INP 153: Designing for the User Experience I

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INP 153 Designing for the User Experience I

• Lecture 11 Accessibility

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Whats due?

• Last homework!
• Homework 5 Improving Navigation.
• Pick up your User Experience Deliverable 2 and
  any other papers you havent picked up yet.

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Optional project

• The optional project is due in two weeks week
  13.
• Design a poster with a top ten theme!
• Read online description of assignment.

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Class progress

• Good job with the submitted User Experience
  Deliverables 2.
• Reorganizations were professional
• Charts were clear
• Wireframes were well designed
• Demonstrated amazing progress

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What is Accessibility

• Accessibility refers to barrier-free access to
  resources for all individuals, despite personal
  impairments and disabilities.
• Requires that you, the designer, and anyone else
  working directly with content understand the
  limitations of these disabilities.
• Furthermore, accessibility addresses issues such
  as the client technology used (e.g., browser,
  microbrowser, screen reader, etc.)

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Your impact

• The man who involves himself and who realizes
  that he is not only the person he chooses to be,
  but is also a lawmaker choosing all mankind as
  well as himself, cannot help escape the feeling
  of his total and deep responsibility.
• Jean-Paul Sarte, Existentialism and Human Emotion
• What are some of our concerns ?

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Sample concerns

• Visual deficiencies
• Motion blindness, achromatopsia (cortical color
  blindness), color blindness, agnosia, blindness
• Auditory deficiencies
• Deafness, tone deafness

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More sample concerns

• Motor deficits
• Parkinsons, Huntingtons, paralysis
• Attentional disorders
• ADD, visual neglect (left neglect), etc.

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And even more concerns

• Aging population
• Individuals with restricted access, such as with
  some wireless devices or text-only browsers
• Individuals with slow connection speeds

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Good read!

• For a good book on clinical cases for lesser
  known (but socially important) diseases and
  disorders
• Oliver Sacks, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a
  Hat
• However, you will not learn anything about
  accessibility from this book

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Understanding the Digital Divide

• The Digital Divide involves limited access to
  networked electronic resources and software.
• Certain demographics (race, economic level, age,
  etc.) have been statistically linked to limited
  or no access to computers and the Internet.
• Not just whether or not someone has access, but
  the type of access.

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Restricted access for certain groups

• Here are some examples of groups who have highly
  restricted access to information technology
• Rural America
• Impoverished neighborhoods
• Native American community
• Disabled community
• And more

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and education suffers from restricted access

• K-12 classrooms often dont have proper access to
  information technology.
• Imagine your daily life without computers! How
  would you use the library? Communicate with
  friends/family? Shop? Share information publicly?
  Access class material?

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Importance of accessible technology

• Hopefully, thinking about the digital divide
  places the importance of accessible technology in
  a context you can understand.
• After all, why should such a significant portion
  of the population be left behind or does a
  significant portion of the population have
  disabilities that restricts this access?

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Disabilities very, very significant (very)

• In the US, the average life expectancy for a
  newborn is 75 years.
• The last 13 of those years will most likely
  involve some significant functional impairment
• In the US in 1984, over 37 million individuals
  had a disability.
• As of 1994, 15 of Americans had a significant
  disability!

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Disabilities are becoming increasingly more
prominent

• Medical advances increasing life span
• Neonatal treatment sustain lives, but result in
  babies with increased occurrence of disability
• Drug abuse trends result in functional disability
• Life rescue technology is saving lives that,
  affected in trama, often result in impairments
• Maturation of baby boomers with greater life
  expectancies
• Urban violence

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Historic barriers to accessibility legislation

• Misconception of cost/benefit of barrier-free
  environments
• High cost to public/businesses
• Small percentage of population (15!)

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Cost of not providing equal access

• Cost of unemployment for increasing population
  with functional impairment
• Medical cost of injuries sustained in
  inappropriate, unsafe environments
• Cost of social services provided for individuals
  who could be integrate into accessible work
  environment
• Source Slavitt, Earl B. (2000). Accessibility
  Under the Americans with Disabilities Act and
  Other Laws A Guide to Enforcement and Compliance.

