[gui-talk] Fwd: Article: Access Denied

[Steve Pattison]

>From: Di and John diandjon at optusnet.com.au
>
>The Age
>Access denied
>March 1, 2007
>
>Most websites don't make it easy for the disabled, writes Lia Timson.
>
>
>A NEW study has found that most websites fail to meet basic accessibility
>guidelines. The audit - commissioned by the United Nations - reviewed 100
>leading travel, banking, media, government and retail websites in 20
>countries including Australia.
>
>It found only three sites measured reasonably against the benchmark for web
>accessibility (w3.org/TR/WCAG10). They were government sites in Germany
>(bundeskanzlerin.de), Spain (la-moncloa.es/default.htm) and Britain
>(www.primeminister.gov.uk).
>
>The audit found 78 per cent of sites used colour combinations of poor
>contrast, making it difficult for those who are vision-impaired or
>colour-blind to read content.
>
>About 87 per cent of sites caused pop-up windows to appear without warning,
>causing disorientation for those using screen magnification software, and 92
>per cent of the sites failed to provide keyboard shortcuts, making it
>impossible for those who can't use a mouse to navigate the sites.
>
>It also found 93 per cent of the sites did not provide adequate text
>descriptions of the images. These are required so that text-to-speech
>software used by the vision-impaired can interpret the images.
>
>"The simple truth is that the leading websites around the world are not
>accessible to many persons with disabilities," the report concluded. "Many
>of the sites could be easily upgraded to remove obstacles ... however, the
>majority of sites need considerable work."
>
>Andrew Arch, manager of online accessibility consulting at Vision Australia,
>says he is not surprised by the findings.
>
>"This is quite common, unfortunately," he says. "It happens because web
>designers are not aware that blind people or people who can't use a mouse
>actually want to use their site or (designers) don't know what to do or
>their technology doesn't allow (accessibility)."
>
>Mr Arch says all internet users need better colour contrast and larger
>typefaces after the age of 40. "After 40 our ability to see contrast
>decreases," he says. "Use of pale colours means older people are unlikely to
>see the content."
>
>Anyone should be able to press the tab key and navigate to any page on a
>site without the need for the mouse, Mr Arch says. "We have all the
>technology in the world but if we can't use it, it's not worthwhile."
>
>A Forrester Research study commissioned by Microsoft in the US found that
>one in four adult computer users has difficulty with vision and one in four
>has problems with dexterity.
>
>The research helped shape the upgrades in the recently released Vista
>operating system. It now includes a better screen magnifier and a narrator,
>which reads on-screen text in a more natural voice than the robot-like
>rendition of Windows XP. It also has speech recognition to help those who
>cannot type.
>
>Windows XP's features are described by Microsoft as being at a "minimum
>level of functionality". Mr Arch says despite improvements in operating
>systems and web browsers such as Internet Explorer 7 and Firefox, disabled
>users need specialist speech-recognition software such as Jaws
>(freedomscientific.com) and Dragon Naturally Speaking (australia.nuance.com)
>if they use computers regularly.
>
>The maker of Dragon hopes to revolutionise the way everyone, including
>disabled people, uses mobile phones. Dragon's manufacturer, Nuance, has
>launched a speech-recognition system for mobile phones. Users will be able
>to speak into their 3G handsets to conduct internet searches, send text
>messages, dictate and send emails, and navigate other features. The product
>is more accurate than some phones' voice recognition functions and is not
>limited to the device's address book, power or memory capacity.
>
>The regional director of Nuance's speech division, Peter Chidiac, says the
>system installs Dragon directly onto teleco networks. Some companies have
>already adopted it and he hopes telcos such as Telstra, Optus and Vodafone
>will take it up as well.
>
>"Typing on the mobile is unnatural," Mr Chidiac says. "The big issue is
>people sending an SMS in a car. Now they'll have eyes-and-hands-free
>control."

Regards Steve
Email:  srp at internode.on.net
Skype:  steve1963
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