+++E-Access Bulletin - Issue 125, May 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 Newsletter (TEN) Standard: http://www.headstar.com/ten/ .

++Section One: News.

Contents.

+01: Draft Web Access Standard Embraces Personalisation.

Personalisation of website accessibility, including customising tools and offering different versions of sites to suit individual needs, should be considered for some specialist websites such as social networking platforms, according to the latest draft of a British standard on web accessibility.

The second draft of BS 8878 'Web accessibility - Code of practice', developed by a sub-committee of the British Standards Institution (BSI), IST/45, suggests that educational establishments, social networking sites, e-learning websites and other sites requiring a member login have an opportunity to provide users with personalisation facilities and "an individualised approach to dealing with their accessibility needs".

Jonathan Hassell, chair of IST/45 and head of audience experience and usability for future media and technology at the BBC, told E-Access Bulletin's sister publication E-Government Bulletin that although still in its infancy, the personalisation approach to website accessibility is likely to develop significantly in coming years.

"In some situations, rather than trying to create a website for everybody, maybe the right thing to do is - where people's needs diverge - to create different versions of a website for different people. We may even want to have tools on a website enabling it to be personalised for the exact user."

Hassell also said the new draft was a "process map", intended for those who may not be accessibility specialists, giving them an idea of points to consider when making a website accessible, and taking into account the wide-ranging needs of disabled internet users.

BS 8878 is not intended to replace existing guidance, such as version 2.0 of the international Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), said Hassell: "We're not replicating anything you might find in WCAG 2.0. It's a great standard. If you're at the point of technical web production, then process- wise and design-wise WCAG 2.0 is the document you should be looking at, and we point to it in BS 8878."

Other new suggestions in the second draft of the standard include a bigger focus on the accessibility needs of elderly people; accessibility factors to consider when procuring a website from a number of suppliers; and how the advent of internet viewing on new channels such as on mobile devices, tablet computers and television may affect accessibility.

Originally intended for publication in summer of last year, the second draft of BS 8878 was put back due to European intervention, Hassell said. The European Committee for Standardization (CEN) contacted the BSI after the first draft of BS 8878, expressing a desire for a common set of accessibility standards across Europe. However, this was retracted after a realisation that differing accessibility laws across member states would make a common standard extremely difficult to develop.

Feedback on the second draft of BS 8878 is invited before 30 June, with an estimated publication date for the final standard of November. To give feedback, via the BSI website (the feedback mechanism of which has been made more accessible) or email, visit: http://bit.ly/cY8dND . The second draft is available in Rich Text Format, and can be read by a wide range of word processors and screen-readers, after feedback on the first draft suggested that it was not fully accessible to some users.

And you can comment on this story now, on EAB Live: http://www.headstar.com/eablive/?p=427

+02: Disability Linked To Digital Exclusion And'Disengagement'.

Levels of home internet access in the UK are directly linked to a wide range of traditional indicators of social exclusion including disability, a digital inclusion seminar at City University, London heard this month.

Ellen Helsper, lecturer in media and communications at the London School of Economics and Political Science, told the seminar that among the disabled population, 59% do not have home access, compared with just 29% of the general population.

The main theories relating to causes of digital exclusion tend to revolve around cost of access, but surveys show that people tend to offer other reasons for their non-use such as discrimination, Helsper said. Accordingly, the focus of analysts has switched towards models that look beyond access into areas like skills, confidence, attitude and motivation.

People with disabilities have lower confidence levels and lower motivation to use the internet than others, she said. The average score for positive attitude towards internet use stands at 3.1 out of 5 for disabled adults compared to 3.3 for non-disabled adults; and 3.4/5 for disabled teenagers compared with 3.8/5 for non-disabled teenagers.

There are a few encouraging signs, however: research shows that one third of non-users have somebody else who uses the internet for them, so they are part of networks which allow them access to the technology, Helsper said. "In the health and social service sector, this is an important finding". People with disabilities tend to rely on children for proxy use, whereas people without disabilities tend to rely on friends or colleagues.

One new measure of digital inclusion or exclusion used by academics and researchers is that of digital 'engagement', she said. This measures not just whether people have access to the internet, or have the skills or the motivation to use it, but how wide a variety of activities they engage in.

"Engagement views activity in a more social environment, geared around technologies - people exchanging information with each other, for example." The opposite - disengagement - may sometimes be related to the fact that not much content is available for some social groups, Helsper said. For example the types of jobs some people may be looking for may not be widely advertised on internet job sites.

NOTE: For a full report on the seminar see Section Three, this issue.

And you can comment on this story now, on EAB Live: http://www.headstar.com/eablive/?p=430

+03: Accessible E-Books "Tantalisingly Close".

Many of the barriers that currently hinder access to electronic book reading platforms by people with disabilities are easily correctable by altering the implementation of existing technologies, according to a new report.

