Accessibility
Jeff Crow
School of Information
The University of Texas at Austin
Spring 2011
Definition
What is accessibility?
Examples
The good and the bad
Common Problems
98% of the Internet
Solutions
Current research & systems
Usability is accessibility.
What is accessibility?
In general...
• Accessibility is a general term used to describe the
degree to which a product, device, service, or
environment is usable by as many people as possible.
The Americans With Disabilities Act
of 1990 prohibits discrimination based
on disability. All public buildings,
transportation and 'public
accomodations' built after the law's
passage must be made accessible.
What is accessibility?
On the web...
"Web accessibility means that people with
disabilities can use the Web.
Web accessibility encompasses all disabilities that
affect access to the Web, including visual, auditory,
physical, speech, cognitive, and neurological
disabilities."
-- World Wide Web Consortium
Why is accessibility important?
"Target paid $6 million to three blind
plaintiffs who argued the use of Flash
on the retailer's website, Target.com,
made it inaccessible to screen readers
and thus discriminated against the
visually impaired."
-- The Guardian
Why is accessibility important?
Baby boomers are getting older.
• Living longer
• But still 'with it' mentally.
A growing number of Americans
will be computer literate but
visually impaired.
How would you find information if
you lost your sight?
Why is accessibility important?
• Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1998 requires all
Federal agencies to make their digital information
accessible to people with disabilities.
o
UT has adopted Section 508. All web pages containing
official university information must comply with the
requirements (see the Web Accessibility Policy).
• Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 (WCAG) are
produced by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the
people in charge of HTML and other web formats.
o
W3C is devising accessibility standards for new web
functionality like Web 2.0 sites, which are notoriously
inaccessible.
Examples
One "good", some bad
Sighted browsing is a
two-dimensional
experience where context
is easily conveyed in the
rich language of size,
color, position and
graphics.
top left
center
bottom right
beginning
middle
end
Page has sixty-three headings and two hundred thirty-six linksBBC dash Homepage dash
Internet Explorer Accessibility LinksList of six itemsbulletThis page link Skip to contentalt
plus two bulletThis page link Skip to bbc.co.uk navigationbulletThis page link Skip to
bbc.co.uk searchbulletLink Display OptionsbulletLink Accessibility helpbulletLink Access
keys helpalt plus zeroList endList of three itemsbulletLink MobilesbulletLink Make this my
HomepagebulletLink Take the tourList endHeading level oneLinkGraphicBritish
Broadcasting Corporation Tuesday two March two thousand ten Heading level two BBC
SearchEdit SearchbuttonHeading level two Customise Your HomepageList of two
itemsbulletThis page link Add more to this pageLink Further informationbulletLink Reset
homepageList endHeading level two Top News StoryHeading level
threeLinkGraphicFirefighter tackles a supermarket blaze in Concepcion Troops deployed
amid Chile unrest Thousands of Chilean troops head to the devastated earthquake zone as
reports emerge of survivors turning to looting.Link More from BBC NewsHeading level
twoLink More Top StoriesLink Edit my news settingsLink Remove the news sectionThis
page link Close the More Top Stories boxHeading level three Top StoriesList of three
itemsone LinkGraphicMajor Salou Djibo Niger appoints interim governmenttwo
LinkGraphicHillary Clinton US 'ready to help' on Falklandsthree LinkGraphicPresident
Obama speaking in Prague, five April two thousand nine US plans 'dramatic' nuclear
cutsList endList of five itemsbulletLink Irish town rapped for Israel snubbulletLink Reformist
papers banned in IranbulletLink DR Congo officer accused of abusebulletLink Spanish dash
Venezuelan row escalatesbulletLink Bosnian war leader arrested in UKList endHeading
level threeLink More Top StoriesThis page link Add a Story to this feedThis page link
