[gui-talk] Fwd: E-Access Bulletin, August 2010: Access to social networks; Apple devices; US consultation on stronger access regulation.
Steve Pattison
srp at internode.on.net
Mon Aug 30 13:32:38 UTC 2010
From: Dan Jellinek dan at headstar.com
To: eaccess at headstar.com
+++E-ACCESS BULLETIN
Access To Technology For All, Regardless Of Ability
- ISSUE 128, August 2010.
A Headstar Publication.
http://www.headstar.com/eab/ .
Please forward this free bulletin, so others can sign up to
receive a copy (details at the end).
++Issue 128 Contents.
01: Apple Devices 'Revolutionary' For Built-In Accessibility
- iPhone and iPad praised for integrated approach.
02: Voluntary Compliance To Web Access Standards
'Inadequate'
- US Justice Department consults on stronger regulation.
03: Japanese Cloud 'To Improve E-Government Accessibility'
- Collaborative system gives disabled citizens better public
access
News in Brief: 04: Equality Shift? - lawyer detects slip in
government timetable; 05: Inclusion Masters - Middlesex
University claims European first; 06: DAISY Diversity -
audiobook readers.
Section Two: 'The Inbox' - Readers' Forum.
07: Money Talks - affordability plea; 08: Links Support -
reader backs format choice.
Section Three: E-Access '10 Conference Report - Social
Networks Discussion Group.
09: Digital Lifeline: Delegates heard how networks such as
Facebook can prove a vital social lifeline for people with
disabilities who can otherwise be extremely isolated. But
access to such networks can be arduous due to inaccessible
design, reports Dan Jellinek.
[Contents ends].
++Section One: News.
+01: Apple Devices 'Revolutionary' For Built-In Accessibility.
Apple's iPhone and iPad devices are "revolutionary" and
"game-changing" in offering built-in accessibility functions for
people with disabilities, delegates heard at this year's E-Access
'10 conference in London.
Kiran Kaja of the RNIB Digital Accessibility Team told a
mobile phone workshop that while accessibility applications
are available for other smartphones - such as the 'Eyes Free
Shell' for Google's Android phone - the iPhone 3G is a
"game-changer" because its accessibility features are built in
across all its functions.
Using the standard touch-screen you can move your fingers
along and the phone reads what is underneath them; and if you
swipe down with two fingers it reads from that point to the end,
Kaja said. A double-tap with three fingers will magnify the
screen.
"A lot of people say they can't use a touch-screen, but when I
show them this it really changes their perspectives," he said.
"People have started asking why they should pay extra money
for accessibility on mainstream devices. So slowly we are
seeing changing expectations. When Symbian [an operating
system for mobile phones] was released in 2000, it was two or
three years before assistive technology was developed for it, so
phones could be out of date before assistive technology
appears. With the iPhone, I could use it the same day as my
sighted friends."
Accessibility features that are built in by the manufacturer are
also more stable than added extras like screen-readers running
on top of an operating system, Kaja said.
Apple's new 'iPad' table computer - which functions much
like a huge iPhone - was also singled out for praise by Robin
Spinks, Principal Manager, Digital Accessibility at RNIB.
The iPad's size meant it was a "revolutionary" improvement
for partially-sighted users, who could use it at a normal
distance like a more visible smartphone, with applications and
the keyboard feature all viewed larger, Spinks said.
Used as an electronic book reader, the iPad can also magnify
text, and it featured the same built-in access functions as the
iPhone 3G such as the double-tap with three fingers to magnify
the screen, he said. "One of the advantages of Apple's much-
criticised "walled garden" approach is that is can build in
accessibility to all functions."
Further accessibility features are likely to be added to
smartphones in future that make use of the built-in gyroscopes
and accelerometers found in most modern phones, said Kiran
Kaja. "They are mainly used by games developers now , but
could also have uses for people with disabilities," he said.
Early examples include the free 'Dasher' app which allows the
user to tilt and move the phone with one hand to select items, a
feature of use to many people with impaired mobility:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dasher/id315473092?mt=8
Short link: http://bit.ly/bQgqbm .
NOTE: E-Access '10 was hosted by E-Access Bulletin
publisher Headstar with One Voice for Accessible ICT
Coalition ( http://www.headstar-events.com/eaccess10 ). For
more coverage see feature, this issue.
