Accessibility

DICE chats about the shift from teamwork to individuals' goals and the third-person camera. Battlefield Heroes: Better than Team Fortress 2? Work continues on Battlefield Heroes despite the recent closure of the game's beta, and producer Aleksander Grondal recently talked it up with Gamasutra. Grondal isn't a Battlefield developer veteran, instead having previously worked on Anarchy Online and Dr

In Firefox 3, new accessibility features have been added such as support for Iaccessible2 on Windows and support for AT-SPI/ATK on Linux. In addition, the bugs that were in previous version are also fixed.

I am sure most of you are familiar with this statement when it comes to viewing art… “I just don’t get it.” As I have launched off of before, there are a series of Brooks Jensen podcasts (LW0428, LW0429, LW0430) that got me thinking about this whole concept of accessibility and association we try to make when [...]

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 was officiated so that people with disabilities may continue to work, play and participate in day-to-day tasks and activities. It states that no employer may discriminate amongst or terminate employees based on a physical or mental impairment when they are capable of performing the job with or [...]

Accessibility addresses the ways people with disabilities interact with your website, whether visually, physically, or mentally impaired, all users should be able to navigate, understand and interact with your site. Here are some compelling reasons why your website should be meet accessibility standards.

Ajax has become a new hot terms in web development world, since the rapid growth popularity of some pioneer ajax based web application like Gmail and Google Maps. Lots of web developers, web designers and internet users very excited with the more possibilities which can be done by ajax, many websites developed using the advantages [...]

My first impression when I saw Windows Vista start menu was that the Vista improved start menu interface is way better than in Windows XP. A click or a brief hover over the "All Programs" after clicking on the start menu button, will trigger the menu to open where we can scroll up and down [...]

Google is the Web's premier creator of user-friendly Web 2.0 applications, and we have long viewed it as part of our mission to do for users in the long tail (AKA users with special needs) what we've achieved for the mainstream user see this Google I/O talk entitled Design Patterns for Enhanced Accessibility for background. Accessibility 2.0 is now a hot topic on the Web and we would like to move

Here is the collection of web accessibility tools that can be also effectively used for. Probably you must not have heard about these tools.

Testing for web accessibility (how usable a website is by individuals with disabilities) is an often neglected part of web design and development. Web accessibility is important not only because your content will reach a wider range of audience, but also because correcting web accessibility issues have secondary benefits such as cleaner and more semantic [...]

Web Accessibility Tips. What things can you do to make your website more user friendly and accessible? There are many things that make or break a website. Getting targeted traffic, Increasing search engine rankings and Improving your website accessibility / usability are all things that make a website a successful website and they are generally not exclusive. Here [...]

Here’s some quick ways to test how accessible your website is for people with ‘disabilities’. We’re currently re-evaluating all the sites with our name on it including this one - perhaps you might want to test your site? Validate Your HTML to W3C recommendations - Hobo Web Validate Your CSS to W3C levels - Hobo Web ATRC - Find [...]

Length: 1:12:17 ABSTRACT Google is the Web's premier creator of user-friendly Web 2.0 applications, and we have long viewed it as part of our mission to do for users in the long tail (AKA users with special needs) what we've achieved for the mainstream user see this Google I/O talk entitled Design Patterns for Enhanced Accessibility for background. Accessibility 2.0 is now a hot topic on the

Display and Readability: · Zoom for readability: Zoom-in on your files to make information more readable on the screen in most Office 2003 programs. Or, choose to view in high contrast to improve legibility. · Get a better view: The Reading Layout view helps increase readability of documents by displaying just the Reading Layout and Reviewing toolbars in the view—all others are hidden. ·

The Ribbon The menus and toolbars in some programs were replaced with the Ribbon. The Ribbon is designed to help you quickly find the commands that you need to complete a task and provides consistent icons among Office programs. KeyTips and keyboard navigation Use the KeyTips feature to navigate quickly and easily through the Ribbon without memorizing shortcut keys. The Ribbon also supports 2-D

SAN JOSE, Calif., July 17, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- The 17th USENIX Security Symposium, , taking place July 28-Aug. 1 in San Jose, once again delivers a top-notch conference agenda that covers the spectrum of today's most pressing security challenges, including a keynote address delivered by Debra Bowen, California Secretary of State, and talks by security experts from companies including G

The Section 508 federal U.S. mandate requires web developers to create alternative means of viewing content on websites so that people with disabilities can also experience it. When compliant with 508, web content also becomes more available to all users including those using mobile devices, laptops, voice browsers etc. Therefore, while 508 compliance is something [...]

