When people talk about incorporating accessibility into the design process, they usually refer to selecting colours that correspond to somebody else's 'accessible' contrast ratio or using a large enough font size. Trivial, really.
But the design process — observation, ideation, evaluation, refinement, and presentation — gives us many opportunities to build accessibility in from the very start. We’ll look at some real-world examples of Web-based services (like a transit-system route planner) and classic accessibility problems (like masses of old PDFs) and use those examples to build in accessibility from the ground up.
About Joe Clark
Author, journalist, and consultant Joe Clark is one of the old-timers in accessibility for people with disabilities. It all started on a dark and stormy night in the late ’70s when he happened upon a captioned television program and has, over the years, led to his writing of a standard text on Web accessibility (Building Accessible Websites); his being named “the king of closed captions” by the Atlantic Monthly; and his expulsion from the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines Working Group. Clark has significant research interests and is cooking up a large research project. He lives in Toronto, where he runs a site about his neighbourhood.
" ["post_title"]=> string(47) "Joe Clark - Accessibility in the Design Process" ["post_category"]=> string(1) "0" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(742) "
A presentation given at at Web Directions North, Vancouver, February 7, 2007.
When people talk about incorporating accessibility into the design process, they usually refer to selecting colours that correspond to somebody else's 'accessible' contrast ratio or using a large enough font size. Trivial, really.
But the design process — observation, ideation, evaluation, refinement, and presentation — gives us many opportunities to build accessibility in from the very start. We’ll look at some real-world examples of Web-based services (like a transit-system route planner) and classic accessibility problems (like masses of old PDFs) and use those examples to build in accessibility from the ground up.
Where can you find Ajax enlightenment? At the mystical point where a kick-ass application connects perfectly with the Flow of the best user experiences. Let Masters Jeremy and Derek guide you there.
You seek to infuse your work, whether an app or a web site feature, with the power of Ajax. But, taking the wrong path at the beginning of your project will lead to frustration for visitors, rather than a graceful, intuitive experience. True Masters start with the right questions: When is Ajax an enhancement? When is it a hindrance? How can its energy be channeled elegantly? This insightful session will be grounded in real-life examples and demonstrations, revealing the impact of the choices we make. Above all, you’ll learn the strategical thinking and higher perspective that will ensure a brilliantly user-centered web site.
About Jeremy Keith
Jeremy Keith is a web developer with the web consultancy firm Clearleft in Brighton, England where he enjoys building accessible, elegant websites using the troika of web standards: XHTML, CSS and the DOM. His online home is adactio.com.
Jeremy is a member of the Web Standards Project where he serves as joint leader of the DOM Scripting Task Force. He wrote the book DOM Scripting: Web Design with JavaScript and the Document Object Model.
When he’s not building websites, Jeremy plays bouzouki in the alt.country band Salter Cane. He is also the creator and curator of one of the Web’s largest online communities dedicated to Irish traditional music, The Session.
About Derek Featherstone
Engaging, surprising, and inspiring, Derek Featherstone has a gift for taking a fresh look at virtually every aspect of web development and teaching it in a way that renews our passion for making the web better for everyone. Featherstone is an internationally-known authority on accessibility and web development, and a respected technical trainer, and author.
Creator of in-depth courses on HTML, CSS, DOM Scripting, and Web 2.0 applications, his approach never fails to champion the cause of web standards and universal accessibility. As founder of Furtherahead, he has been an in-demand consultant to government agencies, educational institutions and private sector companies since 1999. His wealth of experience and insight enables him to provide audiences with immediately applicable, brilliantly simple approaches to everyday challenges in website design. He serves on the Accessibility and DOM Scripting Task Forces of the Web Standards Project, and comments on a variety of subjects at the popular boxofchocolates.ca.
" ["post_title"]=> string(89) "Jeremy Keith & Derek Featherstone - Web Apps - Ajax Kung Fu Meets Accessibility Feng Shui" ["post_category"]=> string(1) "0" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(1790) "
A presentation given at at Web Directions North, Vancouver, February 7, 2007.
