+++E-Access Bulletin.- Issue 77, May 2006.

Technology news for people with vision impairment ( http://www.headstar.com/eab/ ). Sponsored by RNIB ( http://www.rnib.org.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/ .

++Special Notice: 'e-Access '06' - Technology For All- Early Bird Offer Until 30 June - 14 September 2006, Central London - http://www.headstar-events.com/eaccess06/

Contents.

'e-Access'06' is the UK's leading annual event on access to all technologies, including internet, PCs, mobile phones and digital TV and radio, by people with disabilities and people of all abilities.

The conference focuses on how digital technology is enabling people with disabilities to achieve greater independence. It also looks at the problems people face with access to technology including accessible banking and broadcasting. Sponsors include BSkyB, Jadu and Ford.

Places normally cost 195 pounds plus VAT for public sector, 295 pounds plus VAT for private sector and 145 pounds plus VAT for small charities and not for profit organisations (turnover below 300,000 pounds). However if you register before 1 July you will save 50 pounds per delegate by typing 'eb-offer' after your name. For more information see: http://www.headstar-events.com/eaccess06/ .

[Special notice ends].

++Section One: News.

Contents.

+01: User Experience Core To Updated Web Accessibility Guidelines.

A more structured approach to user experience, based around precise tests that help translate user feedback into accessible web design, is at the centre of new guidelines being drawn up by the Web Accessibility Initiative of the World Wide Web Consortium ( WAI - http://www.w3.org/WAI/ ).

The updated Web Content Accessibility Guidelines ( WCAG 2.0 - http://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/wcag20.php ) will lay out a practical approach for including feedback from users, giving web designers clearer guidance on improving accessibility during the design process, E-Access Bulletin has learned. "The normative portion of WCAG 2.0 is the 'success criteria'. The success criteria are designed to be precisely testable, while the checkpoints in WCAG 1.0 were not," Judy Brewer, director of the Web Accessibility Initiative told E-Access Bulletin.

The checkpoints in WCAG 1.0 make design recommendations, such as "Use navigation mechanisms in a consistent manner", but they don't provide much detailed help for designers needing to assess the results of implementing these recommendations. "We are developing tests for the implementation techniques associated with WCAG 2.0 success criteria. Our goal is to enable more reliable assessment of conformance to WCAG 2.0," she said. The only test procedures laid down in WCAG 1.0 are for automated checking tools, rather than human users.

The new guidelines also have a much wider scope than those they replace, according to Brewer. "Given the rapid and continuing evolution of web technologies, the WAI felt it would be most valuable to develop a guideline for web content accessibility that could apply across all web technologies," she said. "The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 had focused mainly on HTML, as do many other locally-developed web accessibility guidelines," she explained.

The first version of the standard, WCAG 1.0, was released in 1999, so updated guidelines are needed to make sure that work on accessibility keeps pace with innovations in technology. According to Brewer, the long wait is partly due to wider scope and greater detail in WCAG 2.0, and the WAI team have also consulted widely on the new guidelines she said. "We've sought extensive input from users of WCAG 1.0 around the world during the development of WCAG 2.0. Again, while this has added to the development timeline, we feel that this will help us meet the goal of developing a guideline which can become a convergence target for harmonisation of standards on web accessibility," she said.

At present, WAI is requesting public feedback on the latest draft of WCAG 2.0 by the end of May ( http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/w3c-wai- ig/2006AprJun/0023.html ). A final release date for the new guidelines has yet to be fixed. According to Brewer this is because the results of the public consultation need to be absorbed and an amended draft drawn up, and then W3C will examine the proposed new guidelines before giving them its final stamp of approval.

+03: Mobile Journey Planner Under Development.

A device providing personalised journey planning aimed at passengers with a disability is under development and will be tested by vision impaired people in England and Ireland this Summer.

The project team is developing a personal digital assistant (PDA) with built-in mobile phone and audio output aimed at people with mobility impairments to guide users to and from public transport networks and enable them to request accessible travel information on the move. 'MAPPED,' (http://www.bmt.org/brochures/Focus%20Issue%202%202005.pdf ) a three-year European Commission funded programme, uses software that runs both on a central server and on the PDA. The servers and client "talk" to each other over the General Packet Radio System (GPRS) mobile phone network. "Typically a user will enter the start and end points of a route they want to travel along into the PDA. MAPPED will know where the user is because it contains a handheld geolocation receiver that communicates with satellites. It will then suggest a route and at all times send accessibility information relevant to their location." There are also plans for the device to allow users to make advance bookings for assistance at underground stations, for example, possibly via SMS text sent from the device.