The issue of bioavailability of the orally administered resveratrol has been highlighted as a major drawback. The half-life of normal resveratrol is lesser than 20 minutes in a human’s blood stream. Some extra advantage from resveratrol approaches from the recalculation of its metabolites by the liver, unless Quercitin, by which some suppliers include in [...]

Aaron Cannon, a blind web developer and accessibility consultant, has shared a great web accessibility checklist that every designer & developer will find handy. It includes more user experience facts than the technical ones. Just like: Avoid CAPTCHAs unless you have no other choice, and even then they should be avoided. However, if you [...]

Checklists are all well and good, but by ticking the items off it doesn’t always mean your site will meet the grade. However Aaron’s written a very useful accessibility checklist that will come in very handy to anyone looking to create an accessible site. It’s beauty is it hits all the right notes, but still [...]

Checklists are all well and good, but by ticking the items off it doesn’t always mean your site will meet the grade. However Aaron’s written a very useful accessibility checklist that will come in very handy to anyone looking to create an accessible site. It’s beauty is it hits all the right notes, but still [...]

This is the second post in my Patient Manifesto series. In my first post I tried to outline some broad categories of things patients want and expect from their doctor. One comment addressed two points that I didn’t focus much on but that in hindsight should not have escaped me — communication and accessibility. For communication, [...]

Elizabeth Schwyzer: Part of your company's mission is to make modern dance acceptable to a wide audience -- a controversial concept in the arts. Tell me what it means to you.David Parsons: I don't have a problem with accessibility. We have enough serious dance companies on the planet. To tell you the truth, I can't do anything else. It's who I am. I really love connecting with an audience. Part of

Fancy a new iPhone from AT&T but hate the fact that you’ll have to pay for voice service that you just won’t use? Well, whether you’re hard of hearing or just plain averse to talking to other human beings, AT&T has a new text messaging-based for the iPhone. Dubbed the Text Messaging Accessibility Plan [...]

The iPhone is now even more accessible for Americans who are deaf or have a hearing or speech disability. Today, AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) announced a new Text Accessibility Plan (TAP) for iPhone, designed to give iPhone customers with disabilities the choice of unlimited text messaging, Web browsing and easy access to e-mail for $40 a [...]

The iPhone is now even more accessible for Americans who are deaf or have a hearing or speech disability. Today, AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) announced a new Text Accessibility Plan (TAP) for iPhone, designed to give iPhone customers with disabilities the choice of unlimited text messaging, Web browsing and easy access to e-mail

If you’re deaf or hard of hearing, there’s been nothing preventing you from getting an iPhone, but you might have been a little bit miffed that you had to pay for voice service that you’d never use. No longer, however, as AT&T has announced today their new Text Accessibility Plan...

I have made a number of changes and enhancements to the Wardman Wire to make the site easier to use and more accessible. This post briefly introduces these new features. There's still some more work to do, but it is a start.

Later this evening I will be making some changes to the design of the Magazine to give a choice of "looks to the site". These are my plans.

These are the candidates for 'Best Home Page' in the annual Webby Awards.BEST HOME/WELCOME PAGE Nominees Agency/Credited Organization AdBash Rusty George Creative epicurious.com Conde Net National Geographic National Geographic Digital Media The Los Angeles Film School Platinum Creative @ Full Sail Wired.com wired mediaYep, there's some great stuff there. However ...You can double check, but accessibility appears to be absent from all of them.And it's absent from the Webbies to-tal-ly:With the ammount of money involved with these and other sites, there aren't an

During the design of the "magazine" style front page for the Wardman Wire, I have been looking into website accessibility. This article is an initial - rule of thumb - look at my own website and Politics Home.

Starting at the age of 70, our bones are starting to become so week and frail, it would be so difficult to move and walk. At this age most people just want to stay indoor...

Starting at the age of 70, our bones are starting to become so week and frail, it would be so difficult to move and walk. At this age most people just want to stay indoor...

