[gui-talk] Fwd: E-Access Bulletin: Issue 118, October 2009

[Steve Pattison]

 From:    Dan Jellinek dan at headstar.com
 To:      eaccess at headstar.com

++E-ACCESS BULLETIN
Access To Technology For All, Regardless Of Ability
- ISSUE 118, October 2009.

A Headstar Publication.
http://www.headstar.com/eab/ .

Please forward this free bulletin to others (subscription details at the
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++Special Notice: Designing for all: an inclusive approach to web,
print and electronic publishing
- A practical, one-day training course and document clinic
- Tuesday  8 December, Central London
http://www.headstar-events.com/dfa/

Trainer: Katie Grant, former publications manager, Disability Rights
Commission.

'Designing for all' is a practical seminar designed to introduce
organisations to the importance of designing accessible, easy-to-read
information for a range of different audiences including older people,
people with disabilities and people for whom English is not their first
language.

This course will help assess specific audience needs, identifying
methods of accessible communication, and see how different formats
and styles work for different audiences. It will be of value to anyone
involved in the design and delivery of information in print, electronic
and web formats, including web content managers; content teams;
marketing and communications officers; and publications staff.

The course runs on 20 October in central London and the training fee is
£395 + VAT. To book your place, see:
http://www.headstar-events.com/dfa/

[Special notice ends].


++Issue 118 Contents.

01: EC Proposes Law To Address 'Fragmented' Accessibility Rules
- Harmonisation needed to fight disability exclusion, commissioner
says.

02: Access Information Absent From TV Set Maker Websites.
- Products often accessible but consumer data is poor, expert finds.

03: ICT Data Gap 'Hindering Disabled Business Owners'
- Debate highlights lack of knowledge of user needs.

News in Brief: 04: Model Employers - good practice awards; 05: TV
Opinions - Regulator code consultation; 06: Good Form - Assistance
for elderly with web services; 07: Windows Guide - software
development advice.

Section Two: 'The Inbox' - Readers' Forum.
08: Book Barriers - overseas copyright problems for electronic
formats; 09: Accountability Concern - worry over online requirements
for small firms; 10: Format Reassurance - 'no issues' with browser
style-sheets site.

Section Three: Debate report - Technology and disabled
entrepreneurship.
11: Open for Business? Almost all business these days make use of
technology. So how hard is it to start up a business as a disabled
entrepreneur, if the technologies you need are not accessible? Tristan
Parker reports.

[Contents ends].


++Section One: News.

+01: EC Proposes Law To Address 'Fragmented' Accessibility Rules.

A 'European Disability Act' has been proposed by the European
Commission to standardise guidelines on web accessibility for disabled
people.

In a speech in Brussels earlier this month, Viviane Reding -
commissioner for information society and media - said approaches
need to be harmonised throughout Europe. "We cannot achieve the
single market by leaving aside certain parts of our population", said
Reding. "I am talking about e-accessibility: 15% of our population is
disabled, and our rules on accessibility are still fragmented."

Reding also urged Europe-wide adoption of the international Web
Content Accessibility Guidelines created by the World Wide Web
Consortium standards body (WCAG:
http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20/ ), saying a new disability law is the
most effective way of achieving this. "We should do it together and in
step so that . users get a decent and reliable framework. I believe the
way we should do this is to develop together with stakeholders a
European Disability Act", she said.

In her speech - entitled 'The Digital Single Market: a key to unlock the
potential of the knowledge based economy' (
http://bit.ly/A6JHv )
- Reding said the current fragmentation of accessibility laws is leading
to EU member states approaching the subject from different directions,
damaging the effectiveness of current legislation: "We have to consider
that this is costly for industry because they have to respond to a wide
range of fragmented national standards. It also leaves disabled people
without a consistent level of service that they can expect", she said.

Currently, the UK Disability Discrimination Act requires UK websites
to be accessible for those with disabilities, including visual and hearing
impairments, though there are no specific guidelines in the act itself as
to what this constitutes.

