[gui-talk] Fwd: E-Access Bulletin: Issue 95, November 2007

[Steve Pattison]

>From: Dan Jellinek dan at headstar.com
>To: eaccess at headstar.com
>
>++E-ACCESS BULLETIN
>- ISSUE 95, NOVEMBER 2007.
>
>A Headstar publication.
>
>Technology news for people with vision impairment
>( http://www.headstar.com/eab/ ).
>Sponsored by:
>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 95 Contents.
>
>01: Concerns Over Government Web Accessibility Plan
>- Threat to withdraw '.gov.uk' domain from uncompliant sites.
>
>02: Exclusion Fears Over Digital TV Pilot Technology
>- RNIB warnings centre on lack of 'talking' programme guide.
>
>03: NZ Student Exposes Inaccessibility of Government Sites
>- Prize for showing file formats are switched without warning.
>
>News in Brief: 04: SharePoint Kit - Microsoft access package; 05:
>Easy Mobile - new phone handset; 06: Bookshare Correction -
>international service.
>
>Section Two: 'The Inbox' - Readers' Forum. 07: Ubuntu Praise - Linux
>tips; 08: Government Vapourware - UN policy scepticism; 09: Tricky
>Job - council complaint; 10: Thunder Offer - Chinese screenreader
>idea.
>
>Section Three: Interview - T.V. Raman, Research Scientist, Google.
>11: Cracking the Code of Accessible Search: Searching the internet is
>now among the most important activities in most people's work and
>social lives. Dan Jellinek talks to the man whose job is to make the
>world's best-known search engine easier to use for all.
>
>Section Four: Technology - Access to 'Web 2.0'.
>12: Frustration 2.0? At the recent Techshare conference, Kath Moonan
>of AbilityNet unveiled the results of her research into the new wave of
>social networking sites, and asked if they were in danger of creating a
>new world of exclusion.
>
>[Contents ends].
>
>
>++Special Notice: Techno-Footprint, 29 November 2007
>- ICT and Sustainability in the Public Sector
>- Stay Ahead of the Vital Green Agenda
>http://www.headstar-events.com/technofootprint/ .
>
>Large ICT systems form a significant part of a modern public sector
>body's carbon footprint.
>
>Strategies must be drawn up to reduce ICT energy use and heat
>emissions; reduce and manage ICT waste; embrace flexible and mobile
>working to cut transport requirements; and use technology systems to
>reduce other emissions and waste. Headstar's major new annual
>conference - supported by Socitm and UK CEED, the charity hosting
>the UK eWell-Being awards - will offer advice and guidance to all
>public sector bodies in this vital field.
>
>Attendance costs 295 pounds plus VAT for public, voluntary and
>charitable sector and 395 plus VAT for private sector delegates. For
>full details and to register see:
>http://www.headstar-events.com/technofootprint .
>
>And for information about sponsoring or exhibiting at the event please
>email Claire Clinton on:
>claire at headstar.com
>or call her on 01273 231291.
>
>[Special notice ends.]
>
>
>++Section One: News.
>
>+01: Concerns Over Government Web Accessibility Plan.
>
>Technology analysts have cast doubt on the viability of draft guidelines
>for government websites that threaten to switch off '.gov.uk' web
>addresses if they failed to reach high, 'AA' levels of accessibility.
>
>The proposals, entitled 'Delivering inclusive websites: user-centred
>accessibility', have been circulated for limited consultation by the
>Central Office of Information, the Whitehall agency which assists
>public bodies with communications campaigns.
>
>If approved, they would mean that existing government sites would
>have until December 2008 to meet the 'AA' standard set out in the Web
>Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) developed by the World
>Wide Web Consortium. All new sites would have to confirm
>immediately.
>
>"Websites which fail to meet the mandated level of conformance shall
>be subject to the withdrawal process for .gov.uk domain names," the
>draft guidelines state.
>
>The blindness charity RNIB this week broadly welcome the document,
>but said it had concerns about specific areas. Henny Swan, senior web
>accessibility consultant at RNIB, told E-Government Bulletin: "These
>concerns are around the lack of clarity when referencing versions of
>WCAG; the viability of domain removal; and the absence of detail on
>the process used to assess whether sites have met that standard. How
>will third party content such as payment systems be assessed for
>example?
>
>"We would rather see further resources put in place to support web
>managers and their teams in creating and maintaining user-focused
>accessible websites, than to penalise them."