Where can you find Ajax enlightenment? At the mystical point where a kick-ass application connects perfectly with the Flow of the best user experiences. Let Masters Jeremy and Derek guide you there.
You seek to infuse your work, whether an app or a web site feature, with the power of Ajax. But, taking the wrong path at the beginning of your project will lead to frustration for visitors, rather than a graceful, intuitive experience. True Masters start with the right questions: When is Ajax an enhancement? When is it a hindrance? How can its energy be channeled elegantly? This insightful session will be grounded in real-life examples and demonstrations, revealing the impact of the choices we make. Above all, you’ll learn the strategical thinking and higher perspective that will ensure a brilliantly user-centered web site.
Where can you find Ajax enlightenment? At the mystical point where a kick-ass application connects perfectly with the Flow of the best user experiences. Let Masters Jeremy and Derek guide you there.
You seek to infuse your work, whether an app or a web site feature, with the power of Ajax. But, taking the wrong path at the beginning of your project will lead to frustration for visitors, rather than a graceful, intuitive experience. True Masters start with the right questions: When is Ajax an enhancement? When is it a hindrance? How can its energy be channeled elegantly? This insightful session will be grounded in real-life examples and demonstrations, revealing the impact of the choices we make. Above all, you’ll learn the strategical thinking and higher perspective that will ensure a brilliantly user-centered web site.
We're sorry, but slides and podcast for this presentation are unfortunately not available.
Session description
When Version 2 of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines is finally released, the status of Javascript will be quite different to that assigned to it in Version 1.0 back in 1999. Back then, Javascript was to “degrade gracefully”. Currently AJAX offers increased usability for visual users, but may detract from accessibility. In future, use of JavaScript will be encouraged but, of course, must enhance rather than detract from accessibility.
During this presentation, Andrew and Grant will demonstrate how Javascript, when implemented well, offers enhanced accessibility. By way of balance, they will also present examples of scripting that causes problems. Importantly, they will provide corrections to the errant coding.
In these days of web-based multimedia extravaganzas, participants will also have the opportunity to experience some of the very helpful things that can be achieved with Flash, including screen reader accessibility. One of the issues to be covered is embedding of Flash into IE following the EOLAS versus Microsoft case – Javascript to the rescue.
Andrew and Grant will also showcase the potential of AutoHotkey, a free scripting language for Windows as an accessibility tool. While scripts can be written to meet a wide variety of needs in various circumstances, we will concentrate on one which provides fast and accurate coding for web pages.
About Andrew Downie and Grant Focas
Andrew Downie is a psychologist and also has a post-graduate diploma in education. He has, for both personal and professional reasons, a keen interest in making products and services available to the widest possible range of people. Andrew has worked for the NSW Department of Education and Training since 1992, providing adaptive technology resources to staff and students. As the world wide web has become more important in the educational environment, Andrew’s role has increasingly involved evaluating website accessibility.
Andrew is totally blind and uses screen readers to access computers. He has developed a working knowledge of HTML and is currently frustrated at his slow progress with Javascript.
Grant Focas is a Senior Educational Programmer for the Centre for Learning Innovation. He helped develop OptionKeys - a website provided by the NSW Department of Education and Training for students, teachers and resource developers to assist in the production of accessible online resources. For the past 6 years Grant has been a keen advocate of web standards. Though known to dabble in the dark arts of .NET he is happiest when eating the web trifle of XHTML, CSS and JavaScript with an entree of XSLT.
" ["post_title"]=> string(76) "Andrew Downie and Grant Focas - Javascript and other coding for good or evil" ["post_category"]=> string(1) "0" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(1122) "
A presentation given at Web Directions South, Sydney Australia, September 28 2007.
