+++E-ACCESS BULLETIN.
- ISSUE 43, JULY 2003.

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. For details see:
http://www.headstar.com/ten .


++ISSUE 43 CONTENTS.

01: Secret action may trigger wave of cases
- web site owners could end up in court.

02: European procurement embraces accessibility
- new directive due by end of the year.

03: Harry Potter and the missing version
- delays for audio book of publishing phenomenon.

04: Talking lampposts for North London
- Trials for orientation guides.

News in brief: 05: Digital bridge - Brazil conference; 06: Virtual
museum - children's resource; 07: Ensuite provision - access portal;
08: Thin access - screen reader adapts.

Section two: 'The inbox' - Readers' forum.
09: Spanish lessons - tape request; 10: Canvassing views - online
questionnaire; 11: Radio days - keeping in touch; 12: Maine mistake -
correction.

Section three: Interview: Higher education.
13: Mainstreaming choice: Emma Price, equality officer at King's
College London, talks to Mel Poluck about the institution's new access
policy.

Section four: Debate - Local government.
14: No alternative to accessible sites: The debate over whether or not
it
is a good thing to offer a text-only alternative for an entire web site
continues to rage. Dan Jellinek reports.

[Contents ends].


++SPONSORED NOTICE:
- DISABILITY RIGHTS IN EUROPE: FROM THEORY TO
PRACTICE

The UK Disability Rights Commission, with the Department of
Law and the Centre for Disability Studies at the University of
Leeds, is pleased to announce a conference to celebrate the
European Year of Disabled People to be held in Leeds on 25-26
September 2003.

The conference will examine legal strategies adopted
internationally to counter discrimination against disabled people.
It will also lead to the creation of a network of interested parties
to develop ongoing work. This event has been accredited with
eleven 'CPD' (continuing professional development) points by
the Law Society and the Bar Council.

For more information and to book visit:
http://www.disability-europe.info/lawconference
or email Anna Lawson on
a.m.m.lawson@leeds.ac.uk
or telephone 0113 2335054.

[Sponsored notice ends].


++SECTION ONE: NEWS.

+01: SECRET ACTION COULD TRIGGER WAVE OF CASES.

A landmark legal action, launched in secret this month against
companies with web sites that are difficult to access for people with
visual impairments, could be the trigger for many more cases, E-
Access Bulletin has learned.

The cases are being brought by the RNIB. Details cannot
be revealed for legal reasons, although E-Access Bulletin understands
one of the cases may involve a well-known online shopping site.

The action is believed to be the first time the Disability
Discrimination
Act (DDA - http://www.disability.gov.uk/dda/) has been used to
compile a case against site owners.

"We could well see a lot more cases like this. It raises the profile of
web accessibility and many people will realise they have rights and can
exercise them, instead of just putting up with problems," according to
a spokesperson for the Disability Rights Commission, which is not
itself involved in the action.

According to the commission, although this is the first time the DDA
has been brought to bear on web sites, settlements will be reached in a
similar way to other anti-discrimination cases. An initial independent
assessment is made to identify the problems, followed by negotiations
to resolve them. Only if negotiations fail will a full court case
follow.

"The main objective of this legislation is not to tell people they will
be
fined if their sites are inaccessible, but to encourage them to go away
and change their sites," said solicitor Richard Swinburne. The RNIB
declined to comment on the cases in detail. A spokesperson said:
"Cases can halt, reach confidential settlement or be obviated by
conciliation at any stage and cannot accurately be commented on until
these processes have been completed."


+02: EUROPEAN PROCUREMENT EMBRACES
ACCESSIBILITY.

Public sector bodies will need to take into account the needs of
vision-
impaired people when awarding contracts for digital services,
following a European Parliament vote this month.

The parliament voted to adopt a proposal now set to be included in an
EU public sector procurement directive by the end of this year
(http://fastlink.headstar.com/europroc). The Council of the European
Union, made up of the economic and finance ministers from member
states, will now consider whether any final amendments are necessary
before voting on a final draft of the proposal within the next three
months. If this process runs smoothly it will become part of public
sector procurement policy across all EU member states by the end of
2003.

