Accessibility in the News
XML Feed
What is RSS and how do I subscribe?
Displaying 141 to 160 of 2368 News Items
Page:
<
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
>
...
Visually impaired players: The unseen inhabitants of Azeroth
http://www.wow.com/2009/07/06/visually-impaired-players-the-unseen-inhabitants-o...
The other night I was chatting to a friend of mine on Skype and she casually mentioned -- because she knows I play WoW -- that she was about to roll a character (Elfly) for the first time. Elfly had had an account for a while but had never been able to try it out while at university and now she has the whole summer stretching out in front of her. Yes, I suspect you know where this going, especially when she twittered a few hours later expressing her new-found love for Azeroth. But there's a catch. Like me, Elfly is disabled. I'm a VIP (disabled shorthand for visually impaired person) and she's (in her own words) a blindy (shorthand for, well, a blind person). This means we play with our noses touching the screen and get lost. A lot. To give you an example for what the world (in-game or real) is like for me, nip to your nearest Azerothian tavern and quaff flagons of mead until you get completely smashed and the screen goes all blurry, alternatively just click here. Anyway, between the pair of us, we're so blind that we both think Blizzard should insert white canes and guide dogs in patch 3.3's game files. Though, given the game setting, maybe that should be an ornate white staff of sightlessness and a guide wolf? Guiding Elfly around Shadowglen made me remember how hard the game was when I started and, at the same time, how ill-suited WoW is for people who are visually impaired. Especially as she kept asking where such and such a critter was. I have a mental map of most areas of WoW, which fails miserably when it comes to specific NPCs but is pretty good for mobs. It took a few minutes for Elfly to realise she needed to kill those nightsabers. However once she recognised a specific mob she was slaughtering like the best of them.
Contributed on Tue, 28 Jul 2009 18:33:49 GMT.
Congress Introduces Bill To Make Communications More Accessible
http://accesstechnews.wordpress.com/2009/07/06/congress-introduces-bill-to-make-...
On 6/26, Rep. Ed Markey intro'd HR 3101 to make phones and TV more accessible for deaf, blind and others with disabilities. Before Congress adjourned on June 26, Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) introduced the "21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2009? (H.R. 3101). This comprehensive measure would modernize disability accessibility mandates in the Communications Act, bringing existing requirements up to date as TV and phone services connect via the Internet and use new digital and broadband technologies. COAT now has an online petition to support passage of the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act. Sign it now, and spread the word! See the names of the more than 3,600 people from all 50 states who've signed it so far.
Contributed on Tue, 28 Jul 2009 18:32:55 GMT.
AbleGamers Speaks to Ralph Baer: The Father of Video Games
http://ablegamers.com/game-news/605.html
Let me be perfectly honest, when Mr. Baer said that he would be more than happy to do an interview with us here at AbleGamers, I was thrilled. When he said, "Sure, come on over" and invited is to his house while we were at Games for Health, I was beside myself. So you may be asking yourself, who is Ralph Baer, and why are you telling me about him? May answer is simple; he is the father of Video games. If you have ever played a video game, if you have looked at one, if you thought about one, you have Mr. Ralph Baer to thank.
Contributed on Tue, 28 Jul 2009 18:31:55 GMT.
Advocates for the Blind Sue Arizona State U. Over Kindle Use
http://chronicle.com/blogPost/Advocates-for-the-Blind-Sue/7252
The National Federation of the Blind and the American Council of the Blind are suing Arizona State University for its use of the Amazon Kindle to distribute electronic textbooks to students, saying the device cannot be used by students who are blind. The groups say the Kindle has text-to-speech technology that reads books aloud to students who are blind, but that the device's menus do not offer a way for students who are blind to purchase books, select a book to read, or even to activate the text-to-speech feature, according to a joint statement by the two groups. In a lawsuit filed last week, a journalism student was also named as a plaintiff. "While my peers will have instant access to their course materials in electronic form, I will still have to wait weeks or months for accessible texts to be prepared for me," said the student, Darrell Shandrow, in the groups' statement. "These texts will not provide the access and features available to other students."
Contributed on Tue, 28 Jul 2009 18:31:02 GMT.