And you can comment on this story now, on EAB Live:
http://www.headstar.com/eablive/?p=346


+02: Access Information Absent From TV Set Maker Websites.

One of the UK's leading experts on accessible technology has called
for TV set manufacturers to provide better information on their
websites about access to their products by people with disabilities.

Adrian Higginbotham, manager of cutting edge research at the UK's
education technology agency Becta, made the comments after his own
attempts to buy an accessible TV set which supported audio
description (AD) were hampered repeatedly by poor information
online.

Speaking to E-Access Bulletin this month in a personal capacity, he
said the best source of information he had found had been
announcements on the independent 'TV Help' guidance website (
http://www.tvhelp.org.uk/audes/ ) that all new Panasonic models;
nearly 40 Sony sets; six Toshiba sets and a few sets from Philips would
be audio description-ready. But when he had looked for accessibility
information on the websites of the manufacturers themselves, there had
been almost nothing of use.

On the Panasonic website, there had been no relevant information at
all, even though "It didn't seem like the sort of thing they would leave
out, given the level of technical detail they went into," Higginbotham
said. The Sony website mentioned audio description features in an
online glossary of terms, but not on most model descriptions.

Following an online query from Higginbotham earlier as to which
current models supported AD, Sony UK's Customer Information
Centre replied: "No details of the products due for launch in the future
or their specifications are made available or published prior to their
launch. I regret therefore that I am unable to provide you with any
information at this time."

Higginbotham next pointed out his question was not about future
models but currently available products, and asked: "Is your rather
vague message of earlier today trying to tell me that Sony has taken a
strategic decision to backtrack on the support which it has previously
offered to visually impaired customers?"

This led to a second reply which was "the complete opposite" of the
first, stating
all current models did in fact support AD. While this did indeed turn
out to be the case, Higginbotham said, "I didn't in the end buy a Sony,
or even look at many of their models because the whole experience of
dealing with the customer centre didn't particularly make me feel like
giving them the benefit of my business."

Manufacturers that make their sets accessible are to be commended, he
said, but unless they make the information available there is not much
point. "I wouldn't expect all customer support staff to know about it or
staff in high street shops, but it should be on their own website."

And you can comment on this story now, on EAB Live:
http://www.headstar.com/eablive/?p=348


+03: ICT Data Gap 'Hindering Disabled Business Owners'.

A lack of reliable data about the use of ICT by people with disabilities
is making it harder for disabled entrepreneurs to succeed, delegates
heard at a recent debate hosted by the Information Technologists'
Company, a livery company of the City of London.

The debate was on the motion: "This House believes that it is harder
for disabled entrepreneurs to compete in the fast-moving digital age".

Nick Goss, managing director of Goss Consultancy (
http://www.gossconsultancy.co.uk/ ), said a lack of knowledge on the
subject was a major barrier: "How do we know how many disabled
people are using IT, how do we know what needs and support disabled
people may need when it comes to providing accessible IT?", he said.

Penny Melville-Brown from Disability Dynamics (
http://www.disabilitydynamics.co.uk/ ) said inaccessible technology
itself was also holding back disabled people. "If the technology is not
capable of supporting you, you are on the back foot, competitively .
Technology at the moment has very little concept of accessibility and
actually puts disabled entrepreneurs like me and many others in this
country at a significant disadvantage".

However Andrew Thomson, director of Sign-now.com ( http://sign-
now.com/ ), said technology has "enhanced quality of life" for disabled
people, and can benefit those running their own business if the right
equipment is used. "Technology has given us access to the mainstream
world", Thomson said. In a close vote, the motion was ultimately
defeated by 28 votes to 23.

NOTE: For a full report on the debate, see section four, this issue.