Remove a story from this feedList of eight itemsbulletLink Irish town rapped for Israel
snubbulletLink Reformist papers banned in IranbulletLink DR Congo officer accused of
abusebulletbulletbulletbulletbulletList endHeading level threeLink More from BBC
Page has sixty-three headings and two hundred thirty-six linksBBC dash Homepage dash
Internet Explorer Accessibility LinksList of six itemsbulletThis page link Skip to contentalt
plus two bulletThis page link Skip to bbc.co.uk navigationbulletThis page link Skip to
bbc.co.uk searchbulletLink Display OptionsbulletLink Accessibility helpbulletLink Access
keys helpalt plus zeroList endList of three itemsbulletLink MobilesbulletLink Make this my
HomepagebulletLink Take the tourList endHeading level oneLinkGraphicBritish
Broadcasting Corporation Tuesday two March two thousand ten Heading level two BBC
SearchEdit SearchbuttonHeading level two Customise Your HomepageList of two
itemsbulletThis page link Add more to this pageLink Further informationbulletLink Reset
homepageList endHeading level two Top News StoryHeading level
threeLinkGraphicFirefighter tackles a supermarket blaze in Concepcion Troops deployed
amid Chile unrest Thousands of Chilean troops head to the devastated earthquake zone as
reports emerge of survivors turning to looting.Link More from BBC NewsHeading level
twoLink More Top StoriesLink Edit my news settingsLink Remove the news sectionThis
page link Close the More Top Stories boxHeading level three Top StoriesList of three
itemsone LinkGraphicMajor Salou Djibo Niger appoints interim governmenttwo
LinkGraphicHillary Clinton US 'ready to help' on Falklandsthree LinkGraphicPresident
Obama speaking in Prague, five April two thousand nine US plans 'dramatic' nuclear
cutsList endList of five itemsbulletLink Irish town rapped for Israel snubbulletLink Reformist
papers banned in IranbulletLink DR Congo officer accused of abusebulletLink Spanish dash
Venezuelan row escalatesbulletLink Bosnian war leader arrested in UKList endHeading
level threeLink More Top StoriesThis page link Add a Story to this feedThis page link
Remove a story from this feedList of eight itemsbulletLink Irish town rapped for Israel
snubbulletLink Reformist papers banned in IranbulletLink DR Congo officer accused of
abusebulletbulletbulletbulletbulletList endHeading level threeLink More from BBC
Common Problems
Very common.
Adobe Flash
The prevalence of Flash web sites is a huge barrier to
access for blind users. Sites that only use Flash are
100% inaccessible.
The most recent version
of Flash (released 2
years ago) is somewhat
accessible, but many
people have outdated
versions.
CAPTCHAs
These functions are inherently inaccessible.
Alternatives include using audio CAPTCHAs or simple questions
("what color is a banana?").
However, neither of these is ideal:
• Generated audio CAPTCHAs can be understood by computers
(Google's was cracked 2 years ago).
• Simple questions cannot be automatically generated, requiring
more human effort.
Solutions
The future!
Annotation
One method is manually
creating labels to identify
different sections of a web
page.
Annotation
navigation
title
article
Annotation
This is time consuming, and
becomes useless whenever
the page is redesigned.
CNN was redesigned twice
last year.
3D Sound
Mobile accessibility
How to make an accessible web page
• Headings: Use <h1>-<h6> to structure
information from most to least important.
• ALT tags: Always, always, always describe
images using ALT tags.
• Use descriptive links: 'Click here' is
meaningless by itself.
There is no substitute for testing with real, live
users.
Accessibility is complicated!
Accessibility is often associated only with visual
impairment, but it covers much more:
• Cognitive & developmental disabilities
o
o
o
o
Autism Spectrum Disorders
Brain injuries
Parkinson's disease
Alzheimers & dementia
• Physical disabilities
o
o
o
o
Lack of dexterity (clicking a mouse)
Poor motor function (moving a mouse, typing)
Hearing impairment
Parkinson's disease
Questions?


jcrow@mail.utexas.edu
http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/~jcrow
http://www.ischool.utexas.edu
http://accessibility.yahoo.com
http://www.knowbility.org