[gui-talk] Fwd: E-Access Bulletin: November 2006

Tue Nov 21 18:45:34 CST 2006

>From: Dan Jellinek dan at headstar.com
>To: eaccess at headstar.com
>
>++E-ACCESS BULLETIN
>- ISSUE 83, NOVEMBER 2006.
>
>Technology news for people with vision impairment
>( http://www.headstar.com/eab/ ).
>Sponsored by:
>RNIB
>( http://www.rnib.org.uk )
>BT Age and Disability Unit
>( http://www.btplc.com/age_disability/ )
>Ford Motor Company
>( http://www.ford.co.uk )
>
>NOTE: Please forward this free bulletin to others (subscription details
>at the end). We conform to the accessible Text Email Newsletter
>(TEN) Standard:
>http://www.headstar.com/ten/ .
>
>
>++Issue 83 Contents.
>
>++Section One: News.
>
>01: Boost For Fans Of Bestselling Fiction
>- groundbreaking book launch, more funds for accessible formats.
>
>02: Experts To Provide Remote Help For Computer Users
>-  low cost interactive service ready for launch.
>
>03: Public Sector Needs Improved Guidance On Web Accessibility
>- experts agree strategy at accessibility summit.
>
>04: BBC Blog On Second Generation Web Accessibility Goes Live
>- online news and discussion journal for Web 2.0.
>
>News in Brief: 05: Universal Vision - accessible DVDs; 06: Access
>Course - e-learning consortium set up; 07: Word Up - online Boggle
>release.
>
>Section Two: 'The Inbox' - Readers' Forum.
>08: Rich Pickings - WAI guidance clarified; 09: Open Invitation -
>open source screen reader response; 10: Testing Times - computing
>accreditation hurdles; 11: Description Experience - audio described
>TV in the US.
>
>Section Three: Focus - Travel.
>12: Crossing Boundaries: Amar Latif tells Mel Poluck how he uses
>navigational technologies to increase the independence of travellers
>during trips abroad with his extraordinary holiday company.
>
>Section Four: Focus - Banking.
>13: The Future Of Accessible Banking: At the recent annual
>conference e-Access'06, experts discussed the future of accessible
>banking, and how existing technologies could be further exploited to
>meet the needs of disabled users; particularly the use of mobile phones
>and biometrics to undertake transactions. Derek Parkinson was there.
>
>[Contents ends].
>
>
>++Sponsored Notice: BT Age and Disability Action Team
>- BT recognised for serving the needs of people with disabilities.
>
>The BT Age and Disability Action team's approach to accessibility has
>been recognised by the Southampton Centre for Independent Living in
>their annual Disabled People's Business in the Community Award.
>
>The team beat off stiff competition to scoop the award in the Disability
>Equality Achievement for Services and Utilities category, recognising
>BT's long standing commitment to serving the needs of people with
>disabilities including the recent introduction of product information in
>British Sign Language.
>
>Accepting the award for BT, David Barrett said "It's great to be
>recognised in this way and this award will certainly inspire the team to
>continue striving for more widespread inclusion of people with
>disabilities".
>
>[Sponsored Notice ends]
>
>
>Section One: News.
>
>+01: Boost For Fans Of Bestselling Fiction.
>
>The best-selling writer and Children's Laureate Jacqueline Wilson has
>become the first UK author to release accessible versions of a new
>book at the same time as its standard print version.
>
>Large print, audio, Braille and DAISY digital talking book editions of
>'Starring Tracy Beaker' appeared last month alongside the mainstream
>version. Earlier this year, Wilson became the first author to ask her
>publisher to add accessibility as a clause to her publishing contract, and
>has committed to ensuring all her future books are accessible to her
>vision impaired fans (see E-Access Bulletin, issue 75, March 2006).
>
>Meanwhile the National Library for the Blind (NLB) has announced it
>has received a donation of 10,290 pounds from the organisers of the
>Man Booker Prize to create Braille, large print and DAISY formats of
>the novel that won this year's prize and the five other shortlisted books.
>
>This is the third year that Man Booker Prize short listed novels have
>been produced in Braille and large print but the first time they have
>been produced in DAISY format.
>
>This year, publishers were required to supply text files of the
>shortlisted books and all of them have done so. This speeds up the
>production process.