The best practice guide on e-book accessibility was produced for the publishing industry by the Publishers Licensing Society and JISC TechDis, the disability and technology advisory agency for the education sector. Findings in the guide - which form part of a lengthier full report on the research - are based on the results of accessibility testing of e-book platforms carried out in 2009 by disability charity the Shaw Trust.

Disabled technology users tested a number of platforms for compatibility with screen-readers; voice recognition; keyboard commands; and colour contrast and magnification.

Alistair McNaught, senior advisor at JISC TechDis, told E- Access Bulletin two of the research findings are particularly significant. "The first was how tantalisingly close we are to solutions; there are still barriers on many platforms but most of these are legacies or oversights that could be easily fixed in subsequent developments.

"The second was the positive engagement from the publishers and their responses to the feedback. Good accessibility leads to good products and the opportunity for disability organisations to be 'expert partners' can only benefit everyone."

The best practice guide and full report are available at: http://www.pls.org.uk/news/Pages/goodpracticegudeebooks.asp x?PageView=Shared .

And you can comment on this story now, on EAB Live: http://www.headstar.com/eablive/?p=433

++News in Brief:

Contents.

+04: Downloadable Delights:

More than 1,000 audiobooks are now available to be lent for free over the internet, after the launch of a service for members of the charity Listening Books. The 'Downloadable' service allows a wide range of titles, including classics, children's books, and non-fiction titles, to be downloaded to a PC, iPod or other portable device, with some titles also being available for Mac systems. To become a member and borrow books, users must pay a registration fee, though a limited number of free places are also available: http://www.listening-books.org.uk/downloadable.aspx

+05: Market Failure:

There needs to be more emphasis on accessibility in procurement of ICT systems by governments of EU member states, according to Kevin Carey, head of eInclusion consultancy at ATcare and chair of the Royal National Institute of Blind People. In a recent speech at the first meeting of the UK government's new e-Accessibility Forum at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills in London, Carey claimed that "by and large, ICT accessibility has been a market failure": http://www.humanity.org.uk/articles/eu-uk-policy/living-with- disability-digital-britain

+06: Broad Limitations:

Nearly 40% of Americans without a broadband internet connection have a disability, according to a new US government study, 'A giant leap and a big deal'. Published by Elizabeth E. Lyle, policy advisor on the American national Omnibus Broadband Initiative, the paper makes recommendations for improved government enforcement of accessibility laws, and for more information about disability- specific broadband adoption issues to be gathered and analysed: http://blog.broadband.gov/?entryId=391546 .

[Section One ends].

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

Contents.

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

+07: Facebook Challenge:

The trusty translator of the Italian version of our newsletter, Margherita Giordano, writes in to ask if any readers have advice for an acquaintance of hers who is having problems using the social networking site Facebook.

"One of my former students would like to get some information about Facebook. He uses [the screen-reader software] JAWS, but he says that he is experiencing many access difficulties, especially in using the chat features. Can you give him any suggestions?"

[Responses please to inbox@headstar.com].

+08: Apple Rolls:

Jude DaShiell, a computer programmer in the US civil service from Lexington Park, Maryland, and regular E- Access Bulletin correspondent, writes in to respond to an item in the inbox section of our September 2009 issue, 'Rotten Apple?', in which our reader Dan TeVelde urged Apple to communicate more effectively with the blind community, after failing to gain useful accessibility advice on a technical support line or at his local Apple store.

"Your best bet with Apple is not to try to contact the company," he suggests. "You get technical support by finding your local Apple User's Group, and getting involved. When a problem is beyond your local user group's ability to handle, you need to go to your local Apple store after having set up an appointment with the Genius Bar. If the local Apple Store Genius Bar people can't handle the problem, they may or may not pass that problem along to Apple Headquarters. Very decentralised I know, but that's just how the Apple rolls."

[Further responses please to inbox@headstar.com].

[Section Two ends].

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Contents.

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++Section Three: Focus- Digital Exclusion.

Contents.

+09: Exclusion Zoneby Dan Jellinek.

The concept of 'digital exclusion' might seem simple enough, but it is actually a highly complex field to define and analyse, and academics and policymakers are divided on the best ways to address it, a City University, London seminar heard last week.

'Digital inclusion and social exclusion: is there a relationship and what are the policy implications?' was addressed by Ellen Helsper, lecturer in media and communications at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Across the UK, and the whole developed world, the proportion of people not using the internet seems to be levelling off at between 20%-30%, Helsper said. Academics had developed four broad theory types covering the effects of digital exclusion, and how important a factor it is in social exclusion more generally, she said.

The first is that it has little or no effect, although this was not a widely-held or popular theory, not least because if true, it would render large swathes of government policy and academic research meaningless, Helsper said.