And you can comment on this story now, on EAB Live:
http://www.headstar.com/eablive/?p=457
+02: Voluntary Compliance To Web Access Standards
'Inadequate'.
Voluntary application of technical standards on accessibility of
web sites to people with disabilities has proved "inadequate",
suggesting more formal regulation is needed, the US
government has said.
In a document issued as part of a public consultation process
on four new proposed regulations to extend the Americans
with Disabilities Act (ADA) to improve technology access for
disabled people, the US Department of Justice said: "Voluntary
standards have generally proved to be sufficient where obvious
business incentives align with discretionary governing
standards as, for example, with respect to privacy and security
standards designed to increase consumer confidence in e-
commerce. There has not, however, been equal success in the
area of accessibility."
Overall, it says: "It is clear that the system of voluntary
compliance has proved inadequate in providing website
accessibility to individuals with disabilities" (
http://www.ada.gov/anprm2010/web%20anprm_2010.htm ).
As well as web accessibility - covering online goods and
services - the four 'advance notices of proposed rulemaking'
(ANPRMs) cover captioning and video description in cinemas;
equipment and furniture; and the widening of how emergency
(911) telephone calls can be made.
On captioning and video, comments are invited on the types of
technology that could be used in cinemas to make film
screenings more accessible, including closed captioning and
audio description equipment. The department proposes a
'sliding compliance schedule', whereby the percentage of
cinemas offering such technologies would increase from 10
per cent in year one to 50 per cent in year five.
The 'equipment and furniture' notice covers accessibility of
ATMs (cash machines) and point-of-sale devices, asking for
public comment on access technologies such as voice-operated
and tactile systems.
The 'Accessibility of Next Generation 9-1-1' notice examines
the possibility of internet-based text or video emergency calls
being put through to an operator directly, rather than the
individual having to go through a third-party
telecommunications assistant who relays the call, as is currently
the case.
All notice summaries can be viewed at:
http://www.ada.gov/anprm2010.htm .
And public comments are invited by the end of the year at:
http://www.regulations.gov/ .
And you can comment on this story now, on EAB Live:
http://www.headstar.com/eablive/?p=460
+03: Japanese Cloud 'To Improve E-Government
Accessibility'.
A 'web accessibility cloud centre' to help Japanese government
departments improve online services to elderly and disabled
people is being built by a consortium led by IBM Japan:
http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/32265.wss
Short Link: http://bit.ly/bEpADT
Working with IT solutions firm the KOA Corporation and the
Tottori Prefecture Information-Center (TIC: a third sector
Japanese company that supports government IT projects), the
cloud centre will feature a collaborative system that allows
citizens to browse government websites; report any
accessibility issues they encounter; and suggest improvements.
For example, users with visual impairments will be able to
easily record difficulties in understanding text or images.
Each accessibility request will be stored in a bank for later
consultation by designers of government website pages,
allowing them to address issues raised.
The collaborative aspect of the web accessibility improvement
system is based on technology developed in 2008 by the
Tokyo arm of IBM Research as part of its Social Accessibility
Project examining issues faced by visually impaired internet
users (see
http://sa.watson.ibm.com ).
And you can comment on this story now, on EAB Live:
http://www.headstar.com/eablive/?p=464
++News in Brief:
+04: Equality Shift? The new UK government has backtracked
on a firm timetable for implementation of all parts of the
Equality Act 2010, a leading lawyer has said. Audrey Williams,
partner at law firm Eversheds, said that while the coalition
government has confirmed the act will begin coming into force
in October as originally planned, guidance from the
Government Equalities Office (GEO) suggests that some
elements of the law, such as the extension of public sector
equality duties and the introduction of rules prohibiting age
discrimination by service providers, have been put on hold,
with no set implementation date:
http://press.eversheds.com/Latest-views/Eversheds-comment-
Government-announcement-fails-to-extinguish-equality-law-
speculation-717.aspx
Short link: http://bit.ly/duw6Yc
+05: Inclusion Masters: A Masters Degree course and
Postgraduate Diploma in Digital Inclusion are being offered by
Middlesex University, in what is claimed to be a European
first. The courses focus on the social and ethical issues of
digital inclusion as well as technical aspects of access of to
ICT, with modules including accessible web design; design for
all regulation, legislation and standardisation; and inclusive
design and user experience:
http://www.mdx.ac.uk/courses/postgraduate/computing_and_it/
digital_inclusion_msc.aspx
Short link: http://bit.ly/bRUpjg
+06: DAISY Diversity: The world's largest library of
educational audio textbooks for people with impaired vision,
the US-based Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic, is working
with technology companies to widen the range of reader
devices on which its content can be played. First steps include
availability of the library's DAISY (Digital Accessible
Information System) content to its 270,000 members using the
Intel Reader, a mobile device that magnifies or reads out text.
