Jeffrey P' Bigham

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Accessibility, Usability and Availability
Jeffrey P. Bigham Ph.D. Candidate, Computer
Science Engineering University of
Washington Seattle, Washington,
USA webinsight.cs.washington.edu
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Outline

• Introduction
• Accessibility
• Usability
• Availability

Is your content available to everyone?
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Outline

• Introduction
• Accessibility
• Usability
• Availability

Is your content available to everyone?
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What is Web 2.0?
Introduction

• Technology
• Javascript, DHTML, AJAX, Flash, Silverlight
• Web as a platform for applications
• Email, Office Applications, Graphics, etc.
• Look and Feel
• Curvy borders, pastel colors, sans serif fonts

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What is Web 2.0?
Introduction

• Technology
• Javascript, DHTML, AJAX, Flash, Silverlight
• Web as a platform for applications
• Email, Office Applications, Graphics, etc.
• Look and Feel
• Curvy border, sans serif fonts,

COMMUNITY
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Building Knowledge
Introduction
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Building Knowledge
Introduction
delicious.com
digg.com
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Building Knowledge
Introduction
delicious.com
digg.com
Each Link is a Vote by the Web Community
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New Voices
Introduction
17,600 Results for Accessibility Blog
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Social Networking
Introduction
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Social Networking
Introduction
Video Blogs Vlogs
Does anyone know a foolproof way to click on a
link in an sms with talks?
Ipods are lovely machines, but why does itunes
have to be so awful?
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Introduction
Putting Our Heads Together
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Outline

• Introduction
• ASL-STEM Forum
• Collaborative Web Accessibility
• Accessibility From Any Computer

Anna Cavender, Jessica DeWitt, Daniel Otero and
Richard Ladner
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Building ASL in Advanced Fields
ASL-STEM Forum

• Vocabulary depth lacking for advanced fields
• Especially for STEM Fields
• Science, Technology, Engineering, Math
• Online video forum
• Brings together geographically disperse members
• Development of preferred language
• Community discusses signs

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Community-Driven Hierarchy of Terms
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Highest Ranked Sign
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Other Suggestions and Discussion
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ASL-STEM Forum
ASL-STEM Forum

• Bottom-up approach
• Not a top-down dictionary
• Users post videos, comments, and ratings
• Students, Interpreters, Scientists, etc.
• Highest rated sign appears first
• Other suggestions appear too
• As signs converge, forum becomes a resource

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Outline

• Introduction
• ASL-STEM Forum
• Collaborative Web Accessibility
• Accessibility From Any Computer

Anna Cavender, Jeremy Brudvick, Jessica Leung and
Richard Ladner
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Web Accessibility
Collaborative Accessibility

• Content must be designed for accessibility
• Providing alternatives
• Alternative text for images
• Captions for videos
• Keyboard Access
• Efficiency of Access
• Adding Semantic Structure
• Designing Pages for Non-Visual Use

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Accessible Content Production
Collaborative Accessibility
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Accessible Content Production
Collaborative Accessibility

• User Influence
• Choosing and configuring technology
• Consultation and Lawsuits

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Accessible Content Production
Collaborative Accessibility

• User Influence
• Choosing and configuring technology
• Consultation and Lawsuits

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Greasemonkey1Firefox Extension
Collaborative Accessibility

• Allows users to inject custom Javascript
• Customize look and feel
• Combine data from multiple sites
• Alter pages to make them more accessible
• Desired features
• Include developers
• Used in multiple browsers
• Enable collaboration

1 Greasemonkey Firefox Extension.
http//greasemonkey.mozdev.org
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Accessmonkey
Collaborative Accessibility
Scripting Accessibility

• Preserves Greasemonkey Features
• Multiple browsers and platforms
• Framework for users and developers
• Web Developers
• Separate Interface
• Edit and save

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AccessmonkeyFramework
Collaborative Accessibility

• Web developers
• Suggestions
• Web users
• Automatic

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More than Manual Annotation
Collaborative Accessibility

• Removes dependence on Web Developers
• Users independently improve content
• Community can develop together
• Harnessing Human Power
• Amazon Mechanical Turk1
• ESP Game2

1 http//www.mturk.com/ 2 von Ahn et al.
Labeling Image with a Computer Game. (CHI 04).
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Writing and Using Scripts
Collaborative Accessibility

• Who could write scripts?
• Anyone who could write Javascript
• Those who would directly benefit (and friends)
• Web Developers
• Web users
• Find/create scripts they want
• Scripts transform pages automatically
• Web Developers
• Find/create scripts they want
• Use to edit and save changes to pages