In a Digital Era People with Disabilities are Not Left Behind as Technology Changes
http://www.myhearpod.com/blog/news/digital-era-people-disabilities-left-technology/
Congressman Ed Markey (D-MA), center, introduced the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2009 (H.R. 3101) on June 26, 2009. Our Educational Series is informing us this week about another bill that was introduced in addition to the Tax Credit Bill for those who are hearing disabled. My hearpod.com brings us any and all information for the hearing impaired and any interested party. This information was researched and printed by COAT, the Coalition for Accessible Technology.
Contributed on Tue, 28 Jul 2009 18:29:11 GMT.
Why do I care if my website is accessible or not?
http://www.access-bydesign.com/2009/07/why-do-i-care/
Well, firstly because we are sure that you are a nice person and that if YOU had a disability, YOU would like to still use your website. * Secondly if you are in business, in the UK alone, the "disabled pound" is worth 80 BILLION GBP and that's a lot of customers and money for your company to exclude by having a website they can't use. * Thirdly, the internet is fundamentally about connecting people to people. If you website is inaccessible its simply not doing what the web is for.
Contributed on Tue, 28 Jul 2009 18:28:20 GMT.
Schwarzenegger: Printed texts are old school
http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/top-news/index.cfm?i=59180
Analysis: As a budget-cutting strategy, California's digital textbook initiative could have national implications. In the state that gave the world Facebook, Google, and the iPod, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger says forcing California's students to rely on printed textbooks is so yesterday. The governor recently launched an initiative to see if the state's 6 million public school students could use more online learning materials, including open courseware--perhaps saving millions of dollars a year in textbook purchases. (See "California considers open textbooks.") Now, other states will be watching to see how the initiative fares. "California is home to software giants, bioscience research pioneers, and first-class university systems known around the world. But our students still learn from instructional materials in formats made possible by Gutenberg's printing press," Schwarzenegger wrote in a recent op-ed in the San Jose Mercury News. (See "Schwarzenegger: Digital textbooks can save money, improve learning.") What consideration will be given to the accessibility of these materials? Digital resources could be useful for students with disabilities, allowing them to access them in a manner that best suits their needs - but only if the materials are designed accessibly.
Contributed on Tue, 28 Jul 2009 18:26:11 GMT.
Web Development and Aversive Disablism
http://slewth.wordpress.com/2009/05/01/web-development-and-aversive-disablism/
At A Pretty Simple Blog, James Coltham writes a great article as part of Blogging Against Disablism Day considering the origins of 'disablism' and reflecting on the ways disablism plays out through web developers' actions when creating inaccessible content. I recommend reading his post in full, but to crudely paraphrase, he observes that ignorance is no excuse:
Contributed on Tue, 28 Jul 2009 18:22:45 GMT.
Accessibility and Hierarchies of Impairment
http://slewth.wordpress.com/2009/05/22/accessibility-and-hierarchies-of-impairment/
Following on from yesterday's MRL lecture, I was fortunate to talk with Prof. Dame Wendy Hall about my research and a short paper I've written on 'Aversive Disablism and the Internet', borne out of Blogging Against Disablism Day. This paper has been accepted for the 1st Symposium for Humanities and Technology Interface 2009, at the University of Southampton in July. The Symposium looks to explore many of the themes of Web Science advocated by Dame Wendy and other Soton and MIT colleagues, alongside more diverse interdisciplinary projects. Interface requires that all delegates present either a Lightning Talk of 2 minutes, or a poster presentation. I've pulled on my size 6.5 Lightning Boots, and opted for the former presentation style, and in conversation with Dame Wendy had a chance to rehearse my pitch on aversive disablism and it's relevance for advancing debate and action on digital inclusion. Professor Hall immediately related this notion back to W3C web standards and asked my view on this - was I stating that (dis)ablism occurred at this level? This turned the conversation to hierarchies of impairment.
Contributed on Tue, 28 Jul 2009 18:21:56 GMT.
