[gui-talk] Fwd: E-Access Bulletin, November 2010: Timetable for copyright law change.

[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 131, November 2010.

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

Please forward this free bulletin to others (subscription details
at the end). We conform to the accessible Text Email
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++Issue 131 Contents.

01: Cautious Welcome For Copyright Law Change Timetable
- World Intellectual Property Organisation inches forwards.

02: MP’s Website Wins Award, But Majority Inaccessible
- Nick Brown leads the way, but is the exception.

03: Audio Clips Help Disabled Job-Seekers and Entrepreneurs
- Web service offers assistance with CVs and start-ups.

News in Brief: 04: Finding Words – Equality Act requires new
information formats; 05: Web Fixers – problem reporting goes
live; 06: Sage Service – publisher wins access prize.

Section Two: Inbox.
07: Census Stories – Australian survey ‘reasonably accessible’;
08: Sporting Revamp – call for website advice.

Section Three: Special Report – International Law: Jodhan vs
Canadian Government.
08: Challenging the System: When Donna Jodhan, a blind
accessibility expert, found that Canadian government websites
were preventing her from applying for jobs and accessing other
important information, she decided to take the federal
government to court. Tristan Parker talks to her about the
ongoing battle.

[Contents ends].


++Section One: News.

+01: Cautious Welcome For Copyright Law Change Timetable.

The RNIB has given a cautious welcome to a World Intellectual
Property Organisation decision to agree a timetable for creation
of a new international law allowing sharing of accessible
versions of copyright works across national borders.

If passed, the law would require the introduction of exceptions
in the national legislation of all member states, so that print-
disabled people, including blind people, people with impaired
vision and people with dyslexia, can make accessible copies of
copyright works and share them across international
boundaries.

The decision is the latest twist in a three-year process of
debating whether, how and when a new law could be agreed. A
treaty on copyright exceptions and limitations was first
proposed by the World Blind Union in 2008. It was backed in
2009 by WIPO member states Brazil, Ecuador and Paraguay,
later joined by Mexico and supported by the US, the UK and
others.

In December 2009 the nineteenth session of the WIPO
Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR)
agreed to hold a series of consultation meetings on the issue.
But in June 2010, the committee’s twentieth session finished
deadlocked on the best way to proceed further. Some
countries, including some EU member states, raised objections
to any exception to copyright law that could allow free copying
under any circumstances, after lobbying by publishers and
copyright holders who feared a precedent would be created
that could encourage copyright piracy.

After a further week of debate, the 21st session of SCCR
finished in Geneva at 1am last Saturday morning with the
agreement of a timetable for progress towards a legal
instrument.

The timetable allows for work on copyright exceptions for
accessible copies to continue at the 22nd five-day session in
June 2011, with three extra days set aside for specific
discussion of the issue. A recommendation will then be put
forward to the WIPO general assembly in Sept 2011.

Other related issues, including calls by African countries for
similar exceptions to be made for libraries, archives and
educational bodies, will be considered later in 2011 and in
2012.

RNIB Campaign Manager Dan Pescod, who has attended the
Geneva meetings as part of a World Blind Union delegation,
said progress in the committees had been “glacially slow”, but
that “to paraphrase Winston Churchill, this is not the beginning
of the end, but the end of the beginning.

“We have fought for a long time to get this issue understood in
the committee, and then to get all parties to agree that some
kind of law needs to be drafted, and now to put together a
timetable about when we are going to negotiate. Now we have
that on the record so we know they are serious.”

However, Pescod warned that the battle was not yet over, and
the process could yet hit further delays. “We are very pleased
with where we have got to, but I do have a strong concern [the
extra three days] won’t be enough time.”

On the objections raised by some countries to the passing of a
law, he said fears that they would lead to losses for publishers
were groundless because bodies like the RNIB would only step
in to make accessible copies such as audio books where the
publishers themselves had not done so.

“The publisher loses nothing. If they have made their own
unabridged audio version, RNIB would not want to bother –
and where they have not, they were not going to make any
money from it in any case. The exception is there to fall back
on where market has not supplied an accessible version.”

And you can comment on this story now, on EAB Live:
http://www.headstar.com/eablive/?p=502


+02: MP’s Website Wins Award, But Majority Inaccessible.

The website of Labour MP for Newcastle Upon Tyne East and
former Cabinet minister Nick Brown has won the accessibility
category in the 2010 MP Web Awards, hosted by BCS – the
Chartered Institute for IT (formerly known as the British
Computer Society).

The awards are presented to politicians who best use new
technologies to engage with their constituents. The accessibility
award was judged by representatives of technology charity
AbilityNet, who reported a number of features that caused
Brown’s website ( http://www.nickbrownmp.com/ )
to stand out, including no unlabelled images; a good default
size for text, which can be resized; no distracting or moving
images; keyboard access for the whole site; and no issues when
using a screen-reader.

The panel also found some minor areas in which accessibility
could be further improved on Brown’s site: inclusion of ‘skip’
links for keyboard users; ensuring that all title text matches the
actual link text; and providing a button to activate the site
search function. However judges said the site as a whole was
“a clear and consistent website that follows best practices for
accessibility.”