>
>Currently only 4.4 per cent of books are translated into formats that
>visually impaired people can use, and conversion often takes months or
>even years, according to the NLB.
>
>The RNIB and NLB are among 20 organisations which in 2002 formed
>a 'Right to Read Alliance', calling for people with sight impairment to
>be able to access the same books at the same time and the same price
>as everyone else.
>
>
>+02: Experts To Provide Remote Help For Computer Users.
>
>A low cost service to remotely evaluate the computing needs of
>disabled people is to be launched this week by AbilityNet, the UK
>computing charity for people with a disability.
>
>Aimed at users in the home, workplace, college, school or
>rehabilitation unit, the 'Barrier-free assessment service' will enable
>users to be assessed by a trained consultant wherever they are located
>to establish which adjustments or assistive technologies are needed.
>
>Once users have completed an online assessment form to gather
>background information about them, assessors make the necessary
>changes to the user's computer, using 'GoToAssist' remote desktop
>support from technology company Citrix. This allows assessors to
>download screen reader and magnifier demonstration software onto
>clients' computers from their own.
>
>AbilityNet assessors plan to talk to users over the 'voice over IP'
>(VoIP) telephony service Skype and a webcam will be loaned to users
>so assessors can spot any physical access problems in their work
>station set-up. AbilityNet has a small stock of equipment to lend to
>clients so they can "try before they buy" any assistive devices or
>software.
>
>"It's about what can you do to improve the accessibility of your work
>station without spending much money," David Banes, AbilityNet's
>Director of Operations told E-Access Bulletin. "The biggest barrier we
>face is cost."
>
>The scheme aims to eliminate the need for users to travel to an
>AbilityNet centre, saving time and money, although the initiative does
>not replace AbilityNet's existing in-centre assessments. According to
>Banes, these can be "expensive to the point of insupportable,"
>particularly where consultants need to visit people in remote areas such
>as the UK's small islands in Scotland, he told E-Access Bulletin.
>
>The programme, which follows a year-long pilot in Scotland funded
>initially by the Big Lottery Fund, will be launched at an event at the
>Houses of Parliament in Westminster on 22 November.
>
>
>+03: Public Sector Needs Improved Guidance On Web Accessibility.
>
>A group of leaders in the field of accessibility, including representation
>from the government's, Central Office of Information (COI -
>http://www.coi.gov.uk/ )
>are to call on the public sector to rethink policy and guidelines on
>accessibility of the web to people with a disability.
>
>Some 19 experts from higher education, the private and non-profit
>sectors and central government, who met this month at the
>Accessibility Summit II in York, are to call for change in the way web
>accessibility is advocated particularly in local and central government,
>education and the museum and cultural sectors.
>
>"What we're trying to do is address what we collectively felt are
>weaknesses in the way web accessibility is currently, promoted
>portrayed, supported and implemented in the public sector," said David
>Sloan, Research Assistant at the School of Computing at the University
>of Dundee and co-founder of the summit.
>
>Sloan said the meeting unanimously agreed that the globally
>recognised World Wide Web Consortium's Web Content Accessibility
>Guidelines (WCAG -
>http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT/ )
>were inadequate. "This situation [affects] formulation, implementation
>and monitoring of policy and law relating to accessible online
>information and services, but it also leaves web authors uncertain about
>what they can and can't do," Sloan said.
>
>"At the moment the government is following highly specific [WCAG]
>points: some work, some don't," said Summit delegate Kevin Carey,
>Vice-Chair of the Royal National Society of the Blind and director of
>digital inclusion charity HumanITy.
>
>Initially, a manifesto will be published by the end of this year outlining
>both the shared vision of Summit delegates and how best to implement
>improvements. The group is soon to reconvene to further discuss how
>each person can convey these messages to the communities they have
>most influence over.
>
>NOTE: This story was first published in E-Access Bulletin's sister
>publication, E-Government Bulletin, issue 226, 13 November 2006.
>
>
>+04: BBC Blog On Second Generation Web Accessibility Goes Live.
>
>A blog dedicated to the accessibility of the latest web-based tools and
>applications, 'web 2.0 technologies,' has been launched by the BBC
>online disability magazine 'Ouch!'