When Version 2 of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines is finally released, the status of Javascript will be quite different to that assigned to it in Version 1.0 back in 1999. Back then, Javascript was to “degrade gracefully”. Currently AJAX offers increased usability for visual users, but may detract from accessibility. In future, use of JavaScript will be encouraged but, of course, must enhance rather than detract from accessibility. During this presentation, Andrew and Grant will demonstrate how Javascript, when implemented well, offers enhanced accessibility. By way of balance, they will also present examples of scripting that causes problems. Importantly, they will provide corrections to the errant coding.
Web Usability is far more complex than User Testing and Interaction Design alone. And while interface design is an important consideration, there’s more to a usable site than what’s on the surface.
We all know the importance of accessibility and web standards, so let’s take that knowledge one step further and into the realm of usability. In this session Lisa Herrod will redefine the common definition of usability by introducing a greater focus on accessibility and web standards. By taking a more holistic approach you will soon see why usability is more than skin deep.
Lisa Herrod is the Principal Usability Consultant at Scenario Seven. The primary focus of her work is web usability, which she believes incorporates much more than just user testing. Drawing on a variety of disciplines, Lisa takes an holistic approach to web usability incorporating user research, accessibility, interaction design and web standards development.
Having started in the web during the last century, Lisa is occasionally caught making jokes about font tags, layout tables and shims. Nobody ever laughs.
" ["post_title"]=> string(44) "Lisa Herrod - Usability: more than skin deep" ["post_category"]=> string(1) "0" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(824) "
A presentation given at Web Directions South, Sydney Australia, September 28 2007.
Web Usability is far more complex than User Testing and Interaction Design alone. And while interface design is an important consideration, there’s more to a usable site than what’s on the surface. We all know the importance of accessibility and web standards, so let’s take that knowledge one step further and into the realm of usability. In this session Lisa Herrod will redefine the common definition of usability by introducing a greater focus on accessibility and web standards. By taking a more holistic approach you will soon see why usability is more than skin deep.
Melbourne recently hosted the 18th Commonwealth Games. Gian Sampson-Wild worked as the accessibility specialist for the Games for over two years, responsible for a variety of issues including the accessibility compliance of the web site and training of on-site and off-site developers such as Ticketmaster7 and Microsoft. Management at the Commonwealth Games were particularly cognisant of the precedent set by SOCOG and therefore made accessibility a priority. Gian will talk about the accessibility issues relevant to such a major event, such as creating accessible versions of venue maps and ensuring HTML fragments provided by third parties did not contravene accessibility requirements.
About Gian Sampson-Wild
Gian Sampson-Wild has worked in the accessibility industry for over seven years. She ran the accessibility consultancy PurpleTop for five years and built the automated accessibility testing tool PurpleCop. Gian worked as the accessibility consultant for the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games for over two years and trained Microsoft developers on how to maintain the accessibility of the site. Gian has been a Member of the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines Working Group for over six years and has spent a significant amount of time working on WCAG, Version 2.0. She is currently working with Monash University.
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Using the current state of web accessibility as our launch point, Derek will explore some of the fundamental issues that are holding us back from an accessible web that truly makes a difference to people with disabilities.
About Derek Featherstone
Engaging, surprising, and inspiring, Derek Featherstone has a gift for taking a fresh look at virtually every aspect of web development and teaching it in a way that renews our passion for making the web better for everyone. Featherstone is an internationally-known authority on accessibility and web development, and a respected technical trainer, and author.Creator of in-depth courses on HTML, CSS, DOM Scripting, and Web 2.0 applications, his approach never fails to champion the cause of web standards and universal accessibility. As founder of Furtherahead, he has been an in-demand consultant to government agencies, educational institutions and private sector companies since 1999. His wealth of experience and insight enables him to provide audiences with immediately applicable, brilliantly simple approaches to everyday challenges in website design. He serves on the Accessibility and DOM Scripting Task Forces of the Web Standards Project, and comments on a variety of subjects at the popular boxofchocolates.ca.