"Public transport is notoriously underused by people with a disability," research scientist Dr Gary Randall of British Maritime Technology (BMT - http://www.bmt.org/ ), developing the device, told delegates at this month's seminar on location-based services for people with a disability (http://www.tiresias.org/phoneability/seminar_location_based_services .htm ) hosted by PhoneAbility ( http://www.tiresias.org/phoneability/ ).

According to Randall, when it comes to journey planning there is a lack of accessible information for passengers with a disability. "The combination of services that MAPPED offers is new - all types of routing and accessibility information and reservation-making."

But digital maps do not currently include information needed by people with mobility impairments on steps, road gradients doorways, paths and lifts for example. "Maps need augmenting to include information we need," Randall said. "It's been a real slog to get the data together and handle the complexity of that data," Randall said. Eventually, the device will enable users to add relevant details to maps as they encounter them.

Following trials in Dublin in Ireland and Winchester in England, further tests will take place in Barcelona, Spain and Genoa, Italy, in co- operation with European mobility project ASK-IT ( http://www.ask-it.org/ ).

+02: Accessible Multifunction Device To Launch This Year.

A product providing access to a wide range of digital media all in one package is set to launch by the end of this year. The Digital Media Centre combines the functions of a Freeview digital TV set-top box, digital radio tuner, and disc player and recorder.

The Digital Media Centre, developed by Portset Systems ( http://www.portset.co.uk/pdmc.htm ), provides access to electronic programme guides in audio or on-screen formats, audio-described TV and DVD content, audio CDs and talking books in the Daisy format. The system can be used with or without a TV set. A hard drive is built into the system, enabling users to record up to 100 hours of TV content directly, or to pause live TV content and resume where they left off.

As well as recording onto the internal hard drive, users can record onto audio CDs. For users with partial vision, Digital Media Centre can be connected to a TV, accessing programme guides on-screen as well as via an audio output provided by a synthetic voice. Users can adjust the size and colour of the on-screen display to suit their needs.

These features add to the functionality of an earlier model that has been available since January this year. According to Graham Thomas, chief executive of Portset Systems, the new features were prompted by feedback from users. "We've had a large order book since we launched, and some very useful comments from customers," he said. According to Thomas, the new Digital Media Centre will retail at around 900 pounds.

At present, the other option for users needing audio-described digital TV content via Freeview is the Netgem i-Player, a set-top box that doesn't have the Digital Media Centre's range of functions.

Availability of audio described content via digital TV is one of the issues covered by a public consultation run by the regulator Ofcom on access to broadcast services. The closing date for responses is 8 June 2006. For more information see: http://www.ofcom.org.uk/consult/condocs/accessservs/access.pdf .

+04: Double Launch For Accessibility Boosting Campaigns.

Efforts to communicate the basic points of good practice in technology design to a wider audience have been boosted by the launch this month of two initiatives aiming to bring users, policymakers, and the private sector together.

On 5 May, 2080partners, ( http://www.2080partners.com/ ), a group that includes the British Dyslexia Association, launched the Well Adjusted Campaign, which aims to draw up a list of the top 10 reasonable adjustments that will improve the accessibility of web sites.

The campaign will consult with accessibility experts and the private sector to draw up good practice guidelines that are effective, but easy to understand. "We're aiming at people who want to do it, but find accessibility scary and complicated," said Sally Hayward of the 2080partners team.

Separately, a group of organisations including The Royal National Institute for Deaf People ( RNID - http://www.rnid.org.uk/ ) is launching an initiative to draft a 'charter for disabled people and ICT'. The initiative, which launched on 15 May at a Parliamentary reception, aims to draw on a broad range of consultees to raise awareness of inclusive design and identify its key principles. The end result will be a statement that is easy to understand and can fit on a single sheet of paper.

The project is funded by the Alliance for Digital Inclusion, a pan- industry body focused on the wider impact of ICTs in society. A web site has been set up for discussion and feedback at: http://www.itenables.info

++News in Brief:

Contents.

+05: First Award:

Insurance company UnumProvident has become the first UK company web site to be awarded with recently-formed web accessibility accreditation 'See It Right: UseAbility.' The award, which appears as a logo on the web site, is presented following RNIB's accessibility audit and checks by UK disability technology charity AbilityNet's panel of people with disabilities: http://www.abilitynet.org.uk/content/oneoffs/sir_unum.htm .

+06: Access Calls:

An audio tutorial on how to use voice over IP (VoIP) internet telephone service Skype has been released. Topics covered include: downloading and installing Skype, integrating Skype into e-mail, audio conferencing, text chat, obtaining a Skype account, installing the latest JAWS scripts for Skype and calling contacts with a single key press from anywhere in Windows. Jonathan Mosen's tutorial is available from his web site, and costs around eight pounds: http://www.mosen.org/sos/ .