>
>And Martin Greenwood, of the local government Society of IT
>Management (Socitm), said only three or four councils currently meet
>'AA' accessibility. If the COI are really serious about this it's going to
>be a tough call for many organisations."
>
>Previous attempt at setting accessibility targets for public sector web
>managers have had no impact, Greenwood said. A lower, level 'A'
>target set for English council websites in 2005 as part of a set of
>'priority service outcomes' failed to achieve any greater accessibility
>levels than had been achieved in other parts of the UK, he said.
>
>Asked if it would be fair to remove the .gov.uk domain from public
>sector websites that failed to comply with 'AA' accessibility,
>Greenwood said: "It would be fair if they were an isolated case of non-
>compliance, and everybody else was complying, but it won't be an
>isolated case."
>
>
>+02: Exclusion Fears Over Digital TV Pilot Technology.
>
>The RNIB has warned that blind people could be excluded from the
>digital TV revolution by the lack of a 'talking menu' option on the
>subsidised set-top boxes provided to older people and people with
>disabilities, as part of this month's digital TV switchover pilot scheme
>in Whitehaven, Cumbria.
>
>Whitehaven residents can already only receive BBC2 with a digital
>signal, and next week all their channels will switch over. After
>assessment of the pilot, the next area to roll out will be the Borders
>region of Scotland, in late 2008, followed by the rest of the UK in
>phases.
>
>Under a 'help scheme' funded by the Department for Culture Media
>and Sport with the BBC, eligible households can receive a Freeview
>set-top box with audio-description and other special access features for
>just £40, including installation and some training (see
>http://www.digitaluk.co.uk/helpscheme ).
>For an extra charge households can receive further subsidised systems
>such as a satellite TV service.
>
>Ultimately around 7 million UK households would qualify for support
>under the help scheme, including people aged 75 and over; people
>claiming disability living allowance; and people registered as blind or
>partially sighted. However, despite the scheme's equipment including
>features such as a user-friendly remote control and compatibility with
>audio description of programmes, the electronic programme guides do
>not 'speak'.
>
>"This is our main concern," RNIB Media and Culture Department
>Manager Leen Petré told E-Access Bulletin this week. "Once that help
>scheme person is out of the door, how will blind people know what
>channel they are on?"
>
>A joint government and BBC emerging technologies committee will
>review the findings of the pilot in February and make a
>recommendation about changes to the set-top boxes, including
>speaking menu options, Petré said. A decision would then have to be
>taken on inclusion of any new features; and also on how these would
>be funded, whether by the help scheme partners or by TV users. "We
>would hope it doesn't affect the price which users have to pay," Petré
>said.
>
>Last month the charity Age Concern welcomed the help scheme, but
>said their own research had shown that many older people in
>Whitehaven had not been ready for the change. "The experience of
>Whitehaven residents signals that such support needs to be given
>earlier," the charity said.
>
>
>+03: NZ Student Exposes Inaccessibility of Government Sites.
>
>A New Zealand university student has won a research award for
>exposing the accessibility shortcomings of government websites, in
>work that could have widespread application elsewhere in the world.
>
>Ben Bradshaw, a fourth-year IT student at Victoria University of
>Wellington, won the 1,000 NZ Dollars first prize in the NZ Computer
>Society's annual student research contest. Bradshaw used a panel of
>testers with impaired vision alongside the open source automated
>testing program 'OpenWolf' (
>http://openwolf.sf.net/ ).
>
>According to a report on the website Computerworld, Bradshaw found
>a failure of sites to indicate in advance what type of document the user
>is accessing through a link, causing potential confusion for blind
>readers using assistive technology (
>http://fastlink.headstar.com/nz2 ).
>
>To read more about Bradshaw's achievements in his own words, see
>his personal blog, or 'blag':
>http://fastlink.headstar.com/nz3 .
>
>
>++News in Brief:
>
>+04: SharePoint Kit: Microsoft has announced the launch of an
>accessibility kit for websites and applications based on its 'SharePoint'
>software package, designed to help organisations share, manage and
>work on documents and information through a central point. The kit,
>known as AKS, was developed with HiSoftware and will be provided
>released through the 'shared source' Microsoft Permissive License
>later this year:
>http://aks.hisoftware.com .