Robin Christopherson, head of digital inclusion at AbilityNet
and presenter of the accessibility award, told E-Access Bulletin
that although Brown’s website was the best example of
accessibility from the 600 plus sites examined, there is still
room for improvement across the board. “Most MPs’ websites
out there reflect the overall picture of accessibility – the vast
majority aren’t anywhere near accessible,” said
Christopherson.

Common problems included unlabelled images, poor use of
colour, and cluttered layouts, he said. Additionally, the
increased popularity of social media add-ons to websites has
caused problems: “If you embed the standard Facebook widget
into your page – and Twitter, to a lesser extent – you’re going
to have issues with accessibility. It’s not easy to make a Web
2.0 website accessible. The prevailing level of accessibility out
there is very low.”

And you can comment on this story now, on EAB Live:
http://www.headstar.com/eablive/?p=504


+03: Audio Clips Help Disabled Job-Seekers and
Entrepreneurs.

A web service offering audio clips to help people with long-
term health conditions or disabilities to start their own
businesses and become self-employed has been launched in
Derbyshire.

The Work for Yourself programme (
http://www.businessability.co.uk )
is funded by Bolsover District and Chesterfield Borough
Councils, and has already helped about 30 local people start
their own businesses and a similar number find work.

The new audio clips, commissioned from radio journalist
Karen Woods, cover tips on writing a CV and on developing a
business idea. The CV advice covers two different types
including a ‘skills and experience’ style CV for people who
have had employment gaps, for whatever reason. There are
also examples of CVs that can be used as templates.

“We recognise a lot of people don’t like to read long
documents, so we are looking at alternative ways of providing
them with information”, says Penny Melville-Brown of
consultancy Disability Dynamics (
http://www.disabilitydynamics.co.uk ),
who is leading the programme. “So if somebody is speaking
the concepts, it might just make it easier for some people.”

Melville-Brown is herself an entrepreneur with a disability –
she is blind and has been running her own business for ten
years. All her consultants and advisers are also self-employed,
“so we are living it ourselves”, she says.

And you can comment on this story now, on EAB Live:
http://www.headstar.com/eablive/?p=506


++News in Brief:

+04: Finding Words: All providers of major services to the
public, from banks to publishers and health service bodies,
must now provide information in accessible formats that
comply with the new Equality Act 2010 including audio, large
print and Braille, according to a new report from the Royal
National Institute of Blind People. The report, ‘Lost for
Words’, also advocates the use of ‘talking label’ technology to
help blind consumers identify products:

http://www.rnib.org.uk/getinvolved/campaign/accesstoinformati
on/lostforwords/
Short link: http://bit.ly/9bcV8M


05: Web Fixers: A campaign allowing people with disabilities a
quick, simple way of reporting inaccessible websites, including
by email or Twitter, was launched this month. Complaints filed
using ‘Fix the Web’ are taken forward by volunteers, who
contact the website owners and ask them to fix the problem.
The service was first unveiled in a test version earlier this year
(as reported exclusively in E-Access Bulletin issue 129:
http://www.headstar.com/eablive/?p=472 ), and was developed
by internet access charity Citizens Online:

http://www.fixtheweb.net/
Short link: http://bit.ly/bYOXJ5


+06: Sage Service: The international publishing company
SAGE has been commended for its provision of alternative
book formats at the Digital Information Conference hosted by
CILIP (the Chartered Institute of Library and Information
Professionals). The company was awarded the Publisher
Lookup Award for library service created by JISC TechDis, an
educational advisory service working in the accessibility field.
The award allows librarians to nominate publishers offering
strong alternative digital content for disabled readers:

http://www.techdis.ac.uk/index.php?p=5_1&id=453
Short link: http://bit.ly/d18e6P


[Section One ends].


++Section Two: ‘The Inbox’
- Readers’ Forum.

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


+07: Census Stories: Australian IT Consultant and regular
contributor to these pages Tom Worthington writes in following
our coverage last issue of the case of Donna Jodhan, a blind
woman who has sued the Canadian Government after she was
unable to apply for a government job online or complete a
2006 online census (see also feature, this issue).

Tom writes: “The Australian Bureau of Statistics made a
reasonable attempt at accessibility with their 2006 e-census.”
He has covered the story in detail on his blog, at:
http://www.tomw.net.au/technology/it/ecensus/ .

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


+08: Sporting Revamp: Roy Smith MBE, Facilities Manager at
the Metro Blind Sports Club, a society helping people with
impaired vision enjoy a wide range of sports including
athletics, cricket, football and water sports covering London
and the South of England, writes in with a request for advice
on revamping the club’s website.

“We are looking to have a new website set up or our old one
updated [and are looking for] a list of approved designers who
understand JAWS/ZOOM TEXT and so on,” he writes.

Anyone with advice on finding an accessible web designer, or
who would like to help directly, should please email
inbox at headstar.com .

[Section Two ends].



