Architecting

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Architecting Designing for Accessibility

• Misty McLaughlin
• Information Architecture Design I
• October 19, 2004

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Accessibility

• Why and What
• Types of disabilities
• Assistive / adaptive technology
• Legislation, policy, standards
• Design techniques
• Testing, simulation and repair tools
• Opportunities to practice

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Why?

• 20 million Americans with disabilities that
  seriously affect their use of the Web
• 50 Americans over 65 with disabilities
• 500-750 million People with disabilities
  internationally
• 690 million Annual cost to make federal
  websites accessible

From Who Are the Disabled? and Maximum
Accessibility
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What is Accessibility?Some Accessible Design
Philosophy

• Point of Cohesion
• Same information, same tasks
• Does not depend on a single sense or ability
• Points of Contention
• Accessibility v. usability
• Is accessibility a patch or a fundamental design
  consideration?

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Formal Disabilities

• Cognitive / learning
• Auditory
• Motor / physical
• Speech

• Visual
• - legal blindness
• - impaired vision
• - color blindness

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Quasi-disabilitiesa.k.a. Access Barriers

• Slow internet connection
• Old browser
• Missing plug-ins
• No speakers
• Small display (old monitors, handheld devices)
• No mouse

• Age
• Language issues
• Noisy environment
• Eyes or hands busy
• Photosensitive epilepsy

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Assistive / Adaptive Technology

• As defined by the Assistive Technology Act of
  1998
• any item, piece of equipment, or product
  system, whether acquired commercially, modified,
  or customized, that is used to increase,
  maintain, or improve the functional capabilities
  of individuals with disabilities.
• mediates and decodes the technology
• for users with disabilities.
• make information devices more accessible.

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Assistive / Adaptive Technology
Auditory Closed captioning
Visual Screen readers magnifiers, refreshable Braille display
Motor / physical Alternative keyboard layout mouse system Slow-mo software
Speech Special voice recognition software
Cognitive / learning ???
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Accessibility Legislation

• National
• Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) 1990
• Section 508 of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act
  1973
• - Requires that electronic and information
  technology developed, procured, maintained, or
  used by the Federal government be accessible to
  people with disabilities.
• Statewide
• Chapter 206 of the Texas Administrative Code, the
  Access to Information Law - 2002

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Policy In-house Rules

• UT Austins Web Accessibility Policy
• - Section 508 compliant
• - Accessibility policy link required
• - Responsibility
• - Testing Documentation

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Standards

• Checklists, guidelines, practical info

• Section 508 Guidelines
• - Applies only to federal agencies, legally
• - 16 checkpoints
• - based on WCAGs most critical points
• - objective measurable

• W3Cs WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines)
• Over 60 checkpoints
• International acceptance (EU, Canada, Australia)

From Maximum Accessibility
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Design Considerations

• Some rules
• The ultimate error that any developer of
  accessible applications can commit is to modify
  the users environment.
• --John Paul Mueller, Accessibility for Everybody
• Graceful transformation, understandability,
  navigability
• --