The second, 'equalising' theory holds that the reduction of digital exclusion reduces disadvantage by engaging people more in areas like education. "Sadly, there is not much evidence for this", she said.

The third theory is that of 'neutralisation'. This suggests that technology use in itself cannot significantly improve people's social situation, but for those who do not use it, the social gap will widen, so digital inclusion is needed simply to maintain "the status quo of inequality". There is more evidence for this theory, Helsper said.

Finally comes the bleakest theory of all: that of the 'vicious cycle'. According to this theory, "Even if we engage everyone with technology, the way in which we engage is so different that the gaps will still widen, because the socially disadvantaged will not use the internet for uses such as education but for uses like gaming, so the gaps get bigger and bigger."

Whatever the implications, it is clear that over time, the relationship between social disadvantage and use of the internet has remained stable, so patterns of internet use closely track patterns of social deprivation, she said.

Across Europe, we also find that areas of low take-up and use are poorer areas, and so the main theories relating to causes of digital exclusion (rather than their effects) tend to revolve around cost, Elsper said.

However, if you talk to people in these areas, you receive a more complex response about the reasons for their non-use of the internet such as discrimination faced by certain sections of the community. Theoreticians and policymakers are therefore now trying to look beyond the economic indicators, she said.

It is also becoming clearer that different types of access are better for different types of excluded groups, for example that home access is better than access in a library or other public place, because people have time to play around with it more.

But levels of home access are again linked to all traditional indicators of social exclusion such as disability, Helsper said. Among the disabled population, 59% do not have home access, compared with just 29% of the general population.

Accordingly, the focus of analysts has switched towards models that go beyond access and use into areas like skills, confidence, attitude and motivation, she said.

"People have started thinking differently about skills: they are not just asking how good at it people think they are, but are looking at things like critical online skills - whether people know how good an information source is - or creative skills, can you create content online?"

When it comes to confidence levels, we find that people with disabilities have lower scores, Helsper said. And the same is true for attitude and motivation, which looks at whether people see the value of using digital technologies even after they have the necessary access and skills: the average score for positive attitude stands at 3.1 out of 5 for disabled adults compared to 3.3 for non-disabled adults; and 3.4/5 for disabled teenagers compared with 3.8/5 for non-disabled teenagers.

An even newer measure of exclusion is that of digital 'engagement', she said. This measures not just whether people have access to the internet, or have the skills or even the motivation to use it for sustained periods of time, but how deeply they use it and in what ways - do they use it for a wide variety of activities?

"It is a parallel argument to that of education: people are now saying we need to focus on the ways people are becoming engaged. Engagement views activity in a more social environment, geared around technologies - people exchanging information with each other, for example. It is not something that you have to do."

There are controversies inherent in this kind of analysis, Helsper said, because it often can seem to involve value judgments as to what type of online activity is more valuable than another kind.

"There is a tendency to talk about digital participation, but I don't really like that term because it comes from the area of civic participation, the old view of the value of doing something active in society, but in fact if kids do gaming or social networks, they may be included.

"But I don't use digital inclusion any more as a term, either - what I tend to be talking about now is digital engagement."

The opposite - disengagement - may sometimes be related to the fact that not much content is available for some social groups, "because the internet was created by stereotypical white middle-aged men". For example the types of jobs some people may be looking for may not be widely advertised on internet job sites.

Ultimately, of the three main popular current theories mentioned at the opening of the seminar - equalising, neutralisation and vicious cycle - it is fair to say that all are true in some measure or other or at some time or other, depending on the type of engagement, or type of group you are looking at, Helsper said.

There are other encouraging signs, however, such as 'proxy use': research shows that one third of non-users have somebody else who uses the internet for them, so they are part of networks which allow them access to the technology, she said. People with disabilities tend to rely on children for proxy use, whereas people without disabilities tend to rely on friends or colleagues. "In the health and social service sector, this is an important finding".

Another possible hidden positive is that the benefits of have digital access or being engaged may not be easy to measure because they may accrue in areas unrelated to the specific activity, Elsper said. "So if you use technology in a geography class, it may not necessarily improve grades or attendance in that class, but it could boost confidence in a completely different area."

In this and all areas relating to digital exclusion, empirical research is "very much a work in progress", Helsper said.

In discussion at the end of the seminar, one delegate summed up a key shortfall of any public policy that attempts to address digital exclusion purely by providing more people with access to the internet.

"If you build hospitals in poor areas, and provide lots of doctors in them, it will not necessarily improve people's health in that area, that has been shown to be true. The same is true about giving people access, it won't necessarily mean they are more digitally included."

And you can comment on this story now, on EAB Live: http://www.headstar.com/eablive/?p=436

[Section Three ends].

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Contents.

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[Special notice ends].

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Contents.

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++End Notes.

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