+++E-ACCESS BULLETIN
Access To Technology For All, Regardless Of Ability
- ISSUE 116, August 2009.

A Headstar Publication.
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++Issue 116 Contents.

01: Academic Urges Shift From Accessibility To 'Adaptability'
- New 'real-world' approach needed to assist disabled web users.

02: Application Opens Up Twitter To Disabled Users.
- Tests for accessible version of popular micro-blogging service.

03: Survey Uncovers "Depressing Picture" For Employees
- Low accessibility levels found in internal staff IT systems.

News in Brief: 04: Signed Games - for deaf players; 05: World
Nominations - accessible cultural websites; 06: Techshare Programme
- digital technology event.

Section Two: 'The Inbox' - Readers' Forum.
07: Tactile Culture - accessible exhibitions; 08: Museum Challenge -
audible descriptions; 09: TV Input - query answered; 10: BBC
Obstacles - iPlayer barriers; 11: Audiobook Query - research required;
12: JAWS Bafflement - screen-reader manual request.

Section Three: Web Research - Adaptability Versus Accessibility.
13: Time To Be Flexible: Though it may seem straightforward enough
to achieve web accessibility simply by following international
guidelines and standards, in the real world of limited budgets and
changing technology a more flexible approach is needed, writes Brian
Kelly.

[Contents ends].


++Section One: News.

+01: Academic Urges Shift From Accessibility To 'Adaptability'.

An approach to improving web access for people with disabilities
based on 'adaptability' rather than 'accessibility' is urged by a leading
academic in this month's E-Access Bulletin.

Brian Kelly, UK Web Focus at UKOLN, the national digital library
research body based at the University of Bath, says 'adaptability'
adopts the UN Convention's view that disability results from the
interaction between people with impairments and attitudinal and
environmental barriers that hinder their participation in society.

"Disability is therefore a social construct and not an attribute of an
individual," Kelly says. "In particular, resource accessibility is the
matching of a resource to an individual's needs and preferences - and
is not an attribute of a resource.

"This is a different philosophy from that which underpins the WAI
[World Wide Web consortium's Web Accessibility Initiative]
approach, which argues that universal accessibility can be provided by
focusing solely on the individual web resource, the tools used to create
the resource and the browsers used to access the resource."

The web adaptability approach does not reject the valuable guidelines
which have been developed by WAI, Kelly says. "Rather, the approach
feels they should be regarded as guidelines which can be helpful in
many but not all circumstances. It is essential that the WAI guidelines
are used in a pragmatic fashion, and not as a series of inflexible rules."

The adaptability approach focuses on real-world deployment
challenges rather than continuing to mandate use of guidelines
independent of their context of use, the technical complexities of
today's web environment, the rich diversity of uses made of the web
and the differing individual users' needs and requirements, he says.

NOTE: For a full report by Brian Kelly on web adaptability versus
accessibility see Section Three, this issue.

And you can comment on this story now, on EAB Live:
http://www.headstar.com/eablive/?p=319 .


+02: Application Opens Up Twitter To Disabled Users.

Keyboard-accessible links, audio cues and simplified layouts are some
of the features present in 'Accessible Twitter', a new application under
development to make the popular microblogging service more
accessible to disabled users.

Users sign in to the application
( http://www.accessibletwitter.com/ )
with their regular Twitter username and password and are then
presented with a tweaked version of the service with improved
usability and accessible alternatives to many features.

These include headings and page titles which are designed to work
with screen-readers; a large default text size and high colour contrast
for easy viewing; and audio cues to alert the user when the character
limit of 140 is almost reached when writing a 'tweet'.

The application's creator, US-based web developer and accessibility
advocate Dennis Lembree, told E-Access Bulletin he hopes Twitter
will eventually incorporate the accessibility features he has highlighted
in his work. He is not optimistic this will happen in the near future,
however. "I think very gradually [Twitter] may improve, but not
[through] anything significant soon. Twitter is happy with other
companies and developers using the API [application programming
interface] and creating a wide variety of applications."

Lembree said that disabled users of technology were "almost always"
overlooked by developers.

