Accessibility and the Web: Not Mutually Exclusive

1
Accessibility and the Web Not Mutually Exclusive

• Simon Ball
• JISC TechDis Service
• Email Helpdesk_at_techdis.ac.uk
• Web www.techdis.ac.uk

2
TechDis Who

• Improving provision for disabled people in
  further and higher education through technology
• Funded by JISC the Joint Information Systems
  Committee

3
TechDis What

• Primary function is Technology and how it can be
  used to support disabled students and staff
• Also part of the wider disability agenda
• Social Models vs Medical Models
• A safe environment

4
TechDis How

• Advice resource helpdesk_at_techdis.ac.uk
• Databases Assistive Technology, Connections,
  Knowledge
• Research PDAs, VLEs etc
• Workshops Monthly in York, also Standalone JCALT
  Workshop Packs
• Publications www.ferl.org.uk/display.cfm?page557
  
• www.techdis.ac.uk/accessallareas/AAA.pdf
• www.techdis.ac.uk/pdf/curricula.pdf

5
Why? The Legislation!

• Aside from ethical and good practice reasons for
  making learning and teaching accessible, we are
  now required to do so by law
• Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA)
• Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Act
  2001 (SENDA)
• European Legislation

6
European Legislation

• eEurope Action Plan 2002
• Obligation under Amsterdam Treaty (Declaration
  22)
• Resolution in February 2003 on embedding WAI (web
  accessibility) guidelines into practice across
  all sectors

7
DDA 1995

• Disability Discrimination Act 1995
• Entire Act at www.hmso.gov.uk/acts/acts1995/199505
  0.htm
• Part 1 Defines Disability
• Part 2 Outlaws discrimination in Employment
• Part 3 Outlaws discrimination in Other Areas
  (Service Provision)
• Education not included

8
SENDA 2001

• Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001
• Entire Act at www.hmso.gov.uk/acts/acts2001/200100
  10.htm
• Effectively a replacement Part 4 of the DDA
• All services provided wholly or mainly for
  students are covered, including learning
  materials and assessment
• The institution is responsible for ensuring the
  accessibility of any products or services it
  procures

9
Definition of Disability

• A person has a disability for the purposes of
  this Act if he has a physical or mental
  impairment which has a substantial and long-term
  adverse effect on his ability to carry out normal
  day-to-day activities.

10
What DDA/SENDA Says

• Not treat a disabled person less favourably for
  a reason relating to their disability
• Required to make reasonable adjustments if a
  disabled person would otherwise be placed at a
  substantial disadvantage
• Adjustments should be anticipatory
• Applies to all admissions, enrolments and other
  student services which includes assessment and
  web-based materials

11
Accessibility and Usability

• Accessibility can be easily and conveniently
  approached, entered, and used by people with
  disabilities (US National Parks)
• Design-For-All can be easily and conveniently
  approached, entered, and used by everybody,
  thereby rendering accessibility redundant (in an
  ideal world)

12
What questions should we be asking about
accessibility?

• What does accessibility mean?
• equality or equivalence?
• What are the design issues?
• for all or for special cases
• Does new technology have a role?
• enabler or new barrier?

13
WAI Guidelines (accessibility of web / e-learning
materials)

• World Wide Web Consortiums Web Accessibility
  Initiative
• www.W3.org/WAI
• Gathering of world experts in Web and
  Accessibility
• Produce best practice guidelines on various
  subjects
• Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
• www.techdis.ac.uk/seven
• User Agent Accessibility Guidelines
• Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines

14
NN Group Quantitative Research

• Involved 60 people, all familiar with using the
  Internet, and where applicable all experienced at
  using the assistive devices employed
• 20 screen reader users
• 20 screen magnifier users
• 20 people using no assistive technology
• All were set four simple tasks, and given 20
  minutes per task to complete them

15
NN Group Quantitative Research Tasks

• Fact-finding
• find the average temperature in Dallas (no site
  specified)
• Buy online
• Janet Jacksons latest CD from www.target.com
• Information retrieval
• take a bus in Chicago www.transitchicago.com
• Compare and contrast
• find a specific kind of mutual fund on
  www.schwab.com

16
NN Group Major findings

• Participants who used no assistive technology
  were
• about six times more successful at completing
  tasks than people using screen readers
• three times more successful than people using
  screen magnifiers
• There was also a very close relationship between
  success and satisfaction

17
NN Group Completion Statistics

• No assistive technology users
• 7/10 completed, 1/10 ran out of time, 2/10 gave
  up
• Screen magnifier users
• 2/10 completed, 4/10 ran out of time, 4/10 gave
  up
• Screen reader users
• 1/10 completed, 5/10 ran out of time, 4/10 gave up

18
VLE Study Findings

• Learners using no AT spent 2 or 3 times more time
  Doing than AT users
• Screen reader users spent as much time Using and
  Accessing as Doing
• AT users needed more prompting
• www.techdis.ac.uk/resources/VLE002.html