Open Your Eyes to Web Accessibility
http://www.getelastic.com/accessibility-technology/
Being in a wheelchair, I'm not able to shop in every retail store. Sometimes stores have a few steps outside the door, or have levels only accessible by stairs or escalator. Others have aisles too narrow for my chair, or shelves too high to reach. But I can access any e-store without a problem. It's not that easy for shoppers who are visually impaired, illiterate and those who can see but do not have full hand function. I came across a really eye-opening article in the February 2009 edition of Internet Retailer, (accessible online or as a reprint at Essential Accessibility) titled "Seeing the Light." The article describes the available technologies to bring online retail sites up to par for users with disabilities of all kinds. Users who are visually impaired can use screen readers like JAWS, Window-Eyes, BrowseAloud and IBM's Easy Web Browsing. People with limited hand function can use "radar mouse" that looks like a Doppler radar. When the sweeping line touches something a person who is paralyzed wants to view, he or she uses a finger or head-activated device to "click." It can also help customers check out by activating an on-screen keyboard
Contributed on Tue, 28 Jul 2009 18:20:21 GMT.
AbleGamers Interviews Star Trek Online: Set Your Phasers to Fun
http://ablegamers.com/pc-gaming-news/591-startrekinterview.html
One of the most highly anticipated MMO releases is Star Trek Online. AbleGamers' Mark Barlet was given the opportunity to sit down with the executive producer of the upcoming title. Craig Zinkievich is a remarkable man and self-proclaimed Trekkie who commands an immense knowledge of the Star Trek universe. In the article, Zinkievich discusses the accessibility of the new game.
Contributed on Tue, 28 Jul 2009 18:18:47 GMT.
Net Access: Disability-Related Websites
http://netguido.com/net-access-disability-related-websites-2/
What's technology for, but to make life easier? And for those living with a disability, one particular technology is making a tremendous difference: the personal computer. For some, having a specially adapted PC means they can access information and reach out and communicate in ways that otherwise would not be possible: Screen-reading software that allows PC users who are visually-impaired to hear what is on their monitors. Closed-captioned browsing of multimedia Web pages for users who are deaf. Sophisticated speech recognition technology that allows people who can't use a keyboard to speak commands into a microphone connected to the computer. These are just a few examples. Many organizations are working on standards and products that make computers and the 'Net more accessible to those who are disabled. The following websites can help you learn who they are and what they're doing.
Contributed on Tue, 28 Jul 2009 18:17:58 GMT.
Apple iPhone 3G (s) and OS 3 and a coffee maker
http://ability.myzen.co.uk/blog/?p=126
If like me you are a member of that elite group of nerds known as the twitterati - you would have noticed an almost cataclysmic event this week - Apple gave some talks and unveiled OS3 for iPhone and the iphone 3Gs. For days no-one has twittered about much else - when they started queueing at the shop, live text relay - not from the event but from those watching a feed of the event online, and best of all blow by blow accounts from those watching their iPhone upgrade by connecting to iTunes at the peak of demand. Ok I'm not going to just sit here and slag off my fellow twits and comment on the quality of information and the banality of my daily online life, instead lets look at what apple have put onto the iphone for people with a disability. First up lets be really positive, the fact that they have done anything at all is to be applauded, and reflects the fact that for many people with disabilities, phones are the platform of choice to bridge the digital divide. But what have they actually done?
Contributed on Tue, 28 Jul 2009 18:16:36 GMT.
10 Ways To Make Your Site Accessible Using Web Standards
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/06/18/10-ways-to-make-your-site-accessible-...
Without argument, one of the most important things to consider when creating a website is that it be accessible to everyone who wants to view it. Does your website play nice with screen readers? Can a user override your style sheet with a more accessible one and still see everything your website has to offer? Would another Web developer be embarrassed if they saw your code? If your website is standards-compliant, you could more confidently answer these questions. Let's take a look at 10 ways to improve the accessibility of your XHTML website by making it standards-compliant. We'll go the extra mile and include criteria that fall beyond the standards set by the W3C but which you should follow to make your website more accessible. Each section lists the criteria you need to meet, explains why you need to meet them and gives examples of what you should and shouldn't do.
Contributed on Wed, 08 Jul 2009 22:08:03 GMT.