>
>+05: Easy Mobile: A new handset in the 'Easy' range of accessible
>mobile phones has been launched in the UK by distributor
>Communic8. The EasyUse handset has an anti-glare screen, large
>characters, large number keypad and other accessibility features. It is
>available through the RNIB shop or from Communic8 Ltd on a
>Vodafone Pay as you Talk package at £139.99:
>http://www.silverphone.co.uk
>
>+06: Bookshare Correction: We incorrectly stated last issue that the
>entire collection of the electronic book site 'Bookshare.org' had been
>made accessible to subscribers outside the US. In fact, only a
>proportion of these books - between 2,000 and 3,000 copyright books -
>have been made available globally. Permission is being sought from
>more publishers to allow a wider selection to be made available. We
>would like to apologise for this error. For more information see a
>report on the DAISY Consortium website:
>http://fastlink.headstar.com/daisy1 .
>
>[Section One ends].
>
>
>++Special notice:
>- Building Comfortable and Liveable Environments for All
>- Call for Papers.
>
>CIB, the international council for research and innovation in building
>and construction, is pleased to announce a call for papers for the US
>conference 'Building Comfortable and Liveable Environments for All',
>to be held May 15-16, 2008, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta,
>US. The event's co-hosts are CNR (National Research Council, Italy)
>and The Georgia Institute of Technology.
>
>The aim of the conference is to explore and discuss challenges, issues
>and priorities that concern creating a built environment for all. Topic
>areas include costs of accessibility; harmonisation of legislation and
>standards; sports, recreation and accessible environments;
>technological tools supporting the accessible environment; and
>challenges in developing countries.
>
>The deadline for submission of abstracts is 15 December.
>
>For more information see the 'Conferences' section at:
>http://www.cibworld.nl
>or email:
>l.biocca at itc.cnr.it or
>jon.sanford at coa.gatech.edu .
>
>[Special notice ends].
>
>
>++Section Two: 'The Inbox'
>- Readers' Forum.
>
>Please email all contributions or responses to:
>inbox at headstar.com .
>
>
>++Section Two: 'The Inbox'
>- Readers' Forum.
>
>Please email all contributions or responses to:
>inbox at headstar.com .
>
>
>+07: Ubuntu Praise: Jeff Seager, Communications Specialist at the
>West Virginia Division of Rehabilitation Services in the US and a
>long-time reader of our newsletter, writes in with a tip about the
>accessibility of one brand of Linux operating system.
>
>He says: "I do some web design and accessibility testing for our
>website and others. At home, I've installed Ubuntu Linux on a couple
>of computers. I've been happy with the results for several years, so on
>Thursday (Oct. 18) I opted to upgrade to the latest Ubuntu release 7.10.
>Yesterday I had a little time to examine some of the changes, and was
>pleased to see that the Orca screen reader was installed by default.
>
>"I tried it, and found it functions very well for me on a Dell Optiplex
>GX-150. This is by no means a high-end computer. I thought you
>might want to pass this along to your readers. It's nice to know that you
>can get good accessibility to many useful applications in a stable and
>free operating system. Until now, I don't think that's been true. Perhaps
>this will help to level the playing field for people with disabilities."
>
>[Please send responses to inbox at headstar.com] .
>
>
>+08: Government Vapourware: Gustaw Kon, a reader living in
>Germany, writes to comment with some scepticism on last issue's
>report on the UN Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities,
>which focuses on access to technology and is due to be passed into law
>by more than 100 signatory governments.
>
>"Yet again government produces vapourware," he writes. "Standards
>are adopted to ensure accessibility of government sites. My guess is
>that these are probably imports from abroad. But as section three of the
>latest bulletin rather wordily pointed out, standards are useless if they
>are not implemented.
>
>"Smoke and mirrors, a nod to the variously impaired, a jewel in the
>crown of politicians headed to whatever future awaits them, are no
>substitute for producing the goods. I loathe the political window-
>dressing which masquerades as interest in or concern for various
>disabled groups."
>
>[Please send responses to inbox at headstar.com] .
>
>
>+09: Tricky Job: Our reader Norman Waddington writes in to let us
>know about problems he has had in obtaining accessible formats for
>applying for a job online with a local authority.
>
>"I have just done battle with Leeds City Council. I have applied for a
>job with them but had great difficulty with regard to accessibility.
>
>"I asked them to send me the necessary documentation on Word format
>so I could access it. I was promptly sent two pdf files and a document
>supposedly in Word. This was not at all accessible. I informed them it
>was no good and asked them to try again. They sent three more
>attempts which were equally useless.
