AbilityNet

Inclusive use of ITBilly Courtney

Assessment Service Manager

2012

Agenda

Introduction to AbilityNet

Why Accessibility

Web Accessibility Issues

Assistive Technology

Q&A

Introduction to AbilityNet

Our vision is a world where accessible IT is available to improve the quality of life for those with disabilities and

accessibility needs.

We are the UK’s leading charity on IT accessibility and helping organisations benefit from IT and the Internet

25+ years assessing people’s accessibility needs:

Personal assessments

Advice and information

Equipment loan, supply and support

10+ years helping organisations

Deliver accessible, usable websites

Software and associated IT

AbilityNet Services

Why Accessibility

In Europe more than 300 million people have a disability. Over 10 million in the UK, plus our ageing population

The groups that have specific Issues with web and intranet accessibility are:

Vision – including blindness, colour blindness and tunnel vision

Hearing – both total deafness and hard of hearing

Mobility problems with hands and arms

Cognitive, Mental and learning disabilities

Many have more than one disability

Vision

Web presents unique problems to the millions who have low, restricted or no vision.

There are 4 broad categories of vision impairment:

Colour blindness – red/green impairment most common, affects 5% of male population and 1% female – test at vischeck.com

Mild vision impairment, larger font size, different background

Moderate vision impairment, screen magnification software

Blind / severe vision impairment, screen readers

Mild vision impairments - adjust the browser

Moderate Vision Impairment - Magnification software

Severe Vision Impairment – Screen Reader / Braille Displays

Screen readers allow users to hear what is happening on their computer by converting the screen display to digitised speech.

e.g. Window-Eyes and JAWS

Refreshable Braille Displays only read one line of text at a time made up of 20 to 80 cells

Each cell contains eight small pins allowing eight-dot computer Braille to dynamically represent what is on the computer screen

Hearing Impairments

Hearing impaired people have particular problems with

Inaccessible multimedia, including video and audio – no captions or transcripts

Captioning

For those whose first language is BSL (British Sign Language) there are words in English that do not exist in their vocabulary.

For example; recent research by the BBC found terms such as ‘marinade’ in their recipe section were not understood by BSL users, highlighting the need to provide a glossary for key words

Mobility

People with mobility impairments face challenges when navigating and interacting with web pages.

They may experience difficulty moving the cursor with the required precision or may lack the manual dexterity or hand-eye co-ordination required to use a standard keyboard or mouse.

Some people will use voice recognition to navigate and interact with web pages

Hand/Arm Adaptive Technology

Alternative Pointing devices

Hand/Arm Adaptive Technology

Alternative keyboards

Cognitive Impairments

Cognitive impairments include dyslexia, memory impairments and attention deficit disorders.

This group benefits from

Simple language

Consistent navigation, and

Using graphical icons as navigation aids

Content should be organised logically and clearly

Cognitive Impairments

There is also software available for people with reading difficulties such as

Browsealoud

Readspeaker

Text Help’s Read and Write.

They all read the content of Web pages in synthesised speech.

Two Examples

The Big Project – www.thebigproject.co.uk

World's Worst Website, can you see what’s wrong! http://www.angelfire.com/super/badwebs/

But there is some good out there!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQW7KW4SX10&feature=youtube_gdata

Windows 7 Ease of Access

Windows Key + U

Vision

High Contrast

Left Alt + L Shift + Print Screen

Font Size

Make the Screen Easier to Use

Change Size of Text & Icons

Log off/on required

Mouse Cursor

Make Mouse Easier to Use

Extra Large/Inverted

Narrator

Start Narrator

Windows 7 Ease of Access

Physical

Sticky Keys

Shift x5

Filter Keys

Right Shift x8 Seconds

Keyboard Shortcuts

ALT Key

Autocorrect in Word

Windows Voice Recognition

Dragon Naturally Speaking

Demo

Switch Access

The Grid

Switch Input

Eye Tracking

Camera Integrated System Tracks Eye Position

Mouse Navigation

Dwell Clicking

Communication Aid Overlaid Software

Apple iOS Accessibility & Apps

VoiceOver

Zoom

Invert

Siri/Evi

LookTel Money Reader

Questions

www.abilitynet.org.uk

Advice & Information Line

0800 269545