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Who else benefits from accessible environments

• Barrier-free environments have unexpectedly
  addressed multiple needs
• Sidewalk ramps not only address needs of
  individuals in wheelchairs, but also mothers with
  strollers and individuals pushing shopping carts
• Web sites that are accessible are not only usable
  for blind individuals with screen readers, but
  also individuals with text-only browsers or
  limited browsing capabilities (e.g., wireless
  devices).

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Early example of accessibility

• A handful of universities were the first
  institutions to offer equal access to facilities
• Plywood ramps on sidewalks and buildings
• Support programs for handicapped pursuing a
  higher education

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ANSI

• American National Standards Institute
• In 1958, ANSI declared the need to develop
  standards for accessible facilities
• In 1961, ANSI published A117.1, Making Buildings
  Accessible to and Usable by the Physically
  Handicapped.

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A117.1

• A117.1
• offered technical specifications for parking
  spaces, ramps, doorways, elevators, and toilet
  stalls
• Didnt accommodate individuals with sensory
  disabilities
• Voluntary standard, though adopted by a handful
  of states

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A117.1 Cont

• Revised in 1980, 1986, 1992, and 1998
• The 1980 revision addressed sensory impairments,
  including visual fire alarms, auditory cues in
  elevators, Braille signs, and the elimination of
  dangerous protruding objects.

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ABA First federal accessibility standard

• Architectural Barriers Act (ABA)
• Enacted by congress in 1968
• Required accessibility for facilities funded with
  federal funds
• Not retroactive only when facilities were
  altered or constructed!

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Rehabilitation Act of 1973

• Title V of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
• Includes Section 504, which prohibits
  discrimination of qualified individuals based on
  disabilities for recipients of federal funding
• Accommodations must be made for the handicapped
• Section 508, an amendment to this Act, requires
  information technology be accessible

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Setback in the 1980s Perceived Costs

• In 1983 a little Braille terminal came out You
  could hook it to a printer and do very
  rudimentary word processing. It had a Braille
  display and cost 7000.
• GCN.com, Barrett illuminates 508 Gains

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Setback in the 1980s Public concerns over cost

• There was a lot of concern in the 1980s that
  section 508 compliance would cost society too
  much.
• The Reagan administration, due to popular
  pressure (including many derisive newspaper
  editorials) narrowed the application of Section
  508.
• Administration also restricted access to Social
  Security funds for the disabled.

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Politics behind the Rehabilitation Act

• In 1979, the Supreme Court required that minimal
  reasonable accommodations be made for Section V
  of the Rehabilitation Act.
• Reagan suggested withholding action based on the
  Rehabilitation Act unless the potential benefits
  to society for the regulation outweigh the
  potential cost to society.
• Every administration since has utilized a similar
  heuristic for evaluating the costs/benefits of
  accessibility.

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The reversal of the deregulation

• During the next presidential campaign, concerns
  about accessibility reached the population. The
  disabled community worked hard to barter for fair
  rights they likened their cause to the Civil
  Rights Movement.
• Groups like the Red Cross and the Salvation Army
  were influential in the adoption of disability
  legislation.
• As popular opinion shifted, the Reagan
  administration reversed their early decisions.

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Section 508

• Section 508 is an amendment to the Rehabilitation
  Act of 1973
• Signed in 1998
• Information technology purchased by the
  government must be accessible to individuals with
  disabilities
• Provided the accessibility is not an undue burden
  on the agency
• Specific standards for software and hardware,
  telecommunications equipment, and the web.

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Section 508 and the Web

• 16 specific items for web accessibility
• All .gov websites must follow the 16 guidelines!

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WAI

• W3C (World Wide Web Consortium, an independent
  council for important web issues at MIT)
  spearheaded the Web Accessibility Initiative
  (WAI), which also provides guidelines for
  accessible web sites.

