Introduction to Accessibility

1. Introduction to Accessibility

2. Learning objectives. By the end of this training session, you should be able to: • Define accessibility and explain why accessibility is important. • Identify different disability types. • Define assistive technology. • Describe accessibility regulations. • Locate accessibility resources.

3. What is accessibility and why is it important?

4. What is accessibility? • Accessibility is successful access to information and use of information technology by people who have disabilities or varying levels of physical ability. • Accessibility involves designing or modifying equipment, hardware, or software to allow access by people with disabilities.

5. Accessibility is about all of us. World population: 6+ Billion Worldwide number disabled: ~1 Billion (16%) United States population: 281 Million United States number disabled: 54 Million (19%) Sources: Population Reference Bureau, United Nations and Forrester Study commissioned by Microsoft. Physical disabilities Other conditions that inhibit I T use Disabled population Aging Nonnative speakers Temporary disabilities In the US, 17.9 million people speak a language other than English at home 16% of world population is disabled Everyday situations disable certain senses temporarily By 2010, 60% of US population will be over the age of 35 Noisy environments (hearing) Driving (sight) Poor hearing Mobility Blind Deaf Failing vision Color blind Cognitive Accessibility affects many people, especially with the growing need to embrace aging workforces, customers, and citizens.

6. Serving end users better. Technologies developed for disabled people are useful to the aging and multicultural populations. • Nonnative speakers with partial fluency can benefit from seeing captions in real time, as a person speaks. • Speech-to-text technology can give a competitive advantage to organizations with audiences whose preferred language differs from the spoken language. • Serving people who are not native speakers can open new markets or expand existing market share. • As people age, hearing and eyesight often diminish. • Technologies designed to assist low vision and hard of hearing people can give a competitive advantage to organizations with older customers or an aging workforce. • As an aging population, the “baby boomers” in particular have significant disposable income, retirement investments, and insurance needs.

7. Example of user experience with slight visual impairment. Example of 20-year-old user who has 20/20 vision. Example of 50-year-old user who has 80% of original vision and slight color blindness.

8. Understanding the impact of disabilities on an I T user

9. Vision. Issues: Cannot use the mouse for input, cannot see the screen, or might need magnification and color contrast. Assistive Technology: • Screen readers. • Braille displays. • Screen magnifiers.

10. Blind users must use a screen reader and the keyboard. User presses Alt key to access menu. User presses right arrow key. The menu must be coded in a standard way so that the screen reader understands and can convey the information to the user.

11. Users with low vision need enlargeable fonts and high-contrast settings. Font Size Larger font size Even larger font size Low Contrast High Contrast Large fonts and high contrast A screen magnifier is needed when user needs go beyond operating system capabilities.

12. Color deficiency. Color-deficient users need more than color differences. Greensignals a server is online. Redsignals a server is offline. The color blind user sees one color.

13. Color deficiency (continued). It is okay to use color, as long as color is not the only way to convey information.

14. Four score and seven years ago, our fathers… Hearing. Issues: Cannot hear audio, video, system alerts, or alarms. Assistive Technology: • Closed captioning. • Transcripts. • ShowSounds.

15. Mobility. Issues: Limited or no use of hands, limited range, speed, and strength. Assistive Technology: • Alternate input (for example, voice). • Access keys. • Latches that are easy to reach and manipulate.

16. Cognitive. Issues: Difficulty reading and comprehending information, difficulty writing. Assistive Technology: • Spell checkers. • Word prediction aids. • Reading and writing comprehension aids.

17. Assistive technologies

18. Assistive technologies • Assistive technology (A T) is hardware or software that is used to increase, maintain, or assist the functional capabilities of people with disabilities. In short, it can be any device or technique that assists people in removing or reducing barriers and enhancing their everyday life activities. Examples of assistive technology include: • Screen readers, which are applications that speak screen information to people who are blind. • Screen magnifiers, which are are software that enlarges information on the screen for people with low vision. • Closed captioning, which displays the text version of the audio for people who are deaf or hard of hearing. • Special keyboards and input devices that assist people with limited hand use or mobility impairments.

19. Accessibility and assistive technology. • Accessibility: Attribute of information technology that allows it to be used by people with varying abilities. • Assistive Technology: Specialized I T that allows a user with a disability to access information technology.

20. Accessibility laws and regulations

21. Standards and legislation appearing worldwide. Europe • Many countries have enacted legislation or national standards: • UK – Web accessibility, 2002 • Germany – Barrier Free Decree, 2002 • Italy – ICT accessibility & government procurement, 2004 • Switzerland – Public sector Web accessibility, 2004 • European Union – Procurement of accessible I T, 2004 • Spain – Accessibility for computer platforms, 1998 • Ireland – I T accessibility guidelines, 2002 • Netherlands – Web accessibility, 2003 • Sweden – Guidelines for computer accessibility, 1998 Canada • Canadian Human Rights Act • Ontarians with Disabilities Act – 2001 • Common Look & Feel Web guidelines – 2001 • United States • Section 508 of Rehabilitation Act requires federal agencies to purchase electronic and information technology that is accessible to people with disabilities. • States are enacting similar legislation. • China • Law of the PRC on the Protection of Disabled Persons – Provisions on employment, public services, transportation, and legal sanctions, 1991 • Japan • JIS standards • Litigation and legal inquiries triggered by legislation in the United States • State of Arkansas: New state accounting system built on SAP technology is inaccessible to blind employees. • Commonwealth of Pennsylvania: Web portal inaccessible to blind. SAP software is the source of the problem; IBM is providing integration services. • Metro Atlanta Mass Transit: Web site schedule and services inaccessible. • Southwest Airline: Reservations and ticketing are inaccessible. • Connecticut: Attorney General’s office investigates Web-based tax filing services. • Bank of America: inaccessible Web sites and A TMs. • America Online: Software incompatible with screen readers. • Australia / New Zealand • Disability Discrimination Act passed – 1996 • Australian Bankers’ Association endorsed e-commerce standards – 2000 • Australian Communications Industry Forum's (ACIF) Guidelines – 2001

22. Accessibility standards are not all the same. US Section 508 W3C/Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) Accessibility Guidelines

23. W3C/WAI is for the Web only; Section 508 covers all electronic and information technology.

24. 508 Web guidelines are different from W3C WCAG priority 1s.

25. Most additional WCAG priority 2 requirements increase usability; many are solved by browser + assistive technology. There are 23 additional priority 2 requirements shown on the next two charts. Section 508 Web Accessibility Section 1194.22. Paragraphs a through p do NOT map to any of these W3C WCAG priority 2s.

26. Most additional WCAG priority 2 requirements increase usability; many are solved by browser + assistive technology.

27. Additional resources for learning about accessibility. • IBM Human Ability and Accessibility Center. • http://www.ibm.com/able • IBM Human Ability and Accessibility Checklists and Techniques. • http://www.ibm.com/able/guidelines • IBM Home Page Reader. • Test instructions: http://www.ibm.com/able/guidelines/web/webhprtest.html • Trial Download: http://www.ibm.com/able/solution_offerings/hpr.html • Guide to Section 508 Standards for Electronic and Information Technology. • http://www.access-board.gov/sec508/guide/ • Web accessibility tutorials. • http://www.jimthatcher.com/webcourse1.htm • http://www.webaim.org • http://www.section508.gov