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Menu No Style
Collaborative Accessibility

• Inefficient to Access

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Looking Forward
Collaborative Web Accessibility

• Programming-by-Demonstration
• Enable Ordinary Users to Write Scripts
• Online Script Repository
• Communal Effort
• Discover Scripts as you Browse
• Should find applicable scripts as you go

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Fast Forward
Collaborative Accessibility

• Available Products
• AxsJAX
• WebVisum
• Social Accessibility
• Adding Accessibility to Existing Web Pages
• Realizing Collaborative Accessibility

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AxsJAX Platform1
Collaborative Accessibility

• Injects Javascript Scripts into Web Pages
• Greasemonkey, Bookmarklets, etc.
• Adds WAI-ARIA into Web Applications
• Web Pages to Self-Voicing Web Apps
• Speaks the right thing at the right time

1. Available at http//code.google.com/p/google-
axsjax/
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WebVisum1 Firefox Extension
Collaborative Accessibility

• Image OCR (Optical Character Recognition)
• Solves CAPTCHAs
• Social Tagging System
• Other Accessibility Enhancements

1. Available at http//www.webvisum.com
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Social Accessibility
Collaborative Accessibility

• Blind web users submit requests
• Report problems from their web browsers
• Directly from the page with the problem
• Volunteers (blind or sighted) provide fixes
• Special Interface
• Fixes reflected in pages as users browse
• Benefit from all requested fixes

1. Available at http//services.alphaworks.ibm.c
om/socialaccessibility/
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Social Accessibility
Collaborative Accessibility
1. Available at http//services.alphaworks.ibm.c
om/socialaccessibility/
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Social Accessibility
Collaborative Accessibility
Requests Submitted by Blind Web Users
1. Available at http//services.alphaworks.ibm.c
om/socialaccessibility/
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Social Accessibility
Collaborative Accessibility
Interface for Volunteers
1. Available at http//services.alphaworks.ibm.c
om/socialaccessibility/
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Outline

• Introduction
• ASL-STEM Forum
• Collaborative Web Accessibility
• Accessibility From Any Computer

Craig Prince and Richard Ladner
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Price Perspective
Accessibility Anywhere
JAWS Screen Reader
New DELL Computer
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560.00
119.00
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Free Alternatives
Accessibility Anywhere

• FireVox
• Screen Reading Firefox Extension
• http//firevox.clcworld.net/
• NVDA
• Non-Visual Desktop Access
• http//www.nvda-project.org/
• Serotek System Access To Go
• Accessibility is a right
• http//www.accessibilityisaright.org/

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Problem
Accessibility Anywhere

• Many computers are locked-down
• Cant run new software
• Installing new software can be difficult
• Requires users to download or carry installer
• Installation can be inaccessible
• Many people hesitant to install
• Can leave traces behind

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WebAnywhere
Accessibility Anywhere

• Self-voicing, web-browsing web application
• Runs on any web-enabled computer or device
• Designed for Minimal requirements
• Runs on locked-down public terminals
• No software to install
• Base level of web access on any computer
• Assist web developers in creating content1

1 Mankoff et al., Is your web page
accessible? a comparative study of methods
for assessing web page accessibility for the
blind. CHI 2005.
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DEMO!
Accessibility Anywhere

• Try WebAnywhere here
• webanywhere.cs.washington.edu

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WebAnywhere Architecture
Accessibility Anywhere
Client interface in Javascript Speech MP3s
retrieved from server Played with Flash or
Embedded Players
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Future of WebAnywhere
Accessibility Anywhere

• Features
• More Languages
• Personalization and Preferences
• Support for Web Applications and Technology
• Platform for Access Technology
• Expand Beyond Support for Blind Web Users
• Low-Vision and Learning Disabilities
• Motor-Impairments and Cognitive-Impairments

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Summary
Conclusion

• Exciting Time for Technology
• Web-Based Tools Facilitating Communities
• Communities Improving Accessibility
• Technology Cheaper and More Available

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Toward the Future
Conclusion

• Communities Increasingly Important
• Independent Accessibility Improvement
• Better Software for Less Money

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The End webinsight.cs.washington.edu
Contributors Jeremy Brudvik, Anna Cavender,
Jessica DeWitt, Jessica Leung, Daniel Otero,
Craig Prince and Richard Ladner. Our
supporters National Science Foundation Grant
IIS-0415273 A Boeing Professorship Thanks
to T.V. Raman, Sangyun Hahn, Lindsay Yazzolino
and Jacob O. Wobbrock.