Though still in the 'alpha' development stage, Accessible Twitter is
currently available for anyone to use and is supported by all major
internet browsers. The 'beta' version of the application will include
more of Twitter's features which have been adapted to increase their
accessibility, including "Open Authentication, uploading photos, and
better error handling", said Lembree.

And you can comment on this story now, on EAB Live:
http://www.headstar.com/eablive/?p=321 .


+03: Survey Uncovers "Depressing Picture" For Employees.

A low level of accessibility found in internal ICT systems for staff is
creating a "depressing picture for employment of people with
disabilities", according to a new survey carried out in conjunction with
E-Access Bulletin.

The research, conducted by Bloor Research with E-Access Bulletin
and Ability Magazine, found private sector organisations have more
accessible internal ICT systems than organisations in the public sector,
with 44% of private sector companies surveyed having more than 70%
of their internal systems accessible, compared with only 29% of public
sector bodies surveyed.

Both sectors were asked how this picture is likely to change by the end
of 2010. The private sector again came out on top, with 60% of
respondents claiming that by the end of 2010 more than 70% of their
systems will be accessible, compared to just 44% of public sector
organisations.

However, the overall picture is still a gloomy one for the job prospects
of disabled workers, the survey finds. "Although there is pressure to
improve the internal systems, there will be a large number of systems
that are still not accessible in 2011 and this will limit job
opportunities," it says.

Despite its shortcoming in internal systems, the public sector was
found to have a greater overall level of accessibility in its external
systems. These differences are "probably caused by the e-gov pressure
for citizen access on the one side and inaccessible internal legacy
systems in the public sector on the other," the survey finds.

The full paper with results and conclusions of the survey can be found
at:
http://fastlink.headstar.com/bloor2 .

And you can comment on this story now, on EAB Live:
http://www.headstar.com/eablive/?p=324 .


++News in Brief:

+04: Signed Games: The use of sign language in videogames is being
explored through the inclusion of a deaf character in an upcoming
instalment of the popular game 'Half-Life 2: Episode Three'. Gabe
Newell, co-founder of the game's developers Valve, hosted a recent
focus group for deaf gamers, where he said the character's inclusion is
"an excuse to build the technology for signing" into a game:
http://fastlink.headstar.com/sg1 .

+05: World Nominations: Global nominations for accessible cultural
websites or web-based services are invited in a new international
category at this year's Jodi Awards, which reward achievements in
accessible digital culture. The awards, whose previous winners include
the Tate Modern and British Museum, take place on 2 December, and
deadline for nominations is 25 September:
http://fastlink.headstar.com/jodi3 .

+06: Techshare Programme: Richard Schwerdtfeger, chair of IBM's
Accessibility Architecture Review Board, and Cynthia Waddell,
executive director of the International Center for Disability Resources
on the Internet, are the keynote speakers for Techshare 2009, an event
which explores digital technology for disabled users. Topics to be
covered at the event - hosted by the Royal National Institute of Blind
People in London 16-18 September - include web accessibility, e-
learning and mobile devices:
http://www.techshare.org.uk .

[Section One ends].


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[Special notice ends].


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

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


+07: Tactile Culture: In last month's issue reader Margot Whitfield of
the Royal Ontario Museum in Canada asked about information on
tactile access to cultural exhibits.

Stefanie Armbrust of the UK's Office for Disability Issues says: "I
know that the British Museum (
http://www.britishmuseum.org/ )
does touch tours and handling sessions".

And Rachel Ethier Rosenbaum, President of The Carroll Center for the
Blind in Newton, Massachusetts and regular correspondent to E-
Access Bulletin, says: "We at the Carroll Center worked extensively
with the museums in Boston in the 1970s and 1980s to create
accessible opportunities to blinded persons, using gloves to touch
sculptures etc.

"Ellie Rubin at the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) took this to heart and
implemented a good system . . . I do not know if they have continued
to provide these tactile experiences. You can check with them. We also
worked with the Museum of Science in Cambridge."

After checking with the MFA at Rachel's suggestion, we received a
prompt response from Hannah Goodwin, Manager of Accessibility.
She writes: "The program here at the MFA for people who are blind or
have low vision is alive and well...and expanding. We access all of
the collections and temporary exhibits, working with all art, including
that which cannot be touched.