Although the new directive falls short of obliging public bodies to
include accessibility in all procurement contracts, they are strongly
recommended to do so. Specifically, the draft requires of authorities
that "whenever possible, the contracting authority should take into
account accessibility criteria for people with disabilities or
design-for-
all requirements when laying down specifications".

According to campaign group European Disability Forum
(http://www.edf-feph.org/en/welcome.htm), the new draft carries a
significantly stronger commitment to accessibility than existing
procurement legislation. "Previously, accessibility was included in the
criteria that could be taken into account when awarding contracts, but
now authorities will have to provide a good justification if they
don't,"
said a spokesperson (see E-Access Bulletin issue 28, April 2002).


+03: HARRY POTTER AND THE MISSING VERSION.

The audio-described version of the latest Harry Potter book has been
delayed, meaning vision-impaired readers will not be able to enjoy this
publishing phenomenon until the end of September, E-Access Bulletin
has learned.

BBC Books has been commissioned by Bloomsbury, the publisher of
'Harry Potter and the order of the phoenix', to produce the audio
version on cassette and CD. However it says it has to wait until actor
Stephen Fry is ready to undertake the reading. "The aim was to get the
audio version out at the same time [as the book]", a BBC spokesperson
said. "But Stephen Fry is in the middle of directing a film. The first
chance he will get to record will be the last two weeks of July."

The audio version will be available on cassette and CD on 22
September at a list price of 75 pounds, although according to the BBC
its own shop and a number of other retailers will be offering discounts
of 20 to 30 per cent.

Once complete, the RNIB will duplicate the audio version for its
Talking Books membership scheme
(http://fastlink.headstar.com/talk2), which costs 60 pounds a year to
join.

An RNIB spokeswoman said: "It's very frustrating and
disadvantageous for people who are blind or visually impaired but this
situation is by no means unusual - over 90 per cent of books are not
put into any accessible version."

Braille translation of the Harry Potter book is already underway, with
work beginning within two weeks of its general release by the charity
Scottish Braille Press (http://www.scottish-braille-press.org). The
charity's general manager John Donaldson said: "Just 5 per cent of
books are produced in Braille. Harry Potter is a high profile book so
we decided early on in the year that we would get it out as quickly as
we could".

Scottish Braille Press have so far received 70 orders for the book,
split
into 16 volumes, at a subsidised price of 12.50 per book. Donaldson
said there has been a higher demand for it than for any of the previous
four Harry Potter books.


+04: TALKING LAMPPOSTS FOR NORTH LONDON.

A trial that uses talking lampposts to orientate vision-impaired people
began last week in the London borough of Barnet, and may roll out to
other parts of the capital if successful.

The project, entitled 'React', will involve audio guide units fixed to
26
lampposts, mostly in the Golders Green area. It was instigated by non-
profit disability access consultancy JMU
(http://www.jmuaccess.org.uk), with support from the RNIB and
Zurich Financial Services.

Mark Rose, electronic signs consultant at JMU, said "It's a typical
London suburb with difficult crossings and junctions. The area has had
a similar system in place for two years at its bus and train stations."

Users of the system will carry a matchbox-sized activator, which when
held in an upright position triggers audible orientation guides
attached
to lampposts. Mounted speakers provide information about the location
of the user when they are eight to nine metres away. Activators, which
are standardised across the UK, can be obtained for free from the
RNIB, JMU or Jewish Care Homes.

"Its a system that tells you where you are," said Rose. "For example,
it
tells you what road or crossroads you are on or what bus stop you have
just got off at. While most vision-impaired users have good local
knowledge, that is different to knowing where you are at a given time,
or knowing the distance between places."

Other UK cities testing the scheme are Leeds - where users can hear
messages in Hindi, Gujarati or Urdu - Birmingham, Bristol, Glasgow
and York. The projects in Birmingham and Bristol are being funded by
the local council, while the other areas have drawn funding from a
variety of sources, including lottery money.

In future, the scheme could also be used to provide tourist information
Rose said, although he was unsure whether vision-impaired people
would still receive the cards for free if this became the case.