>
>The blog, 'Access 2.0'
>( http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/access20/ ),
>focuses on the accessibility of so-called 'Web 2.0' applications, the
>second generation of internet-based services. These could include
>"mash-ups" - applications that integrate content in various formats
>from one or more sources on the web; social networking sites; or wikis
>- websites that allow visitors to add, remove and edit content.
>
>"We are all asked to be more than spectators on the web now, we're
>becoming participants. But if these websites are excluding sections of
>society then that's a real problem," said blog author Paul Crichton.
>
>The blog site invites the public to comment on issues relating to Web
>2.0 accessibility and focuses on the ways disabled people currently use
>the internet. "If we can push readers in the direction of good,
>accessible websites that help them to participate, that's got to be a good
>thing. Similarly, anything that can highlight accessibility issues to web
>2.0 developers has got to be good," he said.
>
>"Whether Web 2.0 is a revolution or just evolution, there's no doubt
>that the landscape of the web is changing," he told E-Access Bulletin.
>"It is still a place to gather information, or buy CDs [but] it's also
>becoming a place where so much more is going on, from social
>networking sites like MySpace, to Video-on-Demand. That's web 2.0 -
>simple in theory but if such things were made inaccessible it could be
>quite debilitating," he said.
>
>The Access 2.0 blog will also focus on the latest web accessibility-
>related developments at the BBC. "I'm independent from the BBC so
>I'm in a position where I can be critical of what they do as well. In
>fact, they're encouraging me to do so," said Crichton, who is also a
>director of web consultancy Net-Progress
>( http://www.net-progress.co.uk/ ),
>and creator of accessible search engine Net Guide
>( http://www.net-guide.co.uk ).
>
>
>++News in Brief:
>
>+05: Universal Vision: DVDs containing accessible navigation and
>audio description will go on the mainstream market in the UK on 20
>November for the first time in the UK. Three disks containing 13
>episodes of Series Two of the popular TV fantasy drama Doctor Who
>will include audible navigation of scenes, director's commentary and
>out-takes, as well as audio description of the action:
>http://fastlink.headstar.com/dvd1 .
>
>+06: Access Course: Improvement of the accessibility of e-learning
>programmes and services will be the focus of the Consortium for
>eLearn Accessibility, established this month by the European Network
>Visually Impaired Training Education Research. The group is open to
>all companies and organisations active in e-learning:
>http://fastlink.headstar.com/elearn2 .
>
>+07: Word Up: A free, accessible word game based on the popular
>game Boggle has been released by Spoonbill Software. Players must
>make as many words as they can from letters on 16 adjacent "cubes"
>arranged in a grid:
>http://fastlink.headstar.com/boggle1 .
>To order the game contact Ian Humphreys, with your full name and
>country of residence, at:
>irhumph at omninet.net.au .
>
>[Section One ends].
>
>
>++Section Two: 'The Inbox'
>- Readers' Forum.
>
>Please email all contributions or responses to
>inbox at headstar.com .
>
>+08: Rich Pickings: Rich Caloggero, adaptive technology consultant at
>the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Adaptive Technology for
>Information and Computing laboratory
>( http://web.mit.edu/atic/ )
>writes in to comment on a news in brief story from the last issue of the
>bulletin, 'Multimedia Initiative.'
>
>We wrote: "The first draft of guidance for website developers to create
>accessible multimedia content has been released by the World Wide
>Web Consortium (W3C) Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI): the
>Accessible Rich Internet Application suite."
>
>Rich writes: "This is not about multimedia, although it could be. What
>they have rolled out is a suite of documents meant to be digested and
>acted upon by developers and others in the business of creating 'Web
>2.0' sites. These are sites which [use] modern web browser technology
>to produce sites which look and feel like desktop graphical user
>interface (GUI) applications.
>
>These sites are comprised of normal HTML elements such as headings,
>lists and paragraphs; things which current screen reader technology
>can handle quite well. However, they also contain custom-made
>"widgets." Think of these as custom-built form controls. They can act
>just like things screen readers handle quite well, like check boxes,
>buttons, or list boxes but because they are custom-built from more
>basic HTML fragments, the screen reader does not see them for what
>they are; it sees the elements from which they are built. This prevents
>screen reader users from interacting with these sites.