Future plans include availability on Apple iPods and iPad tablet
computers, E-Access Bulletin has learned:
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2010/07/prweb4328054.htm
Short Link: http://bit.ly/drRT9S
[Section One ends].
++Section Two: 'The Inbox'
- Readers' Forum.
Please email all contributions or responses to:
inbox at headstar.com .
+07: Money Talks: AnnaMarie Beresford, a trainer at the
Sunderland-based community interest company 'Disability Arts
Empowerment' ( http://www.dartecic.org.uk/ ) that trains
people who have long term disabilities and mental ill health,
writes in with a heartfelt comment about a major accessibility
issue that is not always properly recognised: affordability.
"I have found that as many as 8 out of 10 of our learners
cannot access the internet due to the expense of adaptive
software (as many free to install items just don't cut it),"
Beresford says." Also the sheer lack of money and computers
on the cheap are often out of their reach even if they can
access training.
"I am a deafblind physically disabled person who has mental
health issues, and it is only the fact that I have been lucky
enough to gain employment, and have the knowledge to use
the 'Access to work' scheme as well as being a specialist in
access technology that I can afford to have the luxury (to me a
necessity) of being able to access the web and do many
functions other people without impairments take for granted.
"I too have been isolated due to affordability issues with regard
to cost of equipment and technology - not to mention the price
of software! Until this changes many of us will stay isolated."
[Responses please to inbox at headstar.com].
+08: Links Support: Fay Rohrlach, a reader from Australia,
writes in to lend her support for our recent changes to the
presentation of web links in the bulletin - offering a short link
alternative to longer links, alongside the original link.
"I would like to agree with you, as... you get all these letters
and numbers, which make it very confusing, and half the time
when you're trying to access something, it's hopeless.
"A shorter link would be far better, and yes, you can have the
longer address for the other link, and that way you are giving a
person the option to choose what they want. I'm glad someone
is doing something out there, to making things more simpler for
everyone."
[Further responses please to inbox at headstar.com].
[Section Two ends].
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++Section Three: E-Access '10 Conference Report
- Social Networks Discussion Group.
+09: Digital Lifeline
by Dan Jellinek.
For people with motor disabilities, who may have problems
leaving the house, communicating or with social confidence,
online social networks can be a true liberator, delegates heard
at this year's E-Access '10 conference hosted by Headstar and
E-Access Bulletin with One Voice for Accessible ICT Coalition
( http://www.headstar-events.com/eaccess10 ).
A discussion group on the accessibility of social networks to
users with motor disabilities was hosted by Makayla Lewis of
the Centre for Human-Computer Interaction Design, City
University London, and herself a carer for her parents and a
voluntary worker for people with cerebral palsy.
People with disabilities suffer from high rates of depression,
said Lewis: many may only see one person a week, their carer.
To such people social networks are a good way to share
experiences and meet new people, even if their disability is
severe, she said.
One young woman she had worked with had no siblings and
stayed in her room most of the time, said Lewis. "She just used
to sit in the corner." For her, social networks had become
indispensible.
"She says 'I can't socialise without it', it's is like food to her -
she's on it from the moment she wakes up to the moment she
goes to bed. Social networking allows you to portray yourself
how you want", Lewis said. Although the interaction is virtual,
it can also help to build real friendships and help boost
confidence for face to face communication as well, she said.
The average person with a disability has 250 friends on
Facebook, for example, compared with 130 for non-disabled
people, Lewis said. Unfortunately, however, many people
encounter barriers in using such networks, of which the biggest
is accessibility. One problem was that while many people with
motor disabilities would benefit from technologies such as
voice recognition and text-to-speech screen-readers, public
funding for these expensive tools is geared towards people
with impaired vision.
"People with motor disabilities are given big keys and so on.
Screen-readers would be very useful but they are not funded
for that. You never find a screen-reader on a list of aids for
them - they are not considered necessary for people with motor
impairments. Funding is geared towards blindness."