++NEWS IN BRIEF.

+05: DIGITAL BRIDGE: The role of accessible digital technologies in
tackling social inequalities will be discussed at 'Accessibility, ICT
and
digital bridge solutions', a conference running from 23 to 25
September at the School of Public Health, University of Sao Paulo,
Brazil. For a Portuguese-only language site see:
http://www.fsp.usp.br/acessibilidade .

+06: VIRTUAL MUSEUM: The American Foundation for the Blind
has launched a virtual museum for children devoted to Helen Keller,
the deaf-blind advocate for people with disabilities. The exhibition is
the latest to be added to the foundation's award-winning children's
site
'Braille Bug', and contains video footage, photographs and a reading
list for schoolchildren.
http://www.afb.org/braillebug/hkmuseum.asp .

+07: ENSUITE PROVISION: Nine specially-adapted computer suites
and several touch screen kiosks were launched in Leicester last week,
allowing people with vision impairments to learn new IT skills. A web
portal providing information on disability issues and services was also
launched:
http://www.ldicn.org.uk .

+08:  THIN ACCESS: Dolphin Computer Access has announced that
users of the company's 'HAL' screen reader will be able to access
'thin client' computer terminals with a new version of the software to
be launched later this year. According to Dolphin, the upgraded
product is compatible with Microsoft Windows Server, a leading
solution allowing large organisations to hold data on central servers
to
be accessed by pared-down desk-top terminals (the 'thin clients'):
http://www.dolphinuk.co.uk .

[Section one ends].


++SPECIAL NOTICE: TECHSHARE CALL FOR PAPERS -
REMINDER.

Techshare 2003 is an important conference for professionals interested
in technology and the role it plays in learning, work and life for
people
with sight problems.

Do you want to showcase your new products and services at
Techshare? If you are planning on submitting a paper for this event,
then this is a reminder that the deadline is fast approaching. The call
ends 31 July, so get your paper to us as soon as you can.

Successful speakers will be offered a reduced rate on their conference
fee. For more details see
www.rnib.org.uk/techshare
or e-mail: techshare@rnib.org.uk .

[Special notice ends].


++SECTION TWO: 'THE INBOX'
- READERS' FORUM.
- Please email all contributions or responses to inbox@headstar.com .


+09: SPANISH LESSONS: Jane Sellers, a reader from Surrey,
England, writes in with a request related to learning a language: "I am
looking for a box of tapes which will enable me to learn the basics of
Spanish as my parents are moving to Malaga next year - as they are
going to a little village, I need to learn the language because very
little
English is spoken there.

"Does anyone have such tapes, or does anyone know of anyone who
could teach a nearly-blind girl a crash course in Spanish?" [Reponses
please to inbox@headstar.com].


+10: CANVASSING VIEWS: John Knight of the Birmingham
Institute of Art and Design, part of the University of Central England,
is conducting an online survey into views on web accessibility. E-
Access Bulletin readers are encouraged to take part by filling out the
form at:
http://www.biad.uce.ac.uk:8080/questionnaire/accessibility

To receive the questionnaire in alternative formats, including by
telephone interview, contact John on john.knight@uce.ac.uk or
telephone 0121 331 7868. The personal data you supply will be
processed in accordance with data protection law, and results will only
be made available in an anonymous format.


+11: RADIO DAYS: Peter Petersen writes in with a request for
information on internet radio on behalf of his mother, age 93, who
lives in a retirement village in New Zealand.

"Her sight is not good and she finds it difficult to watch television,"
he
says. "It seems to me that one way she could keep in touch with the
world is to listen to worldwide radio stations on the internet. I only
discovered the variety of internet radio by accident but it means that
a
person in Australia or New Zealand can have good quality reception
for an enormous variety of small European or North American music
or talkback stations.

"I can organise a computer and an internet connection for her but there
may be some excellent software suitable for her to use or learn to use
that would enable her to scan the world for music and news or talk-
back shows. Do you know of any such software or even hardware
internet devices? Or is there a special subject list or internet radio
chat-
room that I could enter to collect and swap information?" [Responses
please to inbox@headstar.com].