And you can comment on this story now, on EAB Live:
http://www.headstar.com/eablive/?p=354


++News in Brief:

+04: Model Employers: Public and private sector organisations
demonstrating good practice in supporting employees with disabilities
are being recognised at an awards ceremony later this week organised
by the Employers' Forum on Disability. Nominees for the Disability
Standard 2009 Awards on 28 October include the BBC and the Home
Office:
http://www.disabilitystandard.com/awards/entry_2009/

+05: TV Opinions: Responses to a review of its code of television
access services are being invited by the Office of Communications
(Ofcom), for submission before November 12. An executive summary
of the code, which includes an examination of whether audio
description quotas should be increased, can be found at:
http://bit.ly/1K26mG
And the Royal National Institute of Blind People has produced online
guidance on responding to the consultation, at:
http://bit.ly/gLlzw

+06: Good Form: Help for older people with completing complex
online forms for key services such as a housing benefit application or
buying a train ticket is being developed by an EU-funded research
project, Delivering Inclusive Access to Disabled and Elderly Members
of the community (DIADEM). Researchers in three countries (the UK,
Norway and Italy) have developed web-based technology which can
simplify the path taken to complete the online activity and provide
other assistance including audio help. The project is holding a free
workshop in London on 28 October: for information contact Dr Senaka
Fernando on mailto:senaka.fernando at brunel.ac.uk or telephone
01895267556. The project website is at:
http://www.project-diadem.eu/

+07: Windows Guide: A guide to developing accessible software is
being offered for free download by Microsoft. 'Engineering software
for accessibility' addresses key issues facing software developers and
explains some of the accessibility processes used by Microsoft in
creating the brand new 'Windows 7' operating system, released last
week:
http://bit.ly/2Wj9sB


[Section One ends].


++Special Notice: Future Democracy '09
- UK's Leading E-Democracy Conference Is Back
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The UK's leading annual conference on all aspects of e-democracy is
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A very strong speaker line-up is taking shape: have a look at the latest
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[Sponsored Notice ends].


++Section Two: 'The Inbox'
- Readers' Forum.

Please email all contributions or responses to:
inbox at headstar.com .


+08: Book Barriers: A reader who wishes to remain anonymous writes
in with a query about barriers to downloading accessible electronic
books thrown up by international copyright laws.

"Due to copyright laws, many DAISY books [created using the
international DAISY standard http://www.daisy.org ] can't be
purchased by individuals living outside the country in which they are
produced," he says. "For example, if RNIB produces a book in Braille
and DAISY, they can sell me the Braille book but not the DAISY title,
as I live outside the UK. Likewise with the US. However, I can
purchase commercial audio books from Amazon or subscribe to
Audible.com but can't access titles on Bookshare.org [a US service
offering accessible books for free download for qualifying people in
the US only].

"A good supply of books is OverDrive [a leading online digital book
distributor: http://www.overdrive.com ]. Unfortunately, most of the
titles can only be played on players that support the protected Windows
media format, DRM (Digital Rights Management). The issue with this
format is that from what I understand, none of the Blindness-specific
players support it. My Zen Stone [an audio MP3 player from Creative]
does, but it is limited in storage and functionality.

"OverDrive also supports MP3 and iPods, but I understand there are
fewer titles to choose from. I have made some enquiries, and
understand that none of the blindness-specific players supports the
DRM format due to the costs in licensing.

"So in this age of downloadable this and that, for some of us,
especially in smaller countries, access to accessible information is still
limited. So I guess my questions are: are there ways that one can
purchase or download DAISY books if you don't live in the originating
country? Is there a way to play protected file types on non-standard
players, and if not, what can we do to convince Microsoft or the
producers of such players to play these formats? I have asked the
companies concerned but I got the impression that this wasn't high on
their list for upgrading their players."

Separately, our reader would also like to know: "Has any reader heard
if anyone is working on software for playing DAISY books on the new
iPod Nano?"

[Responses to any of these questions please to inbox at headstar.com ].


+09: Accountability Concern: Concern about how far small businesses
with few resources might be expected to go to make their online
services accessible is expressed in a blog comment from a reader who
runs an online shop selling baby pushchairs, prams and buggies (
http://www.pushchairsonline.com ).