+07: Testing Testing:

Eleven languages have been added to the updated version of a manual web accessibility evaluation tool, the 'Web Accessibility Toolbar' version 1.2. Launched by blindness organisation Vision Australia, the toolbar is free to download and install and is now available in Portuguese, German and Japanese, among others: http://www.visionaustralia.org.au/info.aspx?page=614 .

[Section One ends].

++Special Notice: Building the Perfect Council Web Site- An E-Government Bulletin/Socitm Seminar - 11 July, Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), London.

Contents.

A partnership between E-Access Bulletin sister publication E- Government Bulletin and the Society of IT Management's Socitm Insight Programme, this conference will attempt to encapsulate every aspect of how to create the perfect council web site: accessible, easy to use and compelling.

The event will draw on the collected wisdom of seven years of Socitm's annual 'Better Connected' review of all UK council web sites, bringing together experts and practitioners to share tips and warn against pitfalls. Registration costs just 125 pounds for delegates from Socitm Insight subscriber authorities; 195 pounds for other public sector delegates and 295 pounds for private sector delegates (all rates exclude VAT).

For more information and to register see: http://www.headstar-events.com/council/ .

[Special Notice ends].

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

Contents.

Please email all contributions or responses to inbox@headstar.com .

+08: Cost Analysis:

In response to Fay Rohrlach's contribution on the high cost of assistive technology in the March issue of E-Access Bulletin, Stefan Slucki from South Australia writes: "It's a no-brainer that Fay 's call for less expensive, quality assistive technology products sounds appealing.

"Rather than stop at stating this truism, I'd like to suggest that blindness agencies and assistive technology manufacturers be encouraged to provide no or low-interest loans or instalment plans to enable more visually-impaired potential customers to purchase quality equipment. This would both expand their market and maintain a responsible attitude to the equipment by those benefiting from it.

"Complacency in the assistive technology manufacturing community has set in due to the development of government sponsorship for work- related technology-device purchases, but a significant group of visually-impaired people has yet to be seriously considered as potential customers." [please send further comments to: inbox@headstar.com]

Brian Williams from London also writes in response to Fay's comments: "There was a time when, to listen to an audio book you needed a gadget to play records. Today you need a cassette player, a DAISY player or DAISY software to play the books on your computer and some sort of software to enable your computer to talk you, such as JAWS.

"If you want to take your audio books with you on your travels you need an accessible MP3 player. Here in the UK the RNIB are to start selling an accessible MP3 player costing over 200 pounds. You can buy a player which has the same capacity on the open market for less than 30 pounds.

"How can this situation be justified? I know companies are not charities but the general public see all this wonderful technology and think our lives are being improved. How many of these international specialised technology companies offer an extended purchasing option enabling blind people to spread the cost over 12 months or more? Even if they did, we still pay much more for access to equipment than our sighted counterparts.

"It's like having a wheelchair salesroom at the top of a flight of steps and you can have one providing you buy some equipment to get you up the steps." [further responses to inbox@headstar.com].

+09: Broadcast News:

Leen Petre, Head of Broadcasting and Talking Images at RNIB writes in response to Roger Petersen from the US about his comments (E-Access Bulletin, February 2006), on improving access for blind people in the US to television. "The consumer expert group on digital switchover in the UK has produced a set of requirements for a digital TV system that would be fully accessible to older people and people with a range of impairments, including visual impairments. There is no equipment on the market at the moment that meets all these requirements, but it gives a good specification to put to manufacturers should your organisation wish to work with manufacturers directly. The document can be found on the RNIB website at: www.rnib.org.uk/audiodescription under the heading 'our campaign for accessible TV.' I hope this helps." [Further responses to inbox@headstar.com].

+10: Listen Up:

YourLocalCinema.com, the industry-sponsored group responsible for publicising audio description for films, would like vision impaired people to give their views on cinemas' audio description. "The results of the survey will be presented to the cinema industry," says Editor of 'YourLocalCinema.com' Derek Brandon. "Please take a minute to complete the accessible online survey here: http://www.yourlocalcinema.com/survey.itfc.ad.html . Completed entries will be entered into a draw, with a prize of two free cinema passes to any Vue, Odeon or UCI cinema. There are 10 sets of two passes up for grabs." [Responses to inbox@headstar.com].

[Section Two ends].

++Sponsored Notice: QAC Sight Village 2005- Birmingham, UK - 18-20 July 2006

Contents.