>
>"It is as if they have no idea of the basics of accessibility for the
>visually impaired. I did explain to the gentleman at Leeds in their
>Human Resources Department that pdf files are no good to people
>using speech software and he [had] no idea whatsoever.
>
>"The gentleman at the council at Leeds was extremely apologetic. He
>did speak to their Communications Department who informed him that
>they had created a Word document. I suspect they had just changed the
>file name to '.doc' and had not changed the text in the document. He
>had no knowledge that there are many ways to create pdf files.
>
>"In my experience I have only had problems with regard to web forms
>with councils. Any organisations particularly in the visually impaired
>sector are far more organised. I know nothing is perfect or ever will
>be."
>
>[Please send responses to inbox at headstar.com] .
>
>
>+10: Thunder Offer: Further to our September feature and October
>'Inbox' contribution from Kevin Chow in Hong Kong on affordable
>screen-reader access in China, Roger Wilson-Hinds of
>Screenreader.net writes:
>
>"I read the 'Chinese Picture' piece in the October Inbox with great
>interest, and some admiration for what is going on in China for visually
>impaired people. I am glad they have got the low priced options right
>from the start.
>
>"Any blind person anywhere in the world is welcome to use our free
>Thunder screenreader talking software for their personal home use.
>Obviously this includes Chinese people.
>
>"We currently only offer English and some EU languages but would
>want to make a free screenreader available in China too with agreed
>language options. Even so, Thunder as it is might get users going,
>especially as English is so prominent amongst the PC fraternity and
>remembering that many might like to learn English as they learn to use
>their computers.
>
>"So we welcome an approach from across the world and will do our
>best to respond very positively. Thunder is there for the taking at:
>www.screenreader.net. "
>
>[Please send responses to inbox at headstar.com] .
>
>[Inbox ends].
>
>
>++Section Three: Interview
>- T.V. Raman, Research Scientist, Google.
>
>+11: Cracking the Code of Accessible Search
>by Dan Jellinek.
>
>It was revealed this month that Google has become the fifth biggest
>company in the US, bigger even than McDonalds and Disney: a
>reflection of the fact that the way we search the internet has become
>one of the most important parts of our lives.
>
>As no-one with a disability or who works with or is close to someone
>with a disability needs reminding, the desires and needs of people with
>disabilities are precisely the same as those of everybody else, which
>means that searching the internet is high on their list, too.
>
>Google was always a highly usable site, one of the secrets of its
>success: simple and functional and text-based, which means it is fairly
>accessible already to people navigating the internet using text-to-
>speech converters or other special access technologies. But in recent
>years the company has realised that it is not just access to the search
>interface, but browsing the results; and even the accessibility of the
>sites returned as results that dictates how accessible the whole search
>experience has become.
>
>The man charged with looking at these issues for Google is research
>scientist T.V. Raman. Based at Google HQ in Mountain View,
>California, Raman is responsible for developing Google Accessible
>Search (
>http://labs.google.com/accessible/ ),
>a trial version of the Google search interface that is designed to be
>easier to use by people with impaired vision or other disabilities,
>including a system of ranking search results according to the
>accessibility of the site.
>
>"My job is to look at what Google technology can do for users with
>disabilities: to make sure it works with assistive technology, and also
>to look at what we can build to help in new ways," he told E-Access
>Bulletin in an exclusive interview recorded during a UK trip last
>month.
>
>"Search is very useful for people with impaired vision, but one of the
>things I had observed over the years is that websites returned on the
>third, fourth or fifth page of results were often the most easy to read.
>
>"I built accessible search last year to address this. It is not a different
>one: it is Google, the same index, the same magic. But it swaps the
>order of search results depending on whether they are easy to read."
>
>To make this assessment, the software looks at a group of 'design
>patterns' such as whether the HTML code is clearly structured;
>whether the page makes sense with images turned off; how the page
>uses colour; and whether the page can be used without a mouse.
>
>"It looks at a whole bunch of things, some positive, some negative.
>And it gets trained: using user feedback on the results, it is trained to
>learn over time about which sites are the most useful."
>
>The accessible search tool is still in development, though it is publicly
>available through the Google testbed area 'labs.google.com'. While
>still primarily marketed by word of mouth, the ultimate goal is to make
>it a choice on the main Google home page, T.V. said.