Conflicts, Issues and Solutions

The health of a nation depends on the health of its people. Now, CNBC-TV18 puts the spotlight on the stage of rural healthcare. The government’s initiatives and endeavors have not made health care facilities accessible to millions of underprivileged Indians. Now, corporate India is trying to change that.1. Bajaj Auto’s Jankidevi Bajaj Gram Vikas Sanstha2. Biocon's Arogya Raksha Clinics3. Ranbaxy's Ranbaxy Community Healthcare Society4. Sobha Developers’ The Sobha HealthcareTo read about these initiatives, please,visit: Moneycontrol India Tags: Bajaj Auto, Biocon, Ranbaxy, Sobha Developers, health care, wellness, Pune health care and wellness blog

What exactly is Web Accessibility ?Simply put, web accessibility is about making a site accessible to the largest range of people possible. For the majority of website owners, this is simply good business sense. After all, the more people you have using your site the better.Making a website accessible involves removing potential barriers to access and one of the best ways of doing this is to build sites to 'web standards'.Who does this affect ?People often think that web accessibility relates only to people with physical disabilities. Although they are often most affected by poorly designed sites, accessibility is a much wider issue and at a fundamental level, affects us all. * Blind, visually impaired and colour blind people are probably the most obvious group of individuals affected by accessibility issues. This group also makes up a very large percentage of web surfers * People with physical disabilities, such as those with impaired mobility * People surfing th

With all the dynamic and rich web pages appearing each day, it leads one to wonder, how can we ensure access to information for the visually impaired and blind? In the old days when HTML was king, screen readers were effective in providing the details of what was on a web page. But flash cannot [...]

Hello all... this morning I'm sharing with you a great article I just read regarding the importance of website usability and accessibility. After spending so much time focused on SEO and Internet marketing, an often overlooked aspect is onsite conversion. Attracting visitors to your website is the first step, getting them to stay and convert is the second. In previous posts I've spent much of the time speaking about attracting visitors, improving search result placements and so on. Now its time to focus on making your site user friendly and easy to navigate. Keep in mind the concept of the purchase decision process - what is yours? What path must prospective customers take to review and purchase your product? These are the questions you must ask yourself and design your site accordingly to streamline the process and create a GREAT user experience. To read the full article on improving your website's usability and accessibility, click here. For more free marketing advice, visit the

So you've optimised your website, done the keyword research, got the backlinks and everything is ethical. You're sitting proudly on the first page of the search results. Or you've set up a pay per click campaign, bid on your keywords, created some ads and performance tracking is in place. Again, you're at the top of the pile. Either way, you're visible and people are visiting your website. But visitors aren't converting into leads, prospects or customers. What's going wrong? Well your website may be visible, but is it connecting?Having attracted visitors to your website through prominent search engine placements, it is vital not to lose them by failing to connect. Different visitors will have different priorities and levels of satisfaction. In order to reach and retain as many as possible and to maximise the chances of conversion, you should consider your site's usability and accessibility.Web usabilityUsability is all about providing your visitors with an effective, efficient

If you sat back and dreamed up the most luxurious confection possible, where would you sell it? Target & H&M believe they’re making luxury goods available to the masses, but are they really? One could argue they are simply dangling the notion of luxury, without providing actual luxury products. We haven’t fully formed our thoughts, and it seems the blogosphere hasn’t either. In order to help you construct a better opinion on the subject, Coutorture has organized a Salon On Luxury & Accessibility. Ever since, the blogsophere has been abuzz with debate. Hope Robertson believes in affordable luxury, while Poetic & Chic thinks we’re being duped. Further exploring the topic, The Budget Babe delves into the psychology behind the matter, as The Runway Scoop attempts to define “luxury”. Style Eyes believes such products will become more accessible and Platinum Blonde Life believes in rapid consumption. Temptalia takes the subject a step

The e-Government Bulletin - ISSUE 249, 17 October 2007, and blog reports [quoted here in full]:Government websites may be stripped of their 'gov.uk' domain names if they fail to meet tough new standards of accessibility to web users with disabilities, according to confidential draft proposals seen by E-Government Bulletin.The guidelines, entitled 'Delivering inclusive websites: user-centred accessibility', are being drafted by the Central Office of Information, the Whitehall agency which assists public bodies with communications campaigns.If approved, they would mean that existing government sites would have until December 2008 to meet the 'AA' standard set out in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) developed by the World Wide Web Consortium. All new sites would have to confirm immediately."Any new site approved by the Cabinet Sub-Committee on Public Engagement and the Delivery of Service.must conform to these guidelines from the point of publication," the draft guide

So another way of looking at what makes a good website is to describe it in new terms. A good website is: Search engine optimizedAccessibleUsable Many of the factors that make a site better at one of these also improve it in another, there is lots of overlap between them. For example, a site that is (x)html semantically structured (the xhtml explains the document, not how it looks) will be easily