The problem can be even more basic, Lewis said: many
occupational therapists, GPs and users themselves don't have
the technical awareness or understanding to know what tools
are available to help people access computers. "They don't
know the stuff is out there. The way you find out about access
technologies these days is on the internet, but if you don't have
access to the internet..."
Some people with severe disabilities are helped in accessing
computers by their carers, but this means their interactions
cannot be independent and can be hampered by a lack of trust,
Lewis said. "If you get tired, and a carer types for you, how is
that independent communication? How is that private
communication? A carer might leave after a few weeks, and a
new one comes. So people can't always trust them straight
away, and just ask them to send messages online like 'I'm fine,
see you soon' - they don't open up and say what they want to
say."
There are also problems with the design of the main social
networks, Lewis said, not least that the main sites often change
their layout, which can present huge challenges to someone
accessing a computer using a tool like a switch, who has
learned over painstaking hours to navigate one layout only to
find it has all been changed around. "With Facebook, they are
always changing the site. Using a switch, you learn one format
but then all of a sudden they rearrange the layout and task
structure."
One answer might be for sites like Facebook to have a fixed
layout of their core features, such as your friends list and your
profile, which would remain stable across redesigns, she said.
Another might be to offer a simpler, pared-down version of the
site which only presented the core features. However Facebook
had removed just such a simpler version, 'Facebook Lite', for
commercial reasons, despite it being used by many people with
severe cerebral palsy, Lewis said.
Where changes are made, more understandable and relevant
help could also be offered to users in working out what the
differences were, she said."Often changes are made to a site
and people just have to work it out. They could be uploading
photos showing how to use the new site step by step, like
Twitter does online, with arrows."
People with disabilities often prefer help information that is not
text-based, such as videos or avatars, Lewis said. But they want
to see images that are relevant to their own lives: "Many people
with disabilities want help from an avatar who is also
disabled".
Apart from layout, many problems are caused by the small size
of online features which can be not only hard to see but
extremely hard to use for people with motor impairments, she
said. Thus for example Facebook features such as the 'like'
button to express your approval for something is too small for
use by people with impaired motor control.
Because of the way Facebook is formatted - text size is hard-
coded in - it s pages are also hard to magnify, Lewis said: users
can zoom in using their own magnification tools, but the result
is pixellated.
Nevertheless, many people persevere, she said: one user she
knows highglights all the text from her Facebook news feed
every hour; pastes it over into Word, where she can increase
the text size smoothly; writes her replies or posts in Word;
pastes them back across to Facebook; and then spends 10
minutes trying to click on the 'update' button, because it is so
small.
The fact someone is prepared to go to all this trouble "shows
you how important it is for some people", said Lewis.
When asked about accessibility, Facebook tends to say that
only a small number of people with disabilities are using the
site, but one of the main reasons for this is the inaccessibility
of the 'Captcha' system of keying in distorted words that is
used for registration to the site, Lewis said. Also, while there
are tools specifically aimed at helping people with disabilities
access Facebook and other networks, there is low awareness of
them, she said.
Of course, Facebook is not the only network people can use,
but the others are not much better, Lewis said. "MySpace is
terrible. Bebo is better, but it is aimed at young people."
Some other communities are set up specifically by and for
people with certain disabilities, the workshop heard, such as
Living With Ataxia (LWA - http://www.livingwithataxia.org),
set up using the 'Ning' platform which allows anyone to set up
a social network.
Alan Thomas, UK Community Manager of LWA,told delegates
that such focused networks helped people with particularly
problems overcome feelings of exclusion, by allowing them to
share experiences.
On the other hand, people with disabilities also need to be able
to access the same mainstream networks as everyone else,
Lewis said. "Often networks are divided. Maybe they should
link up more and integrate more.
"It is disgusting that some people have to go to such lengths to
do something that is so fundamental for all human beings - to
communicate with each other."
NOTE: On 21 September Makayla Lewis is hosting the 'Web
Accessibility London Unconference 2010'. At time of writing
this was oversubscribed but a waiting list had been established:
http://a11yldn.eventbrite.com/
And you can comment on this story now, on EAB Live:
http://www.headstar.com/eablive/?p=468
[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 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 2010 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.
Reporter: Tristan Parker.
Editorial advisor: Kevin Carey.
ISSN 1476-6337.
[Issue 128 ends.]
Regards Steve
Email: srp at internode.on.net
MSN Messenger: internetuser383 at hotmail.com
Skype: steve1963
Twitter: steve9782
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