>
>As befits a multi-billion pound technology company, these days
>Google's activities extend far beyond its initial core offering of an
>internet search engine, and T.V.'s work also includes looking at the
>wider range of Google's work such as web-based software and desktop
>tools to try to ensure that these, too, are as accessible as possible.
>
>"I am looking at the whole range of Google products that have rich
>value to people with impaired vision. Blind users for example want
>simple ways to add events to a calendar." To help people gain access,
>Google has released the source code to its API (application
>programming interface)", he said, "and we are also looking for how we
>can make highly interactive web applications work better with assistive
>technologies."
>
>T.V.'s background is an unusual one for a Silicon Valley high flyer.
>His initials are a clue: they stand for Tiruvilwamalai Venkatraman,
>being respectively his ancestral village and his father's name, as is the
>tradition in Southern India, where he was born, in 1965. Blind since
>childhood, he had a tough fight on his hands in a society where the
>barriers to achievement for people with disabilities are far higher than
>in many more developed countries in the West - barriers of both cost
>and social attitude.
>
>Nevertheless he managed to shine as a student with particular gifts in
>maths, obtaining a place at the Indian Institute of Technology in
>Bombay. From there he successfully applied for a place at Cornell
>University, an Ivy League institution among the best colleges in
>America, travelling there in 1989 to take a PhD in mathematics.
>
>"Taking exams like the GRE [graduate record examination, a test
>required by many US educational institutions] in the 1980s with the
>help of a writer was 'interesting' in India - there was a communication
>gap between [the non-profit educational testing service] ETS in the US
>that administers the tests (and is well-set up for handling students with
>special needs) and their counterparts in India who run the tests on
>behalf of ETS," said T.V. "But things got sorted out eventually."
>
>He completed his thesis in 1994, gaining an Association of Computing
>Machinery Doctoral Dissertation Award in the process.
>
>But although his doctorate was in maths, by the time he had completed,
>an interesting metamorphosis had taken place. "I was a mathematician,
>but I built all the computer systems to access what I needed, and by the
>time I had finished I was a computer scientist, not a mathematician any
>more."
>
>Following his graduation, one of his best known projects has been the
>invention and continued development of Emacspeak, a speech interface
>to the complete PC desktop including web and email access (the name
>is derived from the term 'Emacs', a powerful type of text editor and
>interface often used by computer programmers).
>
>His subsequent path to Google was a highly successful career in
>programming and systems development followed at some of the
>world's biggest names in innovation including Xerox, Digital
>Equipment Corporation, Adobe Systems and IBM Research.
>
>At IBM he worked on developing a speech interface for mobile web
>applications such as online shopping. The solution was developed as a
>mainstream application, he says, though it would be useful for blind
>people.
>
>Despite his switch to IT, his heart has remained with maths: his
>favourite pastime is solving puzzles which require an intuitive feel for
>numbers and mathematical patterns. He can solve a Braille version of
>the Rubik's Cube, for example, in just 30 seconds (for a video of this
>remarkable feat, see:
>http://fastlink.headstar.com/rubik1 ).
>
>And so to Google in August 2005, where he has become one of the key
>modern players in access to information by people with impaired
>vision. If anyone can solve the puzzle of full accessibility, it is surely
>T.V. Raman.
>
>[Section Three ends].
>
>
>++Section Four: Technology
>- Access to 'Web 2.0'.
>
>+12: Frustration 2.0?
>by Dan Jellinek.
>
>Is the phenomenon of 'Web 2.0' - websites where users can share their
>own content, such as social network Facebook or video-sharing site
>YouTube - destined to create a whole bleak new world of information
>that is inaccessible to people with disabilities?
>
>Such was the depressing question posed by Kath Moonan, Senior
>Accessibility and Usability Consultant at computer access charity
>AbilityNet, to delegates at last month's Techshare 2007 conference
>hosted by the RNIB and other disability charities in London (
>http://www.rnib.org.uk/techshare ).
>
>"Web 2.0 describes a move from static, content-driven sites to
>collaborative sites. They are more like a desktop application might
>work," Moonan said.
>
>Not only are such sites gaining in popularity and in their range of uses,
>Moonan said, but increasingly they are also linking up together into
>one huge 'ecosystem' of sites. For example, you can easily link to a
>video on YouTube from your page in the music sharing and social
>networking site MySpace.