While I am here watching the Yankees get thumped by the Indians, I often check out the other blogs out there in the universe, and one of the best out there is the Nats320 Blog done by a Washington Nationals season ticket holder who has unbridled passion for the team and attends virtually every game. This week, he added an impassioned entry to his blog about the ticket availability for the post-season, TV programming and how MLB caters to their supporters, VIP’s, lawyers and corporate partners. I agree with most of he says; however, the reality of sports today it is driven by almighty dollar, big business and not “biting the hand that feeds you”. I work for a defense contractor, and one of the biggest companies in the world as an IT consultant/site director. A few years ago, I was able to attend plenty of Washington Wizards game as fan, sit in a corporate box, eat free food, have all the drinks and have team officials greet us, even though I am nobody. I have been abl

"You must be blind not to see the point of Web accessibility guidelines" Often when I’m explaining some of the details of on-page optimisation to clients, I tell them that many of the steps we take benefit not only search engines but also users using screen-readers. Generally, the response we get is one of, “Yeah, but how many of our users screen-readers anyway? Surely it’s not worth considering something that accounts for so few users?” I was reminded of this today, while reading this article: “A federal judge in California certified a class action lawsuit against Target Corp brought by plaintiffs claiming the discount retailer's website is inaccessible to the blind” Win or lose, the case will undoubtedly draw some attention to the issue of Web accessibility and hopefully in the long run lead to better implementation of accessibility guidelines. Even though the number of users specifically affected might be relatively small, the size

One of the most painstaking web programming tasks is achieving web accessibility. Although estimates vary, between 5 and 10% of web users have some sort of accessibility need. There are several standards, and determining which ones to support depends largely on your business needs and location. The US Government for instance has Section 508 compliance while the Canadian Government has Common Look And Feel 2.0 Accessibility standards. Generally all of these standards build upon the specifications of the W3C's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, specifically the Priority 1 and 2 requirements. Some examples of WCAG requirements are that all web pages must have valid HTML and CSS code, images must have alternative descriptive text, and there must be alternative methods of viewing data or accessing page functionality. Accessible browsers such as JAWS cannot interpret client scripts or view images in the way that a regular browser

One look at Google’s Accessible Web Search is enough to make even the most stubborn web coder understand that compliant, accessible design is no longer the infatuation of some W3C enthusiasts, but a necessity. Even amateur SEOs will stop affirming that W3C compliance has nothing to do with getting high Google rankings. More: continued here

WebAIM discusses creation of accessible content with OpenOffice.org Writer. Worth reading.

Web accessibility means making your website available to all, regardless of ability or disability. The Website Accessibility Initiative (WAI) introduction to accessibility is a good starting point for this topic. For sites providing public services, the UK DDA (Disability Discrimination Act) law comes into force, and websites are therefore required to be accessible. For more [...] read more

Here's some websites and blogs which cover disability and accessibility issues. As always, the usual disclaimers apply! — (we're not responsible for the content of other websites)TechDisleading educational advisory service, working across the UK, in the fields of accessibility and inclusion.Royal National Institute for the Blind: web access centre blog. BBC | Access 2.0This is a BBC blog all about their work on accessibility.Ouch! is the website for the BBC Radio Show. It has a long blogroll of blogs by disabled people.Accessify ForumThis is one of the few online forums devoted to accessibility. Very geeky!DisapediaTo provide all the community, information and resources any disabled individual could want or need.WebAIM (Web Accessibility in Mind) is committed to improving the Web for disabled people.One service the site offers is a screen reader simulation which will give you an idea of how a blind person might use the Web. Other services include a distractibility simulation, which

he most important criteria are the hotel brand and accessibility. We would usually make the decision based on the purpose of the meeting. For example we might select Grand Hyatt Beijing for a launch or news release. However we would often choose Shangri-La Hotel Beijing or Crowne Plaza Parkview Wuzhou since they are also good choices, and are conveniently located for our offices.

Seems like a bold statement to make doesn’t it? Well I don’t think it is and in this article I hope to explain why, to both business owners and website developers alike. Let me explain. Roughly 80% of all UK search traffic originates from Google. In the majority of cases, your long term website traffic (& conversions) will originate from a search engine (insert your own Social Media caveat here). Before this online behemoth and others can begin sending you those potential customers it has to visit, ‘read’ and ‘understand’ your website, not just once, but hopefully time and time again. How else can Google decide on which pages to recommend to its users? ‘The machine’ (or rather several thousand servers) that does this is know as the Google Bot. (more…)

Is your website fully accessible to everyone?

