Boosting new media accessibility - Scott Hollier
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This talk focuses on the efforts engaged by W3C and its members to promote and improve web standards and in particular HTML 5 with mechanisms to allow people with disabilities to access multimedia content, including audio and video.Scott will present the current user experiences of accessibility and the challenges of getting uptake in government. This would include the take-up of W3C access standards within government, use of WCAG and ATAG by developers, the technical challenges of video-specific implementations of captioning and audio description, and ways in which such challenges can be better addressed through the involvement of Internet users.
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- 1. Boosting New Media AccessibilityDr Scott HOLLIER
Presentation for Web Directions South 2009
2. Who is Media Access Australia?
- Not-for-profit organisation addressing access issues in:
- Access issues include captioning, audio description,
computer-related and Internet-related access issues
3. Who am I?
-
- Project Manager New Media, Media Access Australia
-
- Advisory Committee member of the W3C
- Academic: PhD thesis examined ways to make computers and the
Internet more accessible to people with disabilities
- Personal: Legally blind, first-hand knowledge of access
issues
4. Introduction
- Why should you care for the IT needs of people with
disabilities?
- Brief history of access: benefits and barriers
- User perspective: how do people with disabilities use computers
and the Internet?
- Developer perspective: W3C, WCAG 2.0 and ATAG 2.0 (draft)
- Online video: perception and the reality
- How MAA can support your development projects
5. What is new media?
- New Media used to be about the emergence of digital
technologies: now its about convergence
- MAA looks at new media in terms of usability and
accessibility
- Usability is generally associated with intuitiveness and ease
of use.
- Accessibility focuses on application and design issues
specifically for people with disabilities.Usability is an important
part of accessibility
6. Cases for accessibility
- Moral/Social case: care for others in society, good thing to
do
- Educational case: accessible online resources leads to improved
educational opportunities, then to a reductions in unemployment and
poverty
- Corporate case: inaccessibility may prevent customers from
purchasing goods and services
- Legal case: danger of being sued if accessibility not
considered (SOCOG, Target USA, HSBC)
7. Brief history of access
- For the mainstream population, Internet was viewed primarily as
an information and communication resource
- For people with disabilities, Internet was viewed as a gateway
to independence
8. Where we are
- Today, both mainstream and people with disabilities view the
Internet as an essential service due to:
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- Choice of media type: text, audio and video on demand
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- Real-time information delivery: Internet TV and radio
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- Real-time AV communication: Skype
-
- Collaboration: Cloud computing and social networking
9. Access issues
- Although these products sound great, people with disabilities
are 18% less likely to have any form of Internet access in the
home.Issues include:
-
- Broadband access remains poor
-
-
- 30% of people with core disabilities
-
- Website accessibility issues (social networking)
10. Access issues
-
- Limited captioning and audio description availability
-
- Cloud computing:some good hardware options (netbooks) but still
access issues with phones/PDAs/online applications and OS.
11. Why your work is important
- Initial premise of PhD study: people with disabilities are not
using the Internet as much as the able-bodied population because
they try to access computers and the Internet, but give up after
running into barriers.
12. Why your work is important
- People surveyed were aware of importance of IT and highly
knowledgeable
- Although there were barriers, they dont give up and continue to
fight for access
-
- Communication and engagement between developers and the end
user is the key
-
- Improvements to policy and legislative frameworks
13. User experience
- Today, people with disabilities generally use assistive
technologies to help use a computer
- Assistive Technology is the practical implementation of
technology to support and help people
- OS contains many tools, but additional products often required
for full featured access
- AT software costs about $1200-$2000
14. Windows XP/Vista features
- Change the icon and text size
- Adjust cursor width and blink rate
- Mouse pointer size and movement
- Mouse Lock and Toggle Keys
- Change the colour scheme to high contrast
15. Additional Windows products
- Screen reader (JAWS, Window Eyes)
- Screen magnifier (ZoomText, MAGic)
16. Mac features
- Improvements over Windows XP/Vista:
- Improved screen reader VoiceOver
- VoiceOver doesnt work with the Office suite (only works with
Cocoa apps)