>[Further responses please to: inbox at headstar.com ].
>
>
>+09: Open Invitation: Jon Gibbins, who runs UK web design company
>November Fifth Web Solutions and is a member of the Guild of
>Accessible Web Designers (GAWDS), writes in response to DPM
>Weerakkody's request for information about Linux open
>source screen readers in the Bulletin's September issue: "The Linux
>Screen Reader project, which was part of [technology company] IBM,
>is now an open source project, and very active:
>http://live.gnome.org/LSR .
>People may be interested in the following list of resources on the open
>source Assistive Technology Software (OATS) website:
>http://fastlink.headstar.com/oatsoft
>- specifically, the section 'screen readers, TTS, speech synth" listed
>under "specific AT projects.'
>[Further responses to: inbox at headstar.com]
>
>+10: Testing Times: Claire Cheskin writes in about her experiences
>with the computing proficiency accreditation course, the European
>Computer Driving Licence (ECDL). "I am registered blind and I have
>passed several modules, but have had trouble with others. I have been
>using LookOUT and Thunder screen readers, and also [screen
>magnifier] Supernova. I need a magnification of 20x, which is about
>half a word on the screen, or one toolbar button, which makes
>navigation difficult.
>"The problems are mostly concerning the appearance of toolbar
>buttons and changing colours. I cannot detect subtle variations in
>colours and am sometimes asked to change the colour to 'teal.' Excel
>uses click and drag with a mouse, and Powerpoint is a real problem. I
>downloaded a Powerpoint reader but it [requires] a lot of clicking and
>dragging to resize.
>
>My employers want me to take the ECDL again but they have never
>made any real provision - apart from [supplying] large print - or
>understood my problems. I want to pass these modules. I have already
>passed the internet and word processing modules. I think the syllabus
>for people like me should include keyboard shortcuts, not mouse work
>or [a focus on] appearance. I am getting JAWS soon for work.
>[Comments to: inbox at headstar.com].
>
>
>+11: Description Experience: Steve Cutway, an Information Access
>Specialist in the IT Services department of Queen's University in
>Ontario, Canada writes on accessible DVDs: "There are a number of
>companies doing described video in North America and the quality of
>their work varies. The best description is done by the Media Access
>Group at WGBH TV in Boston.
>
>"Quality has a lot to do with financial support and the WGBH
>Educational Foundation has money we can only dream about.
>Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB) Library for the Blind
>patrons can enjoy movies from both sources on request free of charge.
>
>"It may interest you to know how one Canadian satellite company, Bell
>ExpressVu, does [audio description]. I don't know how described TV
>shows are distributed or produced in the UK but in North America, the
>Separate Audio Program (SAP) Channel is used. Needless to say, the
>method of turning on the SAP Channel varies widely among TV and
>VCR brands with the result that availability of described programming
>is problematic. This means producers and networks claim there is no
>support for it, which is far from accurate.
>
>"Bell ExpressVu eliminates the need to worry about turning on the
>SAP Channel by distributing the described content on a separate
>channel. So, instead of watching "PBS's Masterpiece Theatre" on the
>main PBS channel, I watch it on Channel 074 and am able to enjoy the
>audio description. The service is part of Bell ExpressVu's basic
>package and when I demonstrate it to subscribers, they're amazed.
>[Comments to inbox at headstar.com].
>
>
>[Inbox ends]
>
>
>++Section Three: Focus
>- Travel.
>
>+12: Crossing Boundaries
>by Mel Poluck.
>
>"I strongly believe that blind people do not just have to follow in the
>wake of the sighted, but that they can indeed be trailblazers," Amar
>Latif told E-Access Bulletin.
>
>After finding the experience of travelling to many destinations with
>various organisations restricting and stifling as a blind holidaymaker,
>Amar Latif decided to set up his own company to provide customised
>trips for blind and sighted travellers.
>
>While there is a 'buddying' system in place, meaning vision impaired
>travellers have a sighted guide that changes each day, independence is
>a key element of the trip. The website says: 'Travellers with
>Traveleyes
>( http://www.traveleyes.co.uk ),
>are no longer patronized, nor are they placed in the ignominious
>position of having to plead for 'special case' consideration . . .  the
>visually impaired traveller is no longer required to 'tag along' as either
>a welcome or tolerated appendage to the peer-group holiday.'
