COMM1PCOMM1P Alan Woolrych Accessibility 9 COMM1P9COMM1P9 SCET MSc EC/ECA © Alan Woolrych 2001...

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Alan Woolrych

AccessibilityAccessibility

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• SCET MSc EC/ECA © Alan Woolrych 2001

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IntroductionIntroduction

• Accessibility• “Making Content Available to All”

• Who are “all”?


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• Design Assumptions• Sight

• Manual Dexterity

• Hand-Eye Coordination

IntroductionIntroduction


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• They may not be able to see, hear, move, or may not be able to process some types of information easily or at all

• They may have difficulty reading or comprehending text

• They may not have or be able to use a keyboard or mouse

• They may have a text-only screen, a small screen, or a slow Internet connection

Lack of Capabilities 1Lack of Capabilities 1


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Lack of Capabilities 2Lack of Capabilities 2

• They may not speak or understand fluently the language in which the document is written

• They may be in a situation where their eyes, ears, or hands are busy or interfered with (e.g., driving to work, working in a loud environment, etc.)

• They may have an early version of a browser, a different browser entirely, a voice browser, or a different operating system


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• 8.5 Million disabled people in UK

• 20% working population are disabled

• 17million adults with literacy problems

• 1 million adults with learning difficulties

• 1.7 million people unable to read standard print– Source: Disability Rights Commission -

Disability Briefing Briefing: February 2001

Some Statistics (UK)Some Statistics (UK)


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• 9.6% of population with severe disability

• 9.9% of population with non-severe disability

• 19.5% of population with some degree of disability or,

• Nearly 49 million people

Some Statistics (USA)Some Statistics (USA)


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More Recently (IBM)More Recently (IBM)

• Over 8 million Americans have visual impairments.

• 2.7 million Americans have speech impairments.

• 13.5 million Americans consider themselves visually impaired to some degree.

• 22 million Americans are deaf or hard-of-hearing.

• Nearly 3 million Americans are colour-blind.


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• Dyslexia affects over 40 million Americans.

• 4.6 million Americans use Assistive Technology Devices for hearing impairments.

• 500,000 visually impaired Americans use Assistive Technology Devices.

More Recently (IBM)More Recently (IBM)


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LegislationLegislation

• The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (UK)• Does apply to IT

• Lot of grey areas (like most laws)

• Lacks Enforcement


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Technology AidsTechnology Aids

• Screen Reader

• Aural feedback

• Visual signalling for audio


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1. Provide equivalent alternatives to auditory and visual content

1. text equivalent for non-text content (e.g. alt tag for images)

2. vice-versa...non-text equivalent for text (beneficial for non readers)

Accessibility Guidelines Accessibility Guidelines (W3C)(W3C)


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• Don’t rely on colour alone• text and graphics should be

understandable even when viewed without colour

• e.g. colour deficiencies, monochrome displays



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• Use markup and style sheets and do so properly• e.g., using a table for presentation effect

• difficulties using specialised software, such as organisation of the page and navigation

• But don’t sacrifice appropriate markup!



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Lets Try a TestLets Try a Test

• Volunteer Please!


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BreakBreak

• Back By….


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• Clarify natural language usage• Use markup that facilitates pronunciation

or interpretation of abbreviated or foreign text

• natural language markup allows:• search engines to find key words and

identify documents in a desired language, improves readability of the Web for all people, including those with specific difficulties



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• Create tables that transform gracefully• Tables for any use also present special

problems to users of screen readers



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• Ensure that pages featuring new technologies transform gracefully• Use new technologies BUT..

• Make sure pages work in older browsers, and when users choose to turn features off

• e.g that pages are usable when scripts, applets etc. are turned off or unsupported


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• Ensure user control of time-sensitive content changes

• Allow user control over moving, blinking, scrolling objects…paused or stopped



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• Provide context and orientation information

• help users understand complex pages – Especially users with cognitive or

visual disabilities

– Helps all users



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13.Provide clear navigation mechanisms

13.Be consistent and..13.Clearly identify the target of each

link

14."Information about version 4.3" instead of "click here".



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• Ensure that documents are clear and simple

• Clarity + Simplicity = Understanding



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A Design IssueA Design Issue

“Designing better interfaces for people with special needs will almost inevitably lead to better interfaces for all”

Alistair D N Edwards


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Design Issues (guidelines)Design Issues (guidelines)

• Use text & non-text equivalents

• Beware using tables

• Use ALT tags with images

• Ensure that hyperlinks have a meaningful title

COMM1PCOMM1P Alan Woolrych Accessibility 9 COMM1P9COMM1P9 SCET MSc EC/ECA © Alan Woolrych 2001...

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