Boosting New Media Boosting New Media Accessibility Accessibility Dr Scott HOLLIER Dr Scott HOLLIER Presentation for Web Directions South 2009 Presentation for Web Directions South 2009
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
Access issues include captioning, audio description,
computer-related and Internet-related access issues
3. Who am I?
Professional:
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:
Choice of media type: text, audio and video on demand
Real-time information delivery: Internet TV and radio
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
70% of the population
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.
Was this true?
12. Why your work is important
No!
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
How to resolve:
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
Toggle Keys
Mouse pointer size and movement
Mouse Lock and Toggle Keys
Change the colour scheme to high contrast
Show Sounds
On-screen keyboard
Magnifier
Narrator
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
Full-screen Zoom feature
Braille display support
However
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
Windows 7:
Full screen magnifier
Predictive text in on-screen keyboard
Works well on netbooks
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:
Perceivable (adjustable)
Operable (finding what you want)
Understandable (content)
Robust: (other technologies)
22. WCAG 2.0
Perceivable:
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
Operable:
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
Understandable:
Make text readable and understandable.
Make content appear and operate in predictable ways.
Help users avoid and correct mistakes.
Robust:
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
Two parts:
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
Editing views must be perceivable
Editing views must be operable
Editing views must be understandable
27. ATAG 2.0 (draft)
PART B: Support the production of accessible content
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 perception:
The technology cant support closed captions or audio
description.
30. Online video
The reality:
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
The perception:
Its all too hard and time-consuming.
32. Online video
The reality:
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
The perception:
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
The reality:
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
http://www.aware.org.au
36. Addressing the issues
AWARe home page:
37. Addressing the issues
AWARe Participate section
38. Further information
Large collection of web
resources:www.mediaaccess.org.au/newmedia