>
>Traveleyes destinations have so far included trips through Berber
>villages in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco and exploring medieval
>towns in the Tuscan countryside, learning how to cook regional dishes.
>
>"Accessible travel guides, GPS technology and electronic tactile maps
>can now open up new horizons which are waiting to be explored by the
>visually impaired traveller," Latif said.
>
>Technology plays a major role in increasing independence during trips,
>according to Latif: his company provides personal digital assistants
>(PDA) with speech technology, an electronic talking tactile map, a
>Braille compass and the Trekker from Humanware, a navigational
>device with global positioning system (GPS) that provides accessible
>street maps from all over the world.
>
>Last year Latif orchestrated the production of the first accessible
>electronic versions of the popular travel guide series Lonely Planet and
>plans to make them available for all the company's destinations, "so
>that people can develop a good level of knowledge before they travel,"
>he said. There are now 15 on the market, including guides to Greece
>and Andalucia in Spain.
>
>He says the travel guides have so far been "immensely" popular.
>"Travel guides have not existed before in a format that is so accessible
>to blind people. They help not only to inform, but also to inspire the
>traveller and can be read at home or whilst on the move on personal
>digital assistants (PDAs). Blind and visually impaired people can
>browse through them faster than sighted people are able to do as they
>flick through a print copy in the conventional way," he told E-Access
>Bulletin.
>
>And the guides have proven to be more than just a way of locating the
>wildest bars and how best to reach the tourist information office. "The
>travel guides have really helped to maintain a strong and constructive
>partnership between the blind and the sighted on a Traveleyes holiday.
>The blind are able to supply the knowledge whilst the sighted can
>supply the eyes," he said.
>
>In the near future, Latif plans to provide further information on
>assistive navigational technologies for vision impaired people on the
>Traveleyes website, set to be re-launched this month, and is soon to
>announce forthcoming holiday destinations for 2007, to include Cuba
>and Gran Canaria in the Spanish Canary Islands.
>
>"The blind not only can 'lead the blind,' we can also lead the sighted
>too and, for that matter, anyone else interested in creating a better,
>fairer and more universally accessible world."
>
>[Section three ends].
>
>
>++Section Four: Conference Report
>- e-Access '06
>
>+13: The Future Of Accessible Banking
>by Derek Parkinson.
>
>Access to banking services is a necessity for us all, but new
>developments in technology could erect more barriers for vision-
>impaired citizens than they overcome, delegates heard at e-Access '06,
>( http://www.headstar-events.com/eaccess06/ ),
>the conference hosted by Headstar, the publisher of E-Access Bulletin.
>
>In an afternoon breakout session, RNIB chief scientist Dr John Gill,
>and Will McMeechan, a business developer at Nationwide Building
>Society, discussed how new technologies will change the way we
>access banking information and make financial transactions such as
>moving money between accounts, for example.
>
>Before the rise of online services and mobile phones, there were
>already accessibility problems with user interfaces such as cashpoint
>machines, said Gill. Many have different keypad layouts, or vary in the
>options presented to users. Such differences may be negligible to a
>sighted user, but can be a major barrier to vision-impaired users, he
>said.
>
>A concern for vision-impaired people is that in the rush to implement
>new systems such as "Chip and pin", there is a risk we will miss an
>opportunity to standardise user interfaces and simply duplicate the
>problems of the past, said Gill.
>
>Recent developments in wireless products mean that payments,
>especially for small amounts, will not require users to input a number
>using a keypad, he said. Smartcards are already used to make small
>transactions in parts of the UK, and mobile phones with this
>functionality are almost certain to follow. Adding to the momentum are
>developments such as Near Field Communication (NFC), a wireless
>technology that provides high bandwidth over very short distances.
>
>Such services could make life easier for vision-impaired people
>because they could enable numerous transactions and information
>requests to be made from a single device. In practice, this could be the
>mobile phone of a vision-impaired user, removing the difficulties
>created by unfamiliar keypads, said Gill.
>
>"I expect around 50 per cent of all mobile phones will be enabled in
>this way by the end of the decade," he said.