Our correspondent writes: "We haven't really accounted for blind or
disabled access, mainly as we are a small outfit. We have tried to use
reader-friendly fonts etc, [but] anything more would cost us plenty of
money we don't have.

"At what point can on online presence be held accountable for its
access?"

[Responses please to inbox at headstar.com ].


+10: Format Reassurance: In our January 2009 issue, Diana Monahan
of Moor End Technology College, Huddersfield, wrote in to describe a
problem she encountered in attempting to use the 'Oneformat.com'
website, which offers useful free accessible web browser style sheets to
download, and is the subject of past coverage in E-Access Bulletin.
Diana had said: "I went to the site recently and was told by the school
software that 'Virus/spyware Troj/Comic-Fam has been detected.'"

The site's creator, Daljit Singh, has now responded to reassure readers
that: "The issue is the computer software on the machine in question.
Try turning off the web shield on the anti-virus program while using
Oneformat.com. There are no issues with the website itself, other than
my needing to revise the feedback and contact pages.

"Please do not hesitate to contact myself if there are any other
problems. I am glad that folk are still finding the site to be useful."

[Further comments please to inbox at headstar.com].

[Section Two ends].


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++Section Three: Debate report
- Technology and disabled entrepreneurship.

+11: Open for Business?
By Tristan Parker.

Few businesses in the modern world do not make use of digital
technology. But how does this affect the half a million disabled people
running their own businesses in the UK? This was the question posed
earlier this month by the Information Technologists' Company (ITC)
as they debated the motion: "This House believes that it is harder for
disabled entrepreneurs to compete in the fast-moving digital age."

Speaking in support of the motion was Penny Melville-Brown, senior
consultant at Disability Dynamics (
http://www.disabilitydynamics.co.uk/ ), an organisation offering
equality training and consultancy. She argued that as well as poor
access to technology, the technology itself was also holding back
disabled people in business.

Citing a study from the Office for Disability Issues, Melville-Brown
said internet use by disabled people is around 25% lower than the rest
of the population. Additionally, she said, disabled people have
generally lower skills than the rest of the population, with 50% of
disabled people having no qualifications at all, meaning that IT skills
will also be lower. "There is very little . . . accessible training and
accessible learning around IT", she said.

Data from the Office for National Statistics indicates that disabled
people are more likely to be self-employed than non-disabled people,
but this statistic reveals only half the picture, she said. Although
starting one's own business offers various benefits such as flexible and
home working, and easier use of personal accessibility equipment,
disabled people are often forced into this position because of
difficulties in gaining or retaining employment in other areas, said
Melville-Brown.

"Disabled people are really pushed towards self-employment because
they still face such incredible discrimination when they're trying to get
jobs," she said. It is often the case that they have no other option than
to set up for themselves because they want to work".

Even with some technology literacy, such as the ability to send emails,
many people with disabilities remain unable to perform basic IT
functions such as creating spreadsheets and downloading attachments,
she said. This puts businesses run by disabled people at a huge
disadvantage. Many businesses of today would struggle if they were
forced to use paper invoices for all work, or had PowerPoint taken
away from them, said Melville-Brown - problems which apply to
many disabled business owners. "There is absolutely no question that
technology at the moment has very little concept of accessibility and
actually puts disabled entrepreneurs like me at a significant
disadvantage".

Opposing the motion was Andrew Thomson, Director of Sign-
now.com ( http://sign-now.com/ ), a web-based translation service
enabling easier communication between deaf and hearing people.
Technology can be of huge benefit to disabled people in business, and
is often unfairly labelled as prohibitive to employment, Thomson said.

"As a disabled person, the reason I'm against [the motion] is
technology actually cannot speak for itself", he said. "Technology is
created by man, and you can change it to meet your needs. Technology
doesn't stop disabled people gaining employment, I think it's attitude
that stops employment - society's attitude."

Any technology must suit the needs of the user for its potential to be
fully exploited, and different assistive technologies will be appropriate
for different people, Thomson said. "Technology has to meet your
needs individually. For example, the cochlear implant [providing a
sense of sound to some deaf people] - that's technology, it's fantastic.
It meets the needs of mainstream society and it's appropriate for people
who acquired speech and English as their first language. But for me, I
actually sign through videophones and interact with other deaf people."