The latest in cutting edge technology for people who are blind or partially sighted will be on show this July at Sight Village at Queen Alexandra College in Birmingham.

Now in its thirteenth year, the event includes presentations covering tactile graphics and employment as well as panel discussions and high quality displays from companies and organisations from around the world and all over the UK. Sighted guides and tactile maps will be available for delegates.

Registration for this major international exhibition is free. For details and to register go to: http://www.viewplus.com/sightvillage-registration/

[Sponsored Notice ends].

++Special Notice: Support Our Katie!

Contents.

On Friday 26 May E-Government Bulletin's Marketing Assistant Katie Wilkinson is embarking on a charity walk from Brighton to London to raise money for Marie Curie Cancer Care. The walk is approximately 50 miles and will take two days to complete while wearing hideous yellow jumpers and waving around buckets to collect donations along the way!

To help make the sore feet bearable, and support this fantastic charity please sponsor them and visit: http://www.justgiving.com/brightontolondonwalk .

[Special Notice ends].

Section Three: Focus - Web Accessibility

+11: Conducting Effective User Testingby Stefan Haselwimmer

Following the publication of British Standards Institution's (BSI) 'Publicly available specification' PAS 78 ( http://www.bsi-global.com/ICT/PAS78/index.xalter ) accessibility guidelines earlier this year, web site accessibility is now as much about disabled-user testing as Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI - http://www.w3.org/WAI/ ) compliance.

A web site can pass all WAI accessibility checkpoints but still be unusable by disabled people, so disabled-user testing is necessary to ensure web sites are genuinely accessible. By testing your web site with a range of disabled users you can also get a powerful sense of how technical accessibility issues affect people with different disabilities.

The PAS 78 'Guide to good practice in commissioning accessible web sites' outlines the benefits of disabled-user testing and provides useful guidance on how to conduct web site usability testing with disabled people. But significant work is still required to carry out the testing itself, in terms of recruiting disabled users, administering tests and compiling final results. Web site usability testing with a range of disabled users is therefore rarely carried out by most organisations - it is either too time-consuming to carry out in-house or there is insufficient budget to pay an external consultancy to carry out the work.

We launched the Usability Exchange (http://www.usabilityexchange.com ) in March of this year to overcome many of the problems faced by organisations wishing to conduct disabled-user testing. The Usability Exchange provides a database of both experienced and inexperienced disabled people, as well as an entire usability-testing platform for administering usability tests and collecting results. The time and expense associated with carrying out usability tests is considerably reduced, making it cost-effective for organisations to conduct regular usability testing for the first time.

Within the Usability Exchange disabled testers carry out tests remotely using their own computer equipment, at a time when they are most comfortable - organisations therefore receive high-quality feedback in a matter of days rather than weeks. Organisations can also communicate directly with disabled testers to resolve accessibility or usability problems, or to organise on-site usability tests. If necessary, organisations can also watch testers attempt web site tasks through the use of remote viewing software.

A number of different usability tests can be created within the Usability Exchange depending on the experience of the organisation concerned. For organisations that have never conducted usability tests before, the Usability Exchange's 'Starter' test provides a basic indication of the usability of a web site for a range of disabled users. Large organisations with their own in-house accessibility or usability experts can create 'Advanced' tests with a variable number of tasks, questions, and testers. For public sector bodies, the Usability Exchange offers a special "Public Sector Package", a cost-effective package of products and services for organisations who require regular, high- quality disabled-user testing.

The Usability Exchange can also help with the process of consulting disabled people - a key recommendation of PAS 78 is that organisations should consult disabled people at the beginning of the web development lifecycle. The Disability Equality Duty also requires public bodies to involve disabled users when developing online services. Through the Usability Exchange, organisations can submit questionnaires to a large number of disabled people or invite local disabled users to focus groups.

Prices for Usability Exchange tests start at 299 pounds. Web design companies or accessibility consultancies intending to submit a large number of tests through the Usability Exchange can sign up as "Premium Partners" to receive significant discounts on all submitted tests. Premium partners are also included in the Usability Exchange's "Premium Partner Network", a database of organisations offering accessibility and usability-related services to customers who may require them.

By using our existing database of disabled testers, we plan to provide manual WAI-compliance checking in the near future, our ultimate goal is to provide a one-stop shop for all organisations requiring accessibility and usability services. Towards the end of 2006, we also hope to launch the Usability Exchange in the US and in selected European countries.

NOTE: Stefan Haselwimmer is Managing Director of the Usability Exchange.

[Section Three ends].

++Section Four: Focus- Open Source Software

Contents.