>
>Keypads are only one way among many for users to identify
>themselves, and biometric methods such as matching fingerprints, the
>iris of the eye, or facial characteristics are likely to pass into
>mainstream use. None of these are without problems as forms of
>identification, or as technologies accessible to vision-impaired people,
>said Gill.
>
>The user interface is only one of the barriers to accessible banking, said
>Will McMeechan, a business developer at Nationwide Building
>Society with an interest in accessibility issues. Efforts to make
>electronic banking services accessible have been patchy and
>uncoordinated because although meeting the needs of customers is a
>major priority for the banking industry, there is little consensus about
>how to tackle accessibility issues in a practical way. "Part of the
>problem is that current anti-discrimination law is seen as ambiguous,"
>he said.
>
>Banks are almost certainly unaware of the true impact on customers of
>accessibility problems, he said. "It's difficult to find figures for people
>who don't use a service because it is not accessible," he said.
>
>Participants agreed that a major flaw in our approach to disability is
>that accessibility problems with a product or service only come to light
>after it is launched, rather than before. "Typically, disabled consumers
>find a problem when a product or service is already out there, by which
>time it's too late," one delegate said.
>
>However, there are problems with ensuring accessibility is included at
>the design stage of a product or service, said Gill. "Board members,
>who are responsible for setting out the direction over the next few
>years, tend to be the right age range - between 50 and 65 years old - to
>understand the importance of accessibility," said Gill.
>
>"But the designers tend to be at the opposite end of the demographic
>spectrum, young, healthy and often unaware of accessibility issues.
>They are often under pressure to deliver projects on tight timescales
>too."
>
>"In between is the middle management, who have the power to
>influence designers, but it is difficult to persuade them of the business
>case for change if it doesn't deliver results within six months," said
>Gill.
>
>[Section Four ends].
>
>
>++Special Notice: Web Accessibility Forum.
>
>Accessify Forum is a discussion forum devoted to all topics relating to
>web accessibility. Topics cover everything from 'Beginners' and 'Site
>building and testing' through to projects such as the new accessibility
>testing tool WaiZilla and the accessibility of the open source forum
>software itself.
>
>All you need to register is a working email address, so come along and
>join in the fun at:
>http://www.accessifyforum.com .
>
>[Special notice ends].
>
>
>++Special Notice: Braille Translations.
>
>Braille Translations provides a fast, cost-effective, high quality service
>of translating any document into Braille. We are able to provide Braille
>menus, public leaflets and business cards in Braille and help make you
>compliant with the Disability Discrimination Act. We can translate
>from large print, audio tape or audio CD.
>
>We can also help with premises accessibility including Braille Tactile
>Signs for toilets and other doors.
>
>All work is proof-read before dispatch and we are able to provide an
>express 24-hour service. Please call our offices for an immediate
>quotation or for further information on Freephone number 08000 190
>946; Mobile: 07903 996533; email ghow at brailletranslations.co.uk or
>see:
>http://www.brailletranslations.co.uk .
>
>
>++End Notes.
>
>+How to Receive the Bulletin.
>
>To subscribe to this free monthly bulletin, email
>eab-subs at headstar.com with 'subscribe eab' in the subject header.
>You can list other email addresses to subscribe in the body of the
>message. Please encourage all your colleagues to sign up! To
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>
>Please send comments on coverage or leads to Dan Jellinek at:
>dan at headstar.com .
>
>Copyright 2006 Headstar Ltd http://www.headstar.com .
>The Bulletin may be reproduced as long as all parts including this
>copyright notice are included, and as long as people are always
>encouraged to subscribe with us individually by email. Please also
>inform the editor when you are reproducing our content. Sections of
>the bulletin may be quoted as long as they are clearly sourced as 'taken
>from e-access bulletin, a free monthly email newsletter', and our web
>site address http://www.headstar.com/eab is also cited.
>
>+Personnel:
>Editor - Dan Jellinek
>Deputy editor - Derek Parkinson
>Senior reporter - Mel Poluck
>Additional reporting - Judith Pope
>Technical advisor - Nick Apostolidis
>Editorial advisor - Kevin Carey.
>
>ISSN 1476-6337 .
>
>[Issue ends.]


Regards Steve
Email:  srp at internode.on.net
Skype:  steve1963
MSN Messenger:  internetuser383 at hotmail.com