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A combination of practical "how-to" examples alongside several "how-not-to" cases from real accessibilty assessments and testing sessions.
About Derek Featherstone
Engaging, surprising, and inspiring, Derek Featherstone has a gift for taking a fresh look at virtually every aspect of web development and teaching it in a way that renews our passion for making the web better for everyone. Featherstone is an internationally-known authority on accessibility and web development, and a respected technical trainer, and author.Creator of in-depth courses on HTML, CSS, DOM Scripting, and Web 2.0 applications, his approach never fails to champion the cause of web standards and universal accessibility. As founder of Furtherahead, he has been an in-demand consultant to government agencies, educational institutions and private sector companies since 1999. His wealth of experience and insight enables him to provide audiences with immediately applicable, brilliantly simple approaches to everyday challenges in website design. He serves on the Accessibility and DOM Scripting Task Forces of the Web Standards Project, and comments on a variety of subjects at the popular boxofchocolates.ca.
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A presentation given at at Web Directions North, Vancouver, February 7, 2007.
When people talk about incorporating accessibility into the design process, they usually refer to selecting colours that correspond to somebody else's 'accessible' contrast ratio or using a large enough font size. Trivial, really.
But the design process — observation, ideation, evaluation, refinement, and presentation — gives us many opportunities to build accessibility in from the very start. We’ll look at some real-world examples of Web-based services (like a transit-system route planner) and classic accessibility problems (like masses of old PDFs) and use those examples to build in accessibility from the ground up.
About Joe Clark
Author, journalist, and consultant Joe Clark is one of the old-timers in accessibility for people with disabilities. It all started on a dark and stormy night in the late ’70s when he happened upon a captioned television program and has, over the years, led to his writing of a standard text on Web accessibility (Building Accessible Websites); his being named “the king of closed captions” by the Atlantic Monthly; and his expulsion from the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines Working Group. Clark has significant research interests and is cooking up a large research project. He lives in Toronto, where he runs a site about his neighbourhood.
" ["post_title"]=> string(47) "Joe Clark - Accessibility in the Design Process" ["post_category"]=> string(1) "0" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(742) "
A presentation given at at Web Directions North, Vancouver, February 7, 2007.
When people talk about incorporating accessibility into the design process, they usually refer to selecting colours that correspond to somebody else's 'accessible' contrast ratio or using a large enough font size. Trivial, really.
But the design process — observation, ideation, evaluation, refinement, and presentation — gives us many opportunities to build accessibility in from the very start. We’ll look at some real-world examples of Web-based services (like a transit-system route planner) and classic accessibility problems (like masses of old PDFs) and use those examples to build in accessibility from the ground up.
A presentation given at at Web Directions North, Vancouver, February 7, 2007.
When people talk about incorporating accessibility into the design process, they usually refer to selecting colours that correspond to somebody else’s ‘accessible’ contrast ratio or using a large enough font size. Trivial, really.
But the design process — observation, ideation, evaluation, refinement, and presentation — gives us many opportunities to build accessibility in from the very start. We’ll look at some real-world examples of Web-based services (like a transit-system route planner) and classic accessibility problems (like masses of old PDFs) and use those examples to build in accessibility from the ground up.
A presentation given at at Web Directions North, Vancouver, February 7, 2007.
Where can you find Ajax enlightenment? At the mystical point where a kick-ass application connects perfectly with the Flow of the best user experiences. Let Masters Jeremy and Derek guide you there.
You seek to infuse your work, whether an app or a web site feature, with the power of Ajax. But, taking the wrong path at the beginning of your project will lead to frustration for visitors, rather than a graceful, intuitive experience. True Masters start with the right questions: When is Ajax an enhancement? When is it a hindrance? How can its energy be channeled elegantly? This insightful session will be grounded in real-life examples and demonstrations, revealing the impact of the choices we make. Above all, you’ll learn the strategical thinking and higher perspective that will ensure a brilliantly user-centered web site.