19
Mencap Research

• 11 users with learning difficulties reviewed 30
  popular web sites in August 2001. Users had
  varying levels of familiarity with the Internet
• Asked to give scores on visual appeal, clarity,
  navigation, is it obvious whats being provided,
  help and contact details, is language
  understandable and readable, presence of graphics
  / audio to aid understanding

20
Text-Only Sites

• Remember EQUIVALENCE!
• A text-only version may NOT be equivalent to the
  Full Monty
• RNIBs See It Right Award went to Tescos
  access site. Oh dear..
• For actual websites, have a look at Betsie (but
  ask her first) www.bbc.co.uk/education/betsie

21
Language

• Stating the obvious?
• A learner with dyslexia or whose first language
  is BSL may not be able to interpret easily
  unnecessarily flowery or verbose academic
  language.
• Just another unnecessary barrier see the effect
  yourselves.

22
What do these examples teach us?

• Clarity of language
• Brevity if possible
• Think about the range of students experiencing
  the assessment and consider the options for best
  achieving the intended outcomes

23
Technology and Disabilities Some common
issues(Medical Model can sometimes be useful!)

• Physical / Mobility Impairments
• Deaf / Hard Of Hearing
• Blind / Visual Impairments
• Dyslexia / Cognitive Difficulties
• Its all Common Sense! Most accessibility
  features benefit all users. But specific
  adjustments are contextual.

24
Physical / Mobility Impairments 1

• Principal Issue 1 Navigation
• Many users cannot use a mouse
• Can every aspect of the material be negotiated
  using the TAB key?
• Can boxes/options be checked using a combination
  of the TAB key and a single other keystroke (e.g.
  users of head wands or switches)?
• Are drop-down menus accessible?

25
Physical / Mobility Impairments 2

• Principal Issue 2 Keyboard Dexterity
• Many users can hit only one key at a time no
  simultaneous combinations should be required in
  navigation
• If a key is mis-hit is there an easy and obvious
  way to backtrack and correct?

26
Deaf / Hard Of Hearing 1

• Principal Issue 1 Audio Content
• All audio content must have a text commentary in
  the form of subtitles or a signing avatar (or
  signing video).
• A text-based alternative question is adequate, as
  long as the same piece of knowledge is being
  tested with equal rigour. The omission of audio
  features should not mean the deaf student
  experiences less interesting material

27
Deaf / Hard Of Hearing 2

• Principal Issue 2 Language
• English is often the second language of deaf
  people, the first being BSL - British Sign
  Language (or ASL, ISG etc)
• Questions should be worded using clear,
  understandable language so as to ensure it is
  obvious what is required of the student.
• Applies equally to overseas students

28
Blind / Visual Impairments 1

• Principal Issue 1 Screen Magnifiers
• Magnify part of screen up to 16 times e.g.
  Zoomtext
• Never use text in graphic form (pixelation)
• Do complex graphics and images make sense at
  increased magnification?

29
Blind / Visual Impairments 2

• Principal Issue 2 Screen Readers
• Speak out what is on screen e.g. Jaws
• Some speak only what is typed, some read only
  HTML, great variety of tools.
• All read in linear fashion

30
Blind / Visual Impairments 3

• Does the text and the navigation make sense when
  read aloud?
• Do text options occur before check boxes?
• Do tables make sense when read linearly
  row-by-row?
• Do links and navigation aids make sense?
• Do images have full text descriptions?

31
Blind / Visual Impairments 4

• Principal Issue 3 Colour
• Do not use colour alone to convey meaning.
• Remember many people cannot distinguish green
  from red
• Avoid garish colours (think of lime green text
  magnified 16 times!)

32
Dyslexia / Cognitive Difficulties 1

• Many issues regarding presentation and wording of
  information
• If possible allow user to select text attributes
• If not possible, select neutral attributes
• Sans serif fonts (e.g. Arial, Comic Sans,
  Verdana)
• Light text on dark background or vice versa
  (yellow on black is popular)
• 12 pt. (120 ) Font minimum size
• 1.5 (150 ) line spacing

33
Dyslexia / Cognitive Difficulties 2

• Clear wording is vital
• No trick questions (no too similar options)
• Is it obvious how to progress and what is being
  tested?

34
Some technology tips

• When designing multiple choice questions, try to
  avoid overly complex possible answers
• If using graphics, ensure that high quality
  recorded descriptions are available for each
  graphic used and that text does not become
  pixelated when magnified
• Make transition times between questions
  adjustable to allow for different student needs
  (but bear in mind that extra time may make the
  total exam burden more onerous)

35
More tips

• Take account of keyboard rather than mouse
  navigation in considering ease of movement
  between questions
• Be up to speed on assistive technology and what
  it can do
• Be sure of what you are testing- knowledge or
  physical effort
• Be aware of the special needs of those
  participating in synchronous discussions

36
TechDis CBA Resource

• General resources for CBA www.techdis.ac.uk/cba/
• FAQs and discussion of issues
• www.techdis.ac.uk/cba/forum.html
• Email for contributions to question and answer
  board
• cba_at_techdis.ac.uk