- Hit-and-miss with Safari, although improved with Snow
Leopard
17. Whats changing?
- Mainstream options reducing the need for expensive assistive
technology products
-
- Predictive text in on-screen keyboard
- Free screen readers: WebAnywhere, NVDA
- Netbooks becoming 3G and touch-capable
- Reliance on collaboration and the cloud
- iPhone 3GS with VoiceOver now an option
18. Web development
- World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) formed by Tim Berners-Leein
1992
- Initially inaccessible as AT products couldnt read out
graphics
- Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 published in 1999,
became definitive standard for web accessibility
- 65 checkpoints across three Priority levels
19. WCAG 2.0
- Original WCAG very HTML-specific, became rapidly outdated
- In 2001, WCAG 2.0 working group formed
- Shift in focus from developer code compliance to user task
achievement
20. WCAG 2.0 controversy
- Development process went for seven long years:
-
- To Hell With WCAG 2: a frustrated Joe Clark felt that 165 pages
for the easy to understand manual was too obscure, vague, and a
backwards step
-
- To Hell With Joe Clark by Martin Kliehm felt that WCAG 2.0
simplified the issues, provided achievable goals and better
supported new web technologies
21. WCAG 2.0
- Released in December 2008
- Although WCAG 1.0 still used in Australia, 2.0 quickly adopted
in US, EU
- Based around four POUR design principles:
-
- Operable (finding what you want)
-
- Robust: (other technologies)
22. WCAG 2.0
- Provide text alternatives for non-text content.
- Provide captions and alternatives for audio and video
content.
- Make content adaptable; and make it available to assistive
technologies.
- Use sufficient contrast to make things easy to see and
hear.
23. WCAG 2.0
- Make all functionality keyboard accessible.
- Give users enough time to read and use content.
- Do not use content that causes seizures.
- Help users navigate and find content.
24. WCAG 2.0
- Make text readable and understandable.
- Make content appear and operate in predictable ways.
- Help users avoid and correct mistakes.
- Maximize compatibility with current and future
technologies.
25. Application development
- W3C also provides the Authoring Tool Accessibility
Guidelines
- ATAG 2.0 supports WCAG 2.0, but still in draft
-
- PART A: Make the authoring tool user interface accessible
-
- PART B: Support the production of accessible content
26. ATAG 2.0 (draft)
- PART A: Make the authoring tool user interface accessible
-
- Authoring tool user interfaces must follow applicable
accessibility guidelines
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- Editing views must be perceivable
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- Editing views must be operable
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- Editing views must be understandable
27. ATAG 2.0 (draft)
- PART B: Support the production of accessible content
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- Production of accessible content must be enabled
-
- Authors must be supported in the production of accessible
content
-
- Accessibility solutions must be promoted and integrated
28. Online video
- Most online video lacks accessibility features
- Many arguments as to why its not possible
- Perception and reality are different
29. Online video
- The technology cant support closed captions or audio
description.
30. Online video
- Flash, Windows Media, Real, QuickTime and open standards all
support closed captions.Internet Captioning
Forum:http://ncam.wgbh.org/icf/tech.php
- Only Windows Media doesnt support multiple audio tracks for AD,
but Microsoft have released AMP to resolve
this:http://www.codeplex.com/amp
31. Online video
- Its all too hard and time-consuming.
32. Online video
- CaptionTube: an easy way to caption YouTube
clipshttp://captiontube.appspot.com
- Captions can be saved back onto local machine, dont have to be
put on YouTube
- If uploaded to YouTube, captions can be translated in real-time
to different languages
33. Online video
- Theres no point:hardly anyone is captioning online, and online
audio description is like the Yeti: you hear about it but no one's
ever seen it.
34. Online video
- BBC iPlayer now features both closed captions and audio
description
- In a nutshell: if TV shows are already captioned, it can be
easily included online
- HTML 5 info in Silvias presentation up next
35. AWARe
- AWARe: Australian Web Access Review
- 5 websites per month for testing
- Answer some simple questions
- MAA will take data to government, industry to create
change
- Forum to discuss access issues
36. Addressing the issues
37. Addressing the issues
- AWARe Participate section
38. Further information
- Large collection of web
resources:www.mediaaccess.org.au/newmedia