Practical Web Accessibility news

In November last year, California-based web developer, Joe Devon, suggested on his blog that a Global Accessibility Day be launched. His readers were quick to support the cause, organising events and activities around the world.

The conference features a number of educational seminars, with highlights including workshops on live and scripted captioning, tips, tools and techniques for effective staff training, website accessibility consultations and programming for people with autism and sensory impairment.

The LEAD network, established in 2000 by a small group of arts administrators, has grown into a widespread network that shares knowledge and explores practical methods to implement accessibility in the arts.

Released by the OneVoice for Accessible ICT Coalition, the report Moving together: mobile apps for inclusion and assistance presents a number of key issues facing the growing populations of older people and people with a disability when using mobile apps.

Information is placed to the left and right of the timeline which sits in the centre of the page. Each activity, such as a new like or status update, is positioned on this timeline. The Timeline feature presents a number of unique challenges for users with a disability, including poor navigation, poor colour contrast and confusing functionality. However, there are some methods which users can employ to make navigating the Timeline as painless as possible.

The Accessibility Internet Rally (AIR), run by the non-profit organisation Knowbility, is an eight-hour competition where volunteer web designers and developers come together to help non-profit organisations build accessible websites.

Funded by the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network grants scheme, the report explains the current state of social media accessibility and guides users through Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Skype and blogging.

Media Access Australia researcher, Dr Scott Hollier, conducted an eight month qualitative study among people with a sensory or mobility impairment. Through this research, social media users with disabilities were able to share their tips and tricks so that others can gain access.

1. Change comes from letting people know about accessibility issues

A key theme running through talks on web accessibility, disability-related employment initiatives, education services and social media resources is that an organisation that has technology-related accessibility issues is likely to try and address them if enough people let them know there’s a problem. Many of the talks focused on providing information on how to raise accessibility issues with organisations, and in turn get accessibility issues addressed.

A joint venture by Media Access Australia and the University of South Australia, the Professional Certificate in Web Accessibility aims to meet the need for technical and managerial staff with web accessibility expertise, as recently spurred on by the Australian Government’s commitment to making government websites accessible as part of the National Transition Strategy (NTS). 

The WCAG 2.0, developed by the World Wide Web Consortium, is a list of guidelines which indicate how websites can be made accessible to various degrees.