Web design critique from visually impaired perspective

1
Web design critiquefrom visually impaired
perspective

• CMSC 434 Sep 13, 2005
• Hyunyoung Song (hsong_at_cs.umd.edu)
• Ahmad H. Ibrahim (amadib_at_mail.umd.edu)

2
Outline

• Screen reader
• Section 508
• JAWS , Homepage Reader
• Demo

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Screen reader Architecture
Screen Reader
Pixel based GUI
User Interface
Off-screen model
Messages
Text to Speech
Accessibility API
Applications
OS
Braille Display
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Challenges in a Screen reader
Pixel based GUI

• Limits from Accessibility API
• MS Word and MS Active Accessibility
• Limits from Application Contents
• Animations in Macromedia Flash

User Interface
Off-screen model
Accessibility API
Applications
OS
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Applications

• Commercial Products
• JAWS by Freedom Scientific
• Window-Eyes by GW Micro
• VoiceOver for Mac OS X by Apple
• Homepage Reader by IBM
• Open Source Products
• BRLTTY and suse-blinux for unix text consoles
• Gnopernicus for unix graphical applications
  exporting the AT-SPI interface
• Screenfull, an in-progress screen reader for
  Windows
• Windows XP
• Narrator U

6
Outline

• Screen reader
• Section 508
• JAWS , Homepage Reader
• Demo

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• 1194.1 Purpose
• Give access to electronic and information
  technology to federal employees with disabilities
• 1194.21 Software applications and OS
• (c) A well-defined on-screen indication of the
  current focus shall be provided that moves among
  interactive interface elements as the input focus
  changes. The focus shall be programmatically
  exposed so that assistive technology can track
  focus and focus changes.
• (d) Sufficient information about a user interface
  element including the identity, operation and
  state of the element shall be available to
  assistive technology. When an image represents a
  program element, the information conveyed by the
  image must also be available in text.
• (l) When electronic forms are used, the form
  shall allow people using assistive technology to
  access the information, field elements, and
  functionality required for completion and
  submission of the form, including all directions
  and cues.

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1194.2 Web-based intranet and internet
information and applications

• A text equivalent for every non-text element
• Non-text element
• Multimedia presentation alternative text repr.
• Color shouldnt imply information (ex. Markup)
• Link provide redundant text link instead of
  image link
• Tables provide rows and column headers
• Script language sequence should have equivalent
  functional text that can be read by assistive
  tech.
• Client-side image maps provided instead of
  server-side image maps
• Web Content Accessibility Guildlines 1.0

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Outline

• Screen reader
• Section 508
• JAWS , Homepage Reader
• Demo

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IBM Home Page Reader 3.04The voice of the World
Wide Web

• Reads Web pages, the Microsoft Windows desktop
  and selected system applications
• Incorporates magnification and highlighting
• Assists Web developers in testing for
  accessibility
• Supports Adobe PDF and Macromedia Flash content
• Provides access to popular Web-based e-mail
  applications
• Includes Multilanguage IBM text-to-speech
  technology
• Cost 149.00

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Freedom Scientific JAWS

• Skim Reading Summary
• PAC Mate Desktop
• PAC Mate Desktop allows you to control your
  desktop computer with your PAC Mate via an
  ActiveSync connection.
• Hear Unicode and Hexadecimal Characters
• Language Detection
• detect the language of the current word and read
  it using the appropriate synthesizer voice.
• Control How JAWS Uses Style Sheets
• customization
• PDF Table Verbosity Options
• Wide-Range of supported software
• Cost 795.00 1,495.00(NT)

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Usability for the Visually Impaired User

• User input devices keyboard vs. mouse
• 1. ALTD CtrlL
• 2. Tab
• User interface text vs. image
• 1. menu icons 1. menu icons
• 2. notepad, word 2. flash,
  shockwave

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Usability for the Visually Impaired User

• Readymade audio content ???
• Favorite activities E-mail, Downloading,
  Chatting
• mail.yahoo.com, bittornado, AOL Instant Messenger
• Favorite websites live concert audio feed
• www.bt.etree.org
• Favorite applications FTP, Direct Connect

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Outline

• Screen reader
• Section 508
• JAWS , Homepage Reader
• Demo

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First Hand Experience Guest Ahmed Zaghal
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References

• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_reader
• http//www.utoronto.ca/atrc/reference/tech/scread.
  html
• http//www-3.ibm.com/able/solution_offerings/hpr.h
  tml
• http//www.freedomscientific.com/fs_downloads/jaws
  .asp
• http//www.nanopac.com/
• http//www.cs.wright.edu/bie/rehabengr/Comp1/Speec
  h.htm
• http//www.w3.org/TR/1999/WAI-WEBCONTENT-19990505
  
• http//www.section508.gov/