An online interactive information service has been launched by London Underground which lets users find out the accessibility of every Tube station, the routes to/from the platforms and the street, and to/from platform to platform. It will soon be available on Transport for London’s journey planner, at the moment it’s only available at Direct Enquiries. Guess what? It’s not just for wheelchair users and passengers with mobility issues, so this is REAL progress. This service is also aimed at passengers with hearing impairments. As the access details include lifts, escalators, walking distances, ramps and platform to train gap width, this should help make planning a journey easier. I’ve got a Hearing Dog and I have to pick him up (a hefty 16 kg) whenever I get onto an escalator. There aren’t always lifts or stairs. Picking up a heavy dog and trying to keep my balance on a moving stairway can be daunting, especially when we’re on our way home from a g

The power of the Web is in its universality. Access by everyone regardless of disability is an essential aspect. Tim Berners-Lee - Inventor of the World Wide Web. Do Irish Web Designers care about accessibility? Recently I did some quick research to evaluate the levels of accessibility awareness and/or compliance of the top 15 ranked [...]

The Accessibility Tools are some of the least known applications included in Windows XP. However, that doesn't mean they are not important or useful. Practically these tools are a life-saver for people with disabilities. The Accessibility Tools allows them to adjust settings that make it easier to see their computers, use their mouse and keyboard or other input devices. In Windows Vista these tools were updated to provide more configuration options. Also, their location and some of the application names were changed. read more

By — Nelson Chung What is web accessibility? With Wiki’s being so popular these days, why don’t we consult one? Wikipedia defines web accessibility as “the practice of making pages on the Internet accessible to all users, especially those with disabilities.” That sounds pretty accurate to me. With the ever-growing web, it is becoming increasingly [...]

The need for loans can arise in every ones life. One might run out of cash in some critical times and feels the dire need of money. During such situations payday advance loan comes in handy. Payday advance loans are short term loans offered to the borrower in need of cash to look for all emergency needs like accident, health problems etc. The borrower can place an application and once the application is approved the loan amounts directly transferred into the bank account. The important feature of payday advance loans is that these loans are approved very fast. A regular loan takes a minimum of two weeks to be sanctioned whereas a payday loan is approved within couple of hours. The loan amount approved under the payday loan ranges from £80 to £1000. All salaried people are eligible to get this payday loan provided the salary or wages are paid directly into a bank. The lender asks for some basis requirements from the borrower like the bank credit account and a regular job for the pas

*Back to blogging again, been quite busy with helping out in the collection of donations and goods for the typhoon and mudslide victims in the Bicol region. Still, donations are very much welcomed. Moving on… This news item from the BBC News Technology section has got me a bit worried, ‘Most websites’ failing disabled. Sad really. We bloggers would always jump at the moment to protect our blogger’s rights, control over what content appears in our blogs and censorship over what users can comment in our posts but a recent study has shown that we have been less ‘considerate’ about our disabled neighbors who use the internet and would surely love to visit our blogs and other sites. The story goes on to say: Most of the leading websites around the world are failing to provide the most basic accessibility standards for people with disabilities. Ninety seven percent of websites did not provide even minimum levels of accessibility, a new survey has found. A

*Back to blogging again, been quite busy with helping out in the collection of donations and goods for the typhoon and mudslide victims in the Bicol region. Still, donations are very much welcomed. Moving on… This news item from the BBC News Technology section has got me a bit worried, ‘Most websites’ failing disabled. Sad really. We bloggers would always jump at the moment to protect our blogger’s rights, control over what content appears in our blogs and censorship over what users can comment in our posts but a recent study has shown that we have been less ‘considerate’ about our disabled neighbors who use the internet and would surely love to visit our blogs and other sites. The story goes on to say: Most of the leading websites around the world are failing to provide the most basic accessibility standards for people with disabilities. Ninety seven percent of websites did not provide even minimum levels of accessibility, a new survey has found. A

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?? Web Accessibility: What You Should Know Overview There is a lot of talk these days with regard to proper development practices and accessible web design. If you don't think any of this applies to you or your website, you probably don't understand exactly what this is all about. Web Accessibility refers to ...

So you've optimised your website, done the keyword research, got the backlinks and everything is ethical. You're sitting proudly on the first page of the search results. Or you've set up a pay per click campaign, bid on your keywords, created some ads and performance tracking is in place. Again, ...

Here's a nice top ten of things not to do when building accessible sites: Don't use verbose ALT text. ALT text for information-based images should be short and succinct. Decorative images should never have ALT text. Don't ...

New Rate Plan Includes Unlimited Internet and Messaging Read the full story here.

AT&T today announced a new Text Accessibility Plan (TAP) for iPhone, designed to give iPhone customers with disabilities the choice of unlimited text messaging, Web browsing for $40 a month. “Our Text Accessibility Plan allows customers who are deaf or have hearing or speech disabilities to literally tap out their communications on ...