+12: MAINE MISTAKE: Last month we erroneously located the State
of Maine in Canada - it is of course a US state. Apologies to web
designer Leesa Lavigne whose 'Inbox' item we relocated in this way!

[Section two ends].


++SECTION THREE: INTERVIEW
- HIGHER EDUCATION.

+13: MAINSTREAMING CHOICE
by Mel Poluck  mel@headstar.com .

One of the most basic ways of improving access to education for
people with sensory impairment is the provision of course materials in
a range of formats.

The need for such provision has now become a legal imperative in the
UK, with the introduction of the Special Educational Needs and
Disability Act 2001 (SENDA - http://fastlink.headstar.com/senda1).
One higher education institution which is responding positively to the
new requirements is Kings College London (KCL -
http://www.kcl.ac.uk), where equality and diversity officer Emma
Price says accessibility work "is about mainstreaming: getting it into
people's consciousness".

At KCL, alternative formats - including Braille, CD, floppy disk,
internet, large print, cassette, tactile maps and Moon - are offered
when
anything is produced for mass distribution among students or staff,
from departmental prospectuses to leaflets for student healthcare
provision or classroom handouts.

To provide guidance and to ensure no student is deprived of any
information offered by the college, Price has written a policy on
accessible formats, in line with the college's equal opportunities
policy
and current UK legislation.

Suggestions from staff and students were used in the policy drafting
process and a volunteer from the employment training programme at
RNIB's Redhill College (http://fastlink.headstar.com/redhill)
contributed by assessing existing facilities. "I also used the RNIB's
See
It Right package (http://fastlink.headstar.com/see1), to help me draft
the policy," Price says.

Throughout the college, departmental disability liaison officers were
given specific training by Price and her team and by SKILL: the
National Bureau for Students With Disabilities
(http://www.skill.org.uk) They then advise students on specific subject
areas and specific disabilities.

As to which formats are requested the most, she says: "Disk and
internet are the most popular, it is really going that way - the
majority
of students use email. Lots of work is uploaded onto the internet to
update departmental pages. We have not had one request for Braille".

Some formats cause particular problems. "Attachments are hard to read
with assistive software. For example, portable document format (pdf)
files need to have a Word or plain text alternative," she says.

To solve this problem, the policy says a web link should be provided
with any pdf, linking it to Access Adobe, a programme that translates
pdf files to html or text versions which can then be read using
assistive
software. "I had a meeting with the director of web services about
accessibility and they are now feeding it into their training," she
says.

The policy is not just about technology: style is an issue for
accessibility too. "Clearly written and printed materials are valuable
for all," Price says. Accordingly, the policy states: "Accessibility of
information should always be borne in mind, not only for disabled
students but also for the wider community."

What targets do Price and her team have now? "It's very difficult to
ensure 100 per cent of staff are aware of the issues, but for the short
to
medium term it would be wonderful to have every access request
responded to quickly," she says. "We need more talk in this area, more
staff training and more awareness".

What about other institutions - are they set to follow suit?
Alarmingly,
Price has noted a lack of enthusiasm from other institutions'
disability
departments. "I sent an email to an online discussion forum recently
but the only kind of response I got was 'yes, it's an issue for us
too.' I
was surprised only three people came back to me - for us, it was
something we just had to do".

The perceived high cost of accessibility work is likely to be the
sticking point for many, she says. "In many institutions the initial
gripes are usually 'how much will it cost?' but there is now a business
case as well as a moral and a legal case for it".

Ultimately, Price says the crux of good accessible format provision is
to include its planning early in the publication process. "For example,
if the School of Medicine produces a handbook, it's important to work
transcription services into the strategy at the planning stages."

A Catch-22 situation can arise however where some people say they'll
only take action on accessibility if they receive a request for it, but
if
information is not available in accessible formats then people will not
request it or know that it can be made available, she says.

"The more requests received, the more people realise we must provide
accessible formats. But unless you say you produce alternative formats,
no-one comes forward."

[Section three ends].


++ SECTION FOUR: DEBATE
- LOCAL GOVERNMENT.