Overall, new technologies have enhanced quality of life for people
with disabilities and have "given us access to the mainstream world",
said Thomson. "It is a powerful tool and we should embrace it, not
criticise it."

Ben Fletcher, a consultant at IBM, agreed, saying that given the choice
between living as a deaf person 20 years ago and living in the present,
he would choose the present: "20 years ago there wasn't email, there
wasn't Facebook - access at that time for me as a deaf person would
have been much harder. I would have been at home unable to engage.
Now I can contact clients directly and make social contact."

However, Fletcher also agreed with Melville-Brown that barriers
remained: "We need to campaign to try and change technology at the
same time as we're using it and see how it can help us achieve what it
is we want to achieve."

Gary Macfarlane, founder of BlueBadge Finder (
http://www.bluebadgefinder.com/ ), a service allowing people to find
nearby disabled parking and other services via their mobile device, said
the technology industry needs help to improve. "We have to try and
assist the industry", said Macfarlane. "It's not always their fault. They
don't know why, how, or what equipment disabled people are using,
and I think sometimes the disabled community can give feedback to
make them more aware."

Nick Goss, managing director of Goss Consultancy (
http://www.gossconsultancy.co.uk/ ), said a lack of knowledge about
what kinds of accessible technology were being used was a further
barrier for disabled people in business. "How do we know how many
disabled people are using IT, how do we know what needs and support
disabled people may need when it comes to providing accessible IT?",
he said.  What was needed, said Goss, was "credible data" about what
kinds of IT disabled people are using and how they are using it.

Goss also highlighted another major obstacle for many disabled
entrepreneurs - funding. Acquiring funding was seen as a barrier to
running a successful business, including the government's Access to
Work scheme ( http://bit.ly/3cUeb2 ), which many criticise for being
difficult to negotiate, he said.

Speaking from the floor, one delegate said Access to Work was fine in
itself, but was insufficiently publicised. "[The cost of accessible
technology] is high, but the government is quite generous with its
Access to Work funding, especially for entrepreneurs. But that's a
best-kept secret by the government. They never publicise it", he said.

Kevin Carey, Chair of the Royal National Institute of Blind People,
said disabled people had "benefited absolutely" from information
technology, but had also been "disadvantaged comparatively", since
despite individual successes, the gap between disabled and non-
disabled people was increasing.

"If disabled people are going to hope to be entrepreneurs in a
competitive global market," said Carey, "we have to be much more
careful about what markets we want to put these people into, instead of
thinking there's some sort of global technology solution that would
work for everybody if only the prejudice would go away and the
engineers could do their job."

So, after all the opinions had been advanced and exposed to heated
discussion, what was the outcome? A vote among all those present
revealed that technology was seen overall as more of a help than a
hindrance, albeit narrowly, with the motion being defeated by 28 votes
to 23.

Even most of those who had supported this position, however, agreed
that further improvements can and should be made. A key message to
emerge was that although there is much accessible technology
available, most of it is created on a 'specialist' basis, suggesting the
industry still refuses to accept the premise that accessible technology
can be beneficial to all users, not just those with disabilities. The
debate continues.

And you can comment on this story now, on EAB Live:
http://www.headstar.com/eablive/?p=350

[Section Three ends].


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[Special notice ends].


++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
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Please send comments on coverage or leads to Dan Jellinek at:
dan at headstar.com .

Copyright 2009 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
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site address:
http://www.headstar.com/eab
is also cited.

+Personnel:
Editor - Dan Jellinek.
Reporter: Tristan Parker.
Editorial advisor - Kevin Carey.

ISSN 1476-6337.

[Issue 118 ends.] 

Regards Steve
Email:  srp at internode.on.net
MSN Messenger:  internetuser383 at hotmail.com
Skype:  steve1963
Twitter:  steve9782