Where can you find Ajax enlightenment? At the mystical point where a kick-ass application connects perfectly with the Flow of the best user experiences. Let Masters Jeremy and Derek guide you there.
You seek to infuse your work, whether an app or a web site feature, with the power of Ajax. But, taking the wrong path at the beginning of your project will lead to frustration for visitors, rather than a graceful, intuitive experience. True Masters start with the right questions: When is Ajax an enhancement? When is it a hindrance? How can its energy be channeled elegantly? This insightful session will be grounded in real-life examples and demonstrations, revealing the impact of the choices we make. Above all, you’ll learn the strategical thinking and higher perspective that will ensure a brilliantly user-centered web site.
A presentation given at Web Directions South, Sydney Australia, September 28 2007.
When Version 2 of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines is finally released, the status of Javascript will be quite different to that assigned to it in Version 1.0 back in 1999. Back then, Javascript was to “degrade gracefully”. Currently AJAX offers increased usability for visual users, but may detract from accessibility. In future, use of JavaScript will be encouraged but, of course, must enhance rather than detract from accessibility. During this presentation, Andrew and Grant will demonstrate how Javascript, when implemented well, offers enhanced accessibility. By way of balance, they will also present examples of scripting that causes problems. Importantly, they will provide corrections to the errant coding.
A presentation given at Web Directions South, Sydney Australia, September 28 2007.
Web Usability is far more complex than User Testing and Interaction Design alone. And while interface design is an important consideration, there’s more to a usable site than what’s on the surface. We all know the importance of accessibility and web standards, so let’s take that knowledge one step further and into the realm of usability. In this session Lisa Herrod will redefine the common definition of usability by introducing a greater focus on accessibility and web standards. By taking a more holistic approach you will soon see why usability is more than skin deep.
A presentation given at Web Directions South, Sydney Australia, September 28 2006.
Melbourne recently hosted the 18th Commonwealth Games. Gian Sampson-Wild worked as the accessibility specialist for the Games for over two years, responsible for a variety of issues including the accessibility compliance of the web site and training of on-site and off-site developers such as Ticketmaster7 and Microsoft. Management at the Commonwealth Games were particularly cognisant of the precedent set by SOCOG and therefore made accessibility a priority. Gian will talk about the accessibility issues relevant to such a major event, such as creating accessible versions of venue maps and ensuring HTML fragments provided by third parties did not contravene accessibility requirements. See the slides and hear the podcast »
A presentation given at Web Directions South, Sydney Australia, September 28 2006.
Using the current state of web accessibility as our launch point, Derek will explore some of the fundamental issues that are holding us back from an accessible web that truly makes a difference to people with disabilities. See the slides and hear the podcast »
A presentation given at Web Directions South, Sydney Australia, September 29 2006.
A combination of practical “how-to” examples alongside several “how-not-to” cases from real accessibilty assessments and testing sessions. See the slides and hear the podcast »
When Version 2 of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines is finally released, the status of Javascript will be quite different to that assigned to it in Version 1.0 back in 1999. Back then, Javascript was to “degrade gracefully”. Currently AJAX offers increased usability for visual users, but may detract from accessibility. In future, use of JavaScript will be encouraged but, of course, must enhance rather than detract from accessibility. During this presentation, Andrew and Grant will demonstrate how Javascript, when implemented well, offers enhanced accessibility. By way of balance, they will also present examples of scripting that causes problems. Importantly, they will provide corrections to the errant coding.
Web Usability is far more complex than User Testing and Interaction Design alone. And while interface design is an important consideration, there’s more to a usable site than what’s on the surface. We all know the importance of accessibility and web standards, so let’s take that knowledge one step further and into the realm of usability. In this session Lisa Herrod will redefine the common definition of usability by introducing a greater focus on accessibility and web standards. By taking a more holistic approach you will soon see why usability is more than skin deep.