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++Section Three: Special Report: International Law
Jodhan vs Canadian Government

+08: Challenging the System
by Tristan Parker

It’s fair to say that Canadian citizen Donna Jodhan knows a
thing or two about accessibility. A specialist consultant in the
field with more than 16 years’ experience, her company has
worked with numerous clients, including financial institutions
and the University of Toronto. She has obtained Systems
Engineering Certification from Microsoft and won various
technical awards from IBM.

So when Jodhan – herself legally classed as blind – brought a
case against the Canadian Federal Government, stating that the
lack of accessibility of its websites for blind and visually
impaired Canadian citizens meant that her rights were being
breached, she made a formidable opponent.

The problems which led to her action began in 2006, when
Jodhan was unable to create a job profile on the Government
of Canada’s employment website – the point of access for all
federal government job opportunities. When trying to complete
a section of the form (the ‘date available’ field) she simply
received an error message each time. She attempted to contact
the site’s owners, but the phone number provided was out of
service.

Jodhan was forced to seek assistance from a sighted
government employee to create a job profile, but was still
unable to review any of the information entered, as she was
not given any user identification or password.

In addition to the problems with job applications, she was also
unable to complete a 2006 online Census form from Statistics
Canada, the country’s national statistical agency. The form was
only fully accessible to blind and visually impaired users who
used the most recent version of the JAWS screen-reader – an
expensive piece of technology, costing around 1,000 Canadian
Dollars at the time. Jodhan was again forced to rely on sighted
assistance from a government employee to complete the
Census, which she regarded as an invasion of her privacy.

Furthermore, Jodhan found she was unable to access
information on Canada’s national consumer price index and
unemployment rate, again on Statistics Canada’s website, as the
information was only available in a PDF file, which had not
been adapted for screen-readers. Jodhan was informed by
government employees that no alternative formats were
available.

Jodhan’s continued issues with government sites led her to
consult a group of lawyers and an international accessibility
expert, to find out what her legal position was. “I did this after
years of having tried to convince the Canadian Government
that their websites were not very accessible”, Jodhan told E-
Access Bulletin. “It was extremely difficult for blind and sight-
impaired Canadians to navigate their websites to obtain
relevant information, and complete forms in order to process
requests and fill out job applications.”

In 2007, Jodhan’s lawyers filed court papers asking the
Canadian Government to comply with widely used
accessibility standards from the World Wide Web Consortium
(W3C). Between 2007-09, settlement negotiations were
attempted but did not succeed, “because we did not feel that
the Canadian Government was serious enough about our
concerns” says Jodhan.

As a result, cross examinations of witnesses, accessibility
experts and Jodhan herself took place in 2009, and in
September of this year Jodhan and her lawyers attended
Federal Court to present their case. “My lawyers argued that
under the Canadian Charter of Rights, all Canadians have to be
treated equally and that inaccessible governmental websites to
blind and sight-impaired Canadians was a violation of the
Charter. The government argued that they had fulfilled their
obligations”.

With the case having been heard, the court is currently ‘resting’
– in other words, it has retired to deliberate – and the judge’s
decision is expected to be handed down within three or four
months. Jodhan says she and her lawyers are “cautiously
optimistic” about the result.

Whatever the outcome of the case, it has brought considerable
publicity to a subject that is often swept under the carpet, with
Jodhan’s ‘Charter Challenge’ receiving media coverage
throughout Canada, the US, the UK and even India. “This topic
needs to receive continuous attention and we believe that this
court case is the perfect way to do it,” she says.

Canada currently has no specific legal obligations to conform
with web accessibility standards, although there are non-
binding guidelines in place (Common Look and Feel for the
Internet 2.0 – CLF: http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/clf2-nsi2/index-
eng.asp ) that have requested federal government websites to
comply with international ‘WCAG 1.0’ standards since 2000.

Jodhan and her lawyers argue that the CLF guidelines are
outdated, and say legislation should be introduced that requires
government sites to conform to updated ‘WCAG 2.0’ standards
guidelines. “A best effort basis will not solve this problem”,
she says.

Jodhan believes that the Canadian Government does not see
website accessibility and availability of information for blind
and visually impaired citizens as a priority. “It is my opinion
that the Canadian Government believes that blind and sight-
impaired Canadians can get by using sighted assistance,” she
says.

In terms of private sector websites, these too should be
mandated to adhere to strict accessibility standards, says
Jodhan, but in any case, the Canadian Government should lead
by example. “If they were to take the lead in this area, then
others would naturally follow. It has to be a real and committed
effort by all stakeholders and rightsholders – legislation,
training, and working together.”

- More information on Jodhan and her work can be found on
her blog: http://donnajodhan.blogspot.com/

And you can comment on this story now, on EAB Live:
http://www.headstar.com/eablive/?p=508

[Section Three ends].


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++End Notes.

+How to Receive the Bulletin.

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with 'subscribe eab' in the subject header. You can list other
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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
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is also cited.

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

ISSN 1476-6337.

[Issue 131 ends.]

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