Architecting & Designing for Accessibility

Architecting & Designing for Accessibility

Misty McLaughlinInformation Architecture &

Design I

October 19, 2004

Misty McLaughlinInformation Architecture &

Design I

October 19, 2004

Accessibility

• Why and What• Types of disabilities• Assistive / adaptive technology• Legislation, policy, standards• Design techniques• Testing, simulation and repair tools• Opportunities to practice

Why?

• 20 million: Americans with disabilities that seriously affect their use of the Web

• 50%: Americans over 65 with disabilities

• 500-750 million: People with disabilities internationally

• $690 million: Annual cost to make federal websites accessible

From “Who Are the Disabled?” and Maximum Accessibility

What is Accessibility?Some Accessible Design Philosophy

Point of Cohesion

• Same information, same tasks• Does not depend on a single sense or ability

Points of Contention

• Accessibility v. usability • Is accessibility a patch or a fundamental

design consideration?

Formal Disabilities

• Cognitive / learning• Auditory• Motor / physical• Speech

• Visual- legal blindness- impaired vision- color blindness

Quasi-disabilities…a.k.a. “Access Barriers”

• Slow internet connection

• Old browser• Missing plug-ins• No speakers• Small display (old

monitors, handheld devices)

• No mouse

• Age• Language issues• Noisy environment• Eyes or hands busy• Photosensitive

epilepsy

Assistive / Adaptive Technology

As defined by the Assistive Technology Act of 1998: “…any item, piece of equipment, or product

system, whether acquired commercially, modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve the functional capabilities of

individuals with disabilities.”

“…mediates and decodes the technology for users with disabilities.”

“…make information devices more accessible.”

Assistive / Adaptive Technology

Auditory Closed captioning

Visual Screen readers & magnifiers, refreshable Braille display

Motor / physical

Alternative keyboard layout & mouse systemSlow-mo software

Speech Special voice recognition software

Cognitive / learning

???

Accessibility Legislation

National• Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) – 1990• Section 508 of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act –

1973- Requires that electronic and information technology developed, procured, maintained, or used by the Federal government be accessible to people with disabilities.

Statewide• Chapter 206 of the Texas Administrative Code,

the “Access to Information” Law - 2002

Policy – In-house Rules

• UT Austin’s Web Accessibility Policy- Section 508 compliant- Accessibility policy link required- Responsibility- Testing & Documentation

StandardsChecklists, guidelines, & practical info

• W3C’s WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines)– Over 60

checkpoints– International

acceptance (EU, Canada, Australia)

• Section 508 Guidelines- Applies only to federal agencies, legally- 16 checkpoints- based on WCAG’s most critical points- objective & measurable

From Maximum Accessibility

Design Considerations

Some rules

• “The ultimate error that any developer of accessible applications can commit is to modify the user’s environment.”

--John Paul Mueller, Accessibility for Everybody

• Graceful transformation, understandability, navigability

--Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, W3C

Visual Style

Color• Don’t use color to

convey primary meaning

• High contrast

Font•Sans-serif•Relative font size

Images & Multimedia

• Provide a text-equivalent to visual or audio information (alt-text or captions)

• If video, captions / alt-text should be synchronized

• Avoid flickering

“The Living Room Candidate,” American Museum of the Moving Image

Simulation exercise for the non-disabled:

1) Turn your speakers off and watch.

2) Turn your monitor off and listen.

Markup

• Correct, structural rather than fixed markup

• Use CSS to control page elements (but don’t convey critical info through CSS)

• Elastic, relative units

Avoid:• Font tags, fixed pixel

sizes

Quality Content

• Plain, readable language• Quality descriptions and link text• Clear referents• Avoid jargon and specialized language

unless your audience is insider-only

From Maximum Accessibility

Can Use If You Do ItCarefully

Don’t Do It If You Can Help It

Image Maps Images that blink or flicker

Data tables Decontextualized pop-ups

Graphs and charts

Scripts

Frames

Applets and plugins

Forms

Tips• 1-pixel accessibility

info at the top of your page

•“Skip navigation” or “skip to main content”

•Offer alternative stylesheet option

Testing, Simulation & Repair

• W3C’s Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) - comprehensive list

• * Accessibility Toolbar (for IE) *

• Evaluating Web Site Accessibility (checklists, tips, and more)

Simulation of www.utexas.edu appearance for users with diabetic retinothopy

Best Testing Tool

User testing with groups

of users who have

mixed disabilities

Local Accessibility Opportunities

• Accessibility Internet Rally - AIR-Texas - AIR-University

• UT’s Accessibility Institute- Free training- Accessibility research- Site evaluation and user testing

• Knowbility Accessible Technology - Community training programs- Annual accessibility conference (free to UT students, faculty & staff)

• Jim Thatcher, Accessibility Consultant- Free training- Site evaluation

ReferencesClark, Joe. Building Accessible Websites. New Riders, 2002.

Slatin, John and Rush, Sharron. Maximum Accessibility: Making Your Web Site More Usable for Everyone. Boston: Addison-Wesley, 2003.

Mueller, John Paul. Accessibility for Everybody: Understanding the Section 508 Accessibility Requirements. Berkeley: Apress, 2003.

Thatcher, Jim. Constructing Accessible Websites. San Francisco: Apress, 2003.

Van Duyne, Douglas and Landay, James and Hong, Jason. The Design of Sites: Patterns, Principles, and Processes for Crafting a Customer-Centered Web Experience. Boston: Addison-Wesley. 2002.

Accessibility Resources Online

GlossaryToolbar

Resource CenterCourse / tutorial

Questions?

Contact m.mclaughlin@mail.utexas.edu.