"We have regular partnerships with a few groups, and have irregular
visits from other groups, and lots of individuals, including visitors who
have become members. We have a few volunteers who are blind. We
try really hard to make sure our members' events and all of our family
programs are fully inclusive."

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


+08: Museum Challenge: As a follow-up query on access to museums,
Linda Woodbury of San Diego, California writes: "If anyone has
information on audible descriptive services in museums, will you
publish that. . . certainly not the type that a sighted person listens to as
he or she walks around. Instead, [I am looking for] in depth
descriptions of paintings etc.

"I live in a city with many, many museums, boasting of 'best practices'
and 'must-see exhibits'. Yet, it's not an option for me as a totally blind
individual to enjoy a day (even the 'free Tuesdays') due to lack of
access."

[Responses please to inbox@headstar.com].


+09: TV Input: Also in last month's issue, Flįvia Oliveira Machado, a
degree student from Brazil, wrote to ask for input with her dissertation
about TV audio description.

Rachel Ethier Rosenbaum of The Carroll Center for the Blind (see
'Tactile Culture', above) says: "The American Foundation for the
Blind in NY conducted research for the US department of Education
on the effectiveness of audio description done by WGBH in Boston
with the at least five million Dollars provided to WGBH by the US
government."

And Joan Greening, Development Officer, Royal National Institute of
Blind People, suggested that Flįvia consults the institute's relevant
web resources at:
www.rnib.org.uk/audiodescription .

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


+10: BBC Obstacles: James Wright, a reader from the West Midlands,
UK, writes in to ask: "Have you tried the obstacle course of trying to
get around the BBC iPlayer? I am amazed at what a maze it is trying to
find the correct programme and download it. Even the simpler task of
listening to a radio programme can be hit and miss and very daunting
to blind people.

"Why is it that these huge corporations seem unable to satisfy the
needs of blind and disabled users? It appears that the larger the body,
the more difficult they find it to provide easy accessibility. Surely I am
not alone, surely there are other blind people out there wrestling with
this iPlayer problem.

"I look forward to the day when as well as a link to a contents page
there is a link to a blind users' screen-reader page. Is it too much to
hope that technology will be able to advance to this aspiration in the
not too distant future?"

[Responses please to inbox@headstar.com].


+11: Audiobook Query: Ken Ingham, President of Amazability in
Waban, Massachusetts, is trying to track down a piece of research on
audiobooks and reading by audio. He says: "Some time ago I saw a
study done in England which indicated that a relatively large
percentage - around 18% of the UK population - strongly preferred to
read by audio. Reasons beyond visual impairment included other
disabilities but also an unwillingness to stare at screens, and so on.
Unfortunately, I did not keep a copy and now would like to review it
and talk to the authors. Do you know anything about this and, if so, can
you let me know where to find the study?"


+12: JAWS Bafflement: Mark Pimm, a reader from the UK, writes in
with a query about using the popular JAWS screen-reader. "I wonder if
I could ask a favour: would you be able to suggest a manual (free or
even one which you pay for) which explains to blind JAWS users how
to access the World Wide Web. I am looking for something very, very
simple (I saw some pages on [one] website which left me totally
baffled). I wonder if you could suggest something which is easy."

[Responses please to inbox@headstar.com].

[Section Two ends].


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++Section Three: Web Research
- Adaptability Versus Accessibility.

+13: Time To Be Flexible
by Brian Kelly.

To achieve universal accessibility for their web resources, surely all
that organisations need do is implement the international Web
Accessibility Initiative (WAI) guidelines (in particular the WCAG
guidelines for web content)?

Sadly the evidence, such as the recent Better Connected 2009 survey
from the local government Society of IT Management (
http://fastlink.headstar.com/so6 ),
demonstrates that public sector organisations are failing to implement
these guidelines. But rather than calling for a renewed effort to
implement the WAI model, perhaps an alternative approach is needed:
a move from web accessibility to web adaptability.