Website accessibility is good for business
http://minttwist.wordpress.com/2009/06/17/accessible-web-design/
If 10% of a businesses potential customers have difficulty finding it's products or services, should that business address the problem or just carry on losing that money? Nowadays, website accessibility is crucial for maximising revenue. If you have not considered accessibility as part of your website design, you are excluding the 8% of the population with a disability of some kind, be it physical, visual or cognitive. Simply put, this is lost revenue. The spending power of the 10 million-plus disabled community in the UK was estimated to have been worth 50bn pounds sterling in 2005.
Contributed on Wed, 08 Jul 2009 22:06:47 GMT.
Fascinating Meeting at the Copyright Office
http://benetech.blogspot.com/2009/06/fascinating-meeting-at-copyright-office.html
Last Friday I spent almost two and a half hours in a wide-ranging conversation with Maria Pallante and Michele Woods of the Copyright Office (Michele's name updated, plus a summer law clerk attended). I came away with a much better understanding of the issues they are exploring and certainly did my part to articulate why I support the positions we have. [Long post alert!]. I would characterize the atmosphere as one of informed and intelligent skepticism on the part of the Copyright Office, with many questions exploring different positions. We discussed Chafee, especially in the context of the Amazon text-to-speech brouhaha, and the proposed international treaty that was tabled at the WIPO SCCR meeting in Geneva last month.
Contributed on Wed, 08 Jul 2009 22:05:57 GMT.
Accessibility and Common Sense
http://etcjournal.wordpress.com/2009/06/12/accessibility-and-common-sense/
Technology and technology guidelines are very important in implementing accessibility. Yet accessibility is not a technology issue - it is a common sense issue, both because it is logical and because making things as accessible as possible for as many people as possible becomes an obvious necessity once you "sense in common" with the other person, put yourself in his or her place.
Contributed on Wed, 08 Jul 2009 22:05:19 GMT.
Don't forget about Web Accessibility
http://eshopidea.com/dont-forget-about-web-accessibility.html
Being in a wheelchair, people sometimes are not able to do shopping in every retail store. Very often stores have a few steps outside the door or levels accessible by stairs. People with disabilities usually meet some difficulties. So why not to make the Internet easier for deaf, blind or otherwise disabled web-surfers to use? There are some insuperable reasons to make sure that your own website is accessible to people with disabilities. In some cases meeting accessibility compliance standards is a legal obligation. But in most cases (mainly ecommerce merchants) it is just a good idea.
Contributed on Wed, 08 Jul 2009 22:03:38 GMT.
Web Accessibility and the Law
http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/1167-Web-Accessibility-and-the-Law
The state of legal requirements and protections concerning the accessibility of websites is far from uniform. Many countries have some form of web accessibility laws in place, but the extent of those laws is radically variable. Furthermore, as many websites serve multiple countries, the question of jurisdiction can become a tricky aspect of accessibility law. It's well beyond the scope of this article to discuss the exact limits of web accessibility law around the globe, but I do aim to discuss the ramifications and philosophies of these laws for your web-based business.
Contributed on Wed, 08 Jul 2009 22:02:43 GMT.
Proposed WIPO Treaty On Visually Impaired Access Gets Deeper Look
http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/2009/05/29/proposed-wipo-treaty-on-visually-impai...
A treaty on copyright exceptions for visually impaired persons proposed last month at the World Intellectual Property Organization met with no immediate objections, according to participants, but how to treat the proposal and other limitations and exceptions in the future has led to a sharpening divergence among governments. [Editor's Note: WIPO Director General Francis Gurry explicitly told members during the meeting that WIPO neither opposes nor advocates any solution.] The WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) met from 25-29 May. Issues on the agenda includes limitations and exceptions to copyright, strengthening broadcasters' and cablecasters' rights and protection of audiovisual performances. The visually impaired treaty proposal was formally introduced by Brazil, Ecuador and Paraguay, and many members and nongovernmental groups made commented on it. None directly opposed the proposal, which heartened proponents, though doubts arose over developed countries' emphasis on a softer alternative approach, according to participants.
Contributed on Wed, 08 Jul 2009 22:01:49 GMT.
Page: < 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 > ...
