive field, to make a site
accessible for the visually impaired, when if this is desired, all that's
really needed, as far as I understand, is make a "text only" duplicate of an
existing site? Am I wrong? Short-sighted? After all, the Web, *is* a
visually based medium, as is television. Of course, I am in agreement that
easily accessible *information* be available for the visually impaired on
the net, just annoyed that a separate and specialized technique must be
learned and employed to make a basically visual site easier to see for the
visually impaired --it just doesn't make sense in the efficiency department.

On the other hand --since North American governments are establishing
compliancy requirements, and since there are so few designers with knowledge
in this area, I'm game to learn...

Just my quick, unguarded, and conflicting personal thoughts...
Lauren


----- Original Message -----
From: "John Foliot - Another 4:00 AM Web Thing" <foliot(at)fouram.com>
To: <aware-techniques(at)hwg.org>
Sent: Wednesday, January 23, 2002 10:31 AM
Subject: Hello?


> This appears to be the sleepiest list I've ever subscribed to.  What's the
> problem? Are there really no issues, or does nobody but a very small group
> of us actually care?
>
> - Yesterday I received an eMail from the good folk at M*crom*dia (names
> changed to protect the innocent) who have put on a travelling road show to
> demonstrate the accessibility features in a number of their applications
> (both graphic and code tools).  Has anyone been to any of these demos in
> their home town?  Is it worth investing half a day of dog and pony show?
> Inquiring minds want to know...
>
> - As a Canadian web developer located in Ottawa, Ontario, list members
might
> be interested in the following fact:  The Canadian Federal Government has
> mandated all federal web sites be compliant to the Level 1 and Level 2 WAI
> Guidelines, similar to the Section 508 statute in the US, but, to my
> understanding, stricter.  Can anybody confirm or deny this fact?
>
> - There is a dire need for developers who are both aware and able to code
to
> these standards... hint<wink>.  The Canadian government has provided a
> testing group to assist governmental employees who actually work on
federal
> sites (http://www.cio-dpi.gc.ca/clf-upe/1/wats/wats_e.asp) to help them
> identify and correct potential problems.  Attendees consistently ask if
> there are any "real time" support mechanisms out there.  I would love to
> recommend this list, but the last posting was dated October 8th, 2001.
>
> So, show of hands... is there anybody out there?
>
> JF
> Ottawa, Ont.
>
>
>
>

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