This would begin by adopting the UN Convention's view that
disability results from the interaction between persons with
impairments and attitudinal and environmental barriers that hinder
their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with
others (see
http://www.un.org/disabilities/default.asp?id=260 ).
Disability is therefore a social construct and not an attribute of an
individual. In particular, resource accessibility is the matching of a
resource to an individual's needs and preferences - and is not an
attribute of a resource.

This is a different philosophy from that which underpins the WAI
approach, which argues that universal accessibility can be provided by
focusing solely on the individual web resource, the tools used to create
the resource and the browsers used to access the resource.

The WAI approach does have its merits in a number of areas, such as
the simple provision of informational resources. But the approach fails
in other areas, such as the development of e-learning services in which
the purpose if the service - learning - is not a function of the resource
itself, but of the way in which it may be used and experienced. The key
aim in this instance would be to ensure that the learning objectives are
made accessible and not necessarily the e-learning resources
themselves.

This approach leads to the notion of 'blended learning', in which both
real world, web-based and other IT solutions may be used to provide
an appropriate solution to the end user. And this appropriate solution
can reflect the end user's personal preferences and learning styles - an
approach which treats the user with disabilities on an equal basis with
others, as advocated by the UN Convention's view on disability.

The web adaptability approach builds on our initial work at UKOLN -
the national digital library research body based at the University of
Bath - in addressing the accessibility of e-learning resources. Our 2004
paper, 'Developing a holistic approach for e-learning accessibility' (
http://fastlink.headstar.com/ukoln1 ),
described how it can be applied in other contexts based on four case
studies. These cover support for users with learning disabilities, with
an approach taken to engage the end users in the design and
development of the system; adaptability for the deaf, which illustrates
the inappropriateness of the medical model of disabilities which
underpins the WAI approach; adaptability in a government context,
which examines the challenges of applying best practices when faced
with limited resources and timescales; and adaptability and
institutional repositories, which recommends an approach based on
advocacy and education on ways of enhancing the accessibility of
research publications, together with research into innovative ways of
enhancing the accessibility of the resources themselves.

It is important to note that the web adaptability approach overall does
not reject the valuable guidelines which have been developed by WAI.
Rather, the approach feels they should be regarded as guidelines which
can be helpful in many but not all circumstances. It is essential that the
WAI guidelines are used in a pragmatic fashion, and not as a series of
inflexible rules.

The paper concludes by making a case "for the adoption of a web
adaptability approach which incorporates previous approaches and,
perhaps more importantly, embraces the future, including technical
innovations, differing perceptions of what is meant by accessibility and
real world deployment challenges."

Isn't this an approach which public sector organisations should be
adopting? And in the light of cutbacks in funding for the public sector,
isn't it essential that we recognise such real-world deployment
challenges rather than continuing to mandate use of guidelines
independent of their context of use, the technical complexities of
today's web environment, the rich diversity of uses made of the web
and the differing individual users' needs and requirements?

NOTE: Brian Kelly is UK Web Focus and Team Leader at UKOLN.
He is the lead author of the paper 'From web accessibility to web
adaptability' (
http://fastlink.headstar.com/ukoln2 ),
published recently in the journal 'Disability and rehability: assistive
technology' and summarised on the UK Web Focus blog, where
readers can participate in open discussion:
http://fastlink.headstar.com/ukoln3 .
And for further details of the adaptability approach, related papers can
be found at:
http://fastlink.headstar.com/ukoln4 .

And you can comment on this story now, on EAB Live:
http://www.headstar.com/eablive/?p=327

[Section Three ends].


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Julie Howell is our Director of Accessibility. Email Julie at:
Julie.Howell@fortunecookie.co.uk .

[Special notice ends]


++End Notes.

+How to Receive the Bulletin.

To subscribe to this free monthly bulletin, email
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with 'subscribe eab' in the subject header. You can list other email
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Please send comments on coverage or leads to Dan Jellinek at:
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Copyright 2009 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
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is also cited.

+Personnel:
Editor - Dan Jellinek.
Reporter: Tristan Parker.
Editorial advisor - Kevin Carey.

ISSN 1476-6337.

[Issue 116 ends.]