+14: NO ALTERNATIVE TO ACCESSIBLE SITES.
by Dan Jellinek  dan@headstar.com

Web site accessibility was the hottest topic for debate on this year's
'Better Connected Live' online forum, hosted by the local government
IT managers' body Socitm (http://www.socitm.gov.uk).

Accessibility refers to the ease with which all types of user,
including
people with disabilities such as vision impairment, can access the
information on a web site. Many local authorities and other public
bodies offer a text-only version of their web sites as these are
considered more accessible for example to text-to-speech screen
readers: but most participants in the online debate said such a
strategy
was misguided.

Martin Bottomley of Dorset County Council said: "I continue to be
amazed that virtually every local government website has a text-only
alternative, in spite of the fact that this is not best practice.

"In fact, there should be one graphical version of a site that meets a
minimum of the international WAI accessibility standard
(http://www.w3c.org/wai), to 'priority 1' level. This is because people
with disabilities dislike being given special provision, and text-only
sites are unnecessary if the graphical site is accessible. It also
follows
central government guidelines, which state: "alternative text-only
pages should rarely be necessary and are not best practice"; and "the
challenge to your web developers has to be in creating web pages that
are both visually appealing and fully accessible to a wide range of
users" (see http://fastlink.headstar.com/oee2).

"Another reason not to use text-only sites is that there is a very real
possibility of creating a separate but inferior site for some groups of
people, to a much greater extent than their needs. For example, 90 per
cent of people who are registered as blind have some vision. Their
needs may well be better met by using a graphical version with
increased font size, where the text is supported by graphics, rather
than
just plain text."

Chris Swaine, webmaster at Reading-city.net, said: "One huge problem
is that many council members and officers - even those responsible for
council websites - know very little about e-government, and they know
even less on the issues surrounding accessible websites.

"I find this extremely frustrating as a member trying to educate both
colleagues and officers. I have also not been particularly impressed
with the many content management software solutions and companies
who demonstrate their extremely expensive options, yet who are not
genuinely interested in creating truly accessible websites, and
templates that meet basic accessibility standards, which is not
particularly hard.

 "As a professional, involved in accessibility issues with the UK
online
movement, I would like to see solutions that integrate full
accessibility
as a norm, without people thinking of it as an add-on."

Mary Ann Hooper, adult care services web site project manager at
Herts County Council said: "I think much more work is needed to
ensure that website designers, providers, and users understand what
accessibility means. There seems to be an assumption that it is about
blind users, which it is of course, but they are only one group which
need website design to be accessible. It is also needed for a very wide
range of users, such as those with old browsers, those who can't
physically use a mouse, or those who need large or different-coloured
text, and many more. Universal accessibility is what we should be
aiming to achieve."

Steve Crossan of open source programmers Runtime Collective said:
"The only way to really make it work is to have a representative group
of users involved throughout the process, preferably sitting down with
the designers as much as possible. This doesn't have to be large -
three
to five people works well - and in the context of most e-government
budgets it does not have to be expensive. It should represent a range
of
potential users. On top of that you can use an accessibility
consultancy
where appropriate - at the very least get a screen reader and put all
your designs through it.

"And here's my number one top tip for accessibility from experience
which is very cheap to implement: big text."

NOTE: This article first appeared in our sister publication, E-
Government Bulletin (http://www.headstar.com/egb). 'Better
Connected 2003 - a snapshot of all local authority websites' is
available from Socitm. See:
http://fastlink.headstar.com/soc3 .

[Section four ends].


++END NOTES.

+HOW TO RECEIVE THIS BULLETIN.

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Please send comments on coverage or leads to Dan Jellinek at:
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Copyright 2003 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 content. Sections of
the report may be quoted as long as they are clearly sourced as 'taken
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+PERSONNEL:
Editor - Dan Jellinek  dan@headstar.com
Deputy editor - Phil Cain  phil@headstar.com
News editor - Derek Parkinson  derek@headstar.com
Reporter - Mel Poluck  mel@headstar.com
Editorial advisor - Kevin Carey  humanity@atlas.co.uk .

ISSN 1476-6337

[Issue ends.]