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Checking web sites for accessibility

• Probably the most popular tool for checking
  accessibility of web pages/sites is Bobby
• http//cast.org/bobby/

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Accessibility Heuristics1 of 17

• Here are 16 accessibility heuristics that will
  satisfy section 508 and make a web site more
  accessible to individuals using assistive
  technology

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Accessibility Heuristics2 of 17

• Create alternative content for graphics, such as
  alternative text
• Alternative text (alt tags) should be brief and
  convey meaningful messages
• Use long descriptions (longdesc tags) for
  graphs and images using data

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Accessibility Heuristics3 of 17

• Page should display legibly when graphics are
  disabled, such as with some wireless technology,
  screen readers, or Lynx a text-based web
  navigator.

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Accessibility Heuristics4 of 17

• Web pages should be keyboard enabled. Some
  individuals with fine motor disabilities cannot
  use a mouse!

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Accessibility Heuristics5 of 17

• The use of color should not restrict access to
  individuals with color deficiencies, color
  blindness, or who are using browsers that disable
  the designers color scheme.

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Accessibility Heuristics6 of 17

• Provide a way for users utilizing screen readers
  to skip repetitive navigation links and get to
  the main content of a page
• Users with vision can easily scan a page, but
  users with screen readers must listen to
  everything!
• Use 1x1 pixel transparent graphic to link to main
  content
• Text-only version?

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Accessibility Heuristics7 of 17

• If using frames, use labels for each frame that
  aid individuals with screen readers, such as
  navigation bar, main content, etc.
• You can use the lttitlegt to do this!

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Accessibility Heuristics8 of 17

• Links should state where they lead, and not rely
  on context.
• Some screen readers/assistive technology scan
  pages for links.
• Links like click here do not offer clues
• What about URLs as links?

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Accessibility Heuristics9 of 17

• Offer alternatives for media/multimedia
• Textual transcripts for audio
• Synchronous captioning for audio in video

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Accessibility Heuristics10 of 17

• Do not depend on color to convey important
  information.
• Dont say find the red or click on the green

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Accessibility Heuristics11 of 17

• Flickering animations at 4 to 55 flickers per
  second can trigger seizures, and should be
  avoided!

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Accessibility Heuristics12 of 17

• Text-only pages must be updated as often as the
  web site is updated.
• Well marked-up code will avoid the need for
  text-only pages

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Accessibility Heuristics13 of 17

• Forms should be accessible to individuals using
  assistive technology.

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Accessibility Heuristics14 of 17

• If using tables for layout, make sure they make
  sense when linearly read out.

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Accessibility Heuristics15 of 17

• For complex tables, use summary elements to
  explain content.

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Accessibility Heuristics16 of 17

• 15. Make sure web pages work when scripts and
  applets are disabled or not supported, or provide
  equivalent information on alternative pages.

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Accessibility Heuristics17 of 17

• Documents should be readable without a style
  sheet.
• Gracefully degrade

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WebAIM Section 508 ChecklistWhen a web page
fails 1 of 4

• Non-text elements have no alternative
  descriptions
• Multimedia files dont provide synchronized
  captions
• Use of color monitor is required
• Contrast is poor

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WebAIM Section 508 ChecklistWhen a web page
fails 2 of 4

• Document is confusing when the style sheet is
  turned off.
• Data tables do not have header rows/columns
• Layout tables do have header rows/columns

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WebAIM Section 508 ChecklistWhen a web page
fails 3 of 4

• Frames do not have descriptive titles.
• Animations flicker between 2 and 55 Hz.
• Text-only version is not concurrent with main
  version.
• Scripts work only with mouse.
• Page doesnt provide link to downloadable
  plugin.

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WebAIM Section 508 ChecklistWhen a web page
fails 4 of 4

• Forms dont have labels adjacent to controls.
• Pages dont offer links past redundent
  navigational links.
• Unnecessary time restraints require fast
  actions. E.g., while filling out a form.

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Class exercise creating an inaccessible website

• We want to create a pet store that is intended
  to throw off screen readers and other assistive
  technology

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For next class

• No homework due!
• Have a great week!