+12: Opening Mindsby Marco Fioretti

Accessibility is an increasingly important issue for free and open source software (FOSS) developers and advocates. The International Organization for Standardisation (ISO) has developed standards for ensuring that software is accessible to people with disabilities. Governments around the world often require that software procured for public use must meet accessibility standards.

Disabled users and the FOSS community, however, still have a serious communication problem. The need for better communication between the FOSS community and disability advocates emerged last year, when government officials in Massachusetts announced their intention to use OASIS Open Document Format for Office Applications or 'OpenDocument' (for more on this, see E-Access Bulletin, January 2006, issue 73). This is a well-documented, rich file format that can be used with any software program. Currently, OpenDocument is undergoing an accessibility review process and some of its components have already passed World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C) Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) requirements.

FOSS supporters celebrated the announcement, noting the switch would reduce public expenditure, guarantee perpetual access to data, and end discrimination. But they were unprepared for criticism from disability organisations, such as the Texas-based Disability Policy Consortium (DPC) and the Bay State Council for the Blind (BSCB) in Massachusetts.

To address this imbalance, FOSS and industry representatives met last November with Massachusetts officials and representatives from disability rights groups. The meeting revealed that the FOSS community fails to understand or appreciate the needs of disabled users, and that the disability community lacks interest in FOSS.

At the meeting, FOSS advocates explained the relationship between the Open Document Format, open standards, and accessibility standards and outlined the technical limitations of proprietary software such as Microsoft's products. They maintained accessibility in Microsoft Office has often been the result of reverse engineering, which must be done with each new release using tools from third-party vendors. They also pointed out the adoption of a FOSS-based accessibility infrastructure would open more jobs to disabled users, in positions such as Unix systems administration and web site design. But it didn't matter. Disability advocates confirmed the position expressed in a Joint Statement on OpenSource and OpenDocuments as follows: without advanced training to develop a qualified pool of talent, new employees at state government agencies with OpenSource, OpenDocument (ODF) platforms will be used by everybody but people with disabilities because of perceived or real training requirements.

The disabled users at the meeting summarized their position: "Variety is bad, we don't want to have to change." Even if Office 12 (the updated version of Microsoft Office due for release later this year) will force them to change anyway, the disabled representatives request that, as a minimum, "all ODF applications have common functionality and [...] the same keyboard shortcuts".

FOSS developers strive to meet accessibility standards. The web site OpenOffice.org is compatible with the JAWS screen reader, though problems remain. Also, the Free Standards Group's Accessibility Workgroup (FSGA) has asked for feedback on drafts of accessibility standards for Linux and Unix.

Computer science student Fabrizio Marini feels the situation is far from optimal. To install Linux, the only solution for him is to find somebody without impaired vision who is willing to do it for him. "Most Linux documentation is still too technical and difficult for newbies," Marini said. For blind users, there is the added burden of dealing with resources that aren't accessible, including, ironically, some online documentation for Linux-compatible assistive technologies. Marini has also been relying on the GNU and Linux Free Information Technology guide ("Appunti di Informatica Libera") that is an astonishing 8,839 pages long. Marini is testing speech synthesis and screen reader programs for Linux.

Many projects seem to start with ambitious goals and then stop more or less half way before being really usable. In my opinion, developers need to focus on less products. Both in Europe and the US, there is still much to do to reconcile disabled users and the FOSS community. Disabled users fail to perceive that they have the same needs and rights as everybody else, including full control of, and long term access to, government and their own private documents; or the fact that some types of software can create local jobs for them.

In the meantime, the most urgent task is to improve documentation. Local Linux User Groups could organize ways to connect volunteers to assist disabled users with installations. FOSS advocates should contact local disability rights groups to let them know what they're doing. They may also be able to provide more feedback about needs in your community.

We need to lobby for more public funding for research projects that advance the development of the FOSS accessibility infrastructure. We also need to move towards mandating that only accessibility software working with OpenOffice.org and Linux can be purchased with public money. If you have other suggestions, I welcome them.

There is no doubt that current FOSS-only platforms are not ready for many disabled users. Disabled users may be helping the FOSS community, or at least a large part of it, to finally acknowledge a general attitude problem.

NOTE: This article was originally published in the publication Newsforge: (http://software.newsforge.com/software/06/03/13/1628249.shtml?tid=150 ) Marco Fioretti is an OpenDocument Fellowship Committee Member ( http://opendocumentfellowship.org/Profiles/MarcoFioretti )

[Section Four ends].

++Special Notice: Web Accessibility Forum.

Contents.

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].

++End Notes.

Contents.

+H

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[Issue ends].