[gui-talk] Fwd: Article: The Impending Collision Of Accessibility and Rich Internet Applications

[Steve Pattison]

>From: Susan Thompson susan at sthompson.net
>To: VIP-L vip-l at softspeak.com.au
>
>  MediaPost.com, CT, USA
>  Wednesday, March 14, 2007
>
>  The Impending Collision Of Accessibility and Rich Internet
>  Applications
>
>  By Rob Garner
>
>  Over the last six months I have written about two trends in the Web
>  design world that will have an enormous impact on the future of natural
>search:
>  accessibility and rich Internet applications (RIA).  On one side of
>  the discussion, the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) is pressing
>  corporations in the state courts on the issue of designing accessible,
>  text-based Web sites for the visually impaired who use screen readers
>  such as JAWS.  On the other side, cutting-edge Web developers and
>  user-experience gurus are designing rich Internet applications for
>  better user experience in a Web 2.0 world -- applications that also
>  expand the boundaries of being search- and accessibility- unfriendly.
>
>  The tipping point in the debate on dichotomous design approaches will
>  not occur in the context of designing search-friendly Web sites; it
>  will occur in the impending corporate discussion of Web accessibility,
>  and whether or not corporations will build accessible Web sites in
>  place of, or in addition to, existing rich applications utilizing Flash,
>DHTML or Ajax.
>
>  In the Feb. 27 Forrester Research report entitled, "Prepare To Be
>  Challenged On Web Accessibility Compliance,"
>
>  www.forrester.com/Research/Document/Excerpt/0,7211,41644,00.html
>
>  analyst Michael Rasmussen discussed the increasing momentum of the Web
>  accessibility movement as it relates to recent court activity by the NFB.
>  His assessment centers on legal issues, the complexity of the Web,
>  lack of accessibility awareness and lack of ownership in
>  organizations.  The report also points out a few of the benefits of
>  designing for accessibility, including being a socially responsible
>  corporate citizen, reaching untapped markets, and also capturing the
>  riches of natural search optimization.
>
>  In early February, the NFB continued to pursue its Web accessibility
>  mission in the state courts by filing a case against the State of
>  Texas for using inaccessible Oracle software that effectively makes
>  content invisible to screen readers.
>
>  www.nfb.org/nfb/NewsBot.asp?MODE=VIEW&ID=140
>
>  The NFB is also pursuing a case against Target in California, which
>  claims that the Target.com site is inaccessible to visually impaired
>persons.
>
>  The irony is that while Web accessibility is just beginning to appear
>  on the radar screen of corporate America, current mega-trends in
>  enterprise Web design are as far away from meeting accessibility
>  standards as they could possibly be.  To get an idea of the priority
>  of RIA in the Web development world right now, consider this roster of
>  sessions that represents the rich theme of the upcoming Thunderlizard
>  Web conference in San Francisco:
>
>  www.ftponline.com/conferences/thunderlizard/
>
>  - Ajax Frameworks & Design Patterns Survey
>
>  - Yahoo! vs. Yahoo! Case Studies of Three Mainstream, Large-Scale
>  Ajax/DHTML Implementations
>  - Keynote: The Dawning of the Age of Experience
>
>  - Making Web 2.0 Usable: An Ajax Case Study
>
>  So what does this mean for marketers?  It means that the RIA and
>  Accessibility showdown is coming soon to a server near you, and the
>  way you approach online Web development will have a potentially
>  serious impact in other areas of your company that have a stake in the
>  accessibility issue.
>
>  Even if your company doesn't already have some sort of rich presence,
>  it is quite possible that the next redesign will.  But will it be
>  search- and screen-reader friendly?
>
>  Designing for search-friendliness makes inroads into accessibility
>
>  Designing for search will provide many answers for accessibility.  A
>  no-risk, naturally optimized site is fundamentally accessible, though
>  there are still many other special considerations for compliance.  If
>  you are designing a rich interface, it would be wise to start thinking
>  now about how to make it accessible and search-friendly.  Here are a
>  few
>  considerations:
>
>  Find out if any rich applications are currently being developed by
>  your organization or respective digital agency.
>
>  If rich site applications are being developed, find out what is being
>  done to make the application search and screen-reader friendly. If you
>  are currently in the development process, it may be painful to address
>  search and accessibility, but it will be even more painful if your
>  site cannot be made accessible after launch.  Plan upfront, and avoid
>  trying to retrofit a search and accessible design solution at all costs.
>
>  If nothing is being done for accessibility or search, mobilize your
>  developers, designers, search specialists, and accessibility
>  specialists to assess and determine the best solution.This will likely
>  involve the creation of an entire second site for search engines and
>screen-readers.
>  If rich applications are a part of your future, get used to the dea of
>  maintaining two sites.  Don't fret - there are solutions for being
>  both accessible and rich, and your experts will help determine the
>  best solution for your site.
>
>  Rob Garner is a senior strategic planner for interactive marketing and
>  search agency iCrossing. He is president-elect of the Dallas/Fort
>  Worth Search Engine Marketing Association, and also serves on the
>  board of the Dallas/Fort Worth Interactive Marketing Association.
>
>  http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.showAr
>  ticleHomePage&art_aid=57094

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