>
>But unless accessibility is taken seriously by the makers of these sites,
>entire categories of web user could end up being excluded from this
>interdependent world, Moonan said. "One of the problems is we're in
>danger of creating a whole inaccessible ecosystem because the major
>players don't take accessibility seriously," she said. "And if the big
>ones don't do it, nobody bothers. So if you're building for example a
>Facebook application [a small software tool that any develop can build
>to add extra functions tot he social network], and Facebook doesn't
>require any accessibility from you, you say why should I? It builds a
>culture of complacency."
>
>All this is doubly galling because, just as the original information-
>based web opened up new possibilities for people with disabilities in
>accessing information independently, so online social networking has
>the potential to allow new types of social interaction to take place
>between people with disabilities and everybody else. But only if the
>systems are accessible to all, Moonan said.
>
>She illustrated Web 2.0's potential by playing a video interview with
>Damon Rose, editor of the BBC disability magazine website 'Ouch'.
>Rose, who is blind, said that tools like Facebook could be extremely
>useful for networking with people you might come across at a business
>conference, because if you are blind, it might be hard to pick them out
>when you are at the conference itself, for example if you have just
>heard somebody give a talk that you liked, but you can't see where
>they are. With Facebook, you can network afterwards without physical
>mobility being an issue.
>
>Other examples of useful Web 2.0 content include videos on the young
>people's online network Bebo with British Sign Language content,
>Moonan said.
>
>AbilityNet is carrying out an online survey of web users with
>disabilities to assess their experiences of Web 2.0, she said. "We are
>keeping it going because so far we have had a small number of
>respondents. But a lot of people have emailed us and said 'Hi, I'm glad
>you're doing a survey, but I can't access any of the Web 2.0 sites to
>answer the questions. Can you let me know when they are accessible
>and I can go and find out about them?" said Moonan. "Does this sound
>familiar from Web 1.0?"
>
>So what are the features of Web 2.0 sites that present the biggest
>access problems for people using screen-readers or other special access
>technologies?
>
>Perhaps the biggest single problem is caused by 'captcha' tools,
>Moonan said. These are graphical panels displaying a visually distorted
>sequence of letters or numbers that people must enter to proceed. The
>tests are designed to weed out the automated 'spambot' programmes
>that try to take over interactive websites for advertising, and which
>cannot recognise visually distorted characters; but they have the side-
>effect of also excluding people using non-visual ways of accessing the
>web.
>
>"Captcha tools can be incredibly difficult if you have low vision or
>dyslexia, and they shut out blind users altogether," Moonan said. On
>one site we saw, you can't even contact customer support because of a
>captcha file.
>
>Another problem with many of the new Web 2.0 sites is that, in the
>rush to break new ground and be the first to innovate, developers often
>put incomplete or test versions of a site up before they fully ready, and
>look to iron out any problems such as accessibility problems in future
>phases or 'iterations', she said.
>
>"They say we'll put it up broken and fix it later. And so you end up
>with sites like MySpace - 'table soup' for screen-reader users. Has
>Web 2.0 created a culture of inaccessibility as in the early days of the
>web, from which we are still picking up the pieces? Are we developing
>a new generation of cowboy developers?"
>
>If the answers to such questions are to be positive, there are a number
>of basic steps all developers must start to take, Moonan said. These
>include that:
>
>- All captcha graphics should have an audio alternative;
>
>- In the longer term, non-visual alternatives to captcha must be used
>such as email verification or mobile phone verification;
>
>- Help pages and navigational signposting throughout the site should
>be developed and improved;
>
>- If multimedia is used, it should be easy to turn audio and video feeds
>on and off;
>
>- There should always be alternative ways of interacting with the same
>information.
>
>Ultimately the goal is equality of access, Moonan said - whatever the
>sites are used for. "One description of social networking sites is sites
>that allow people to waste time at work. And because I believe in
>equality, I believe everyone should be able to waste time at work."
>
>NOTE: The AbilityNet survey on access to social networking websites
>is available for completion on the web until 10 December. Fill it out at:
>http://www.abilitynet.org.uk/socialnetworking .
>
>[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
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>your colleagues to sign up! To unsubscribe at any time, put
>'unsubscribe eab' in the subject header.
>
>Please send comments on coverage or leads to Dan Jellinek at:
>dan at headstar.com .
>
>Copyright 2007 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
>Editorial advisors - Kevin Carey, Derek Parkinson, Mel Poluck
>Marketing Executive - Claire Clinton
>Sales and Marketing - Jo Knell, Will Knox.
>
>ISSN 1476-6337 .
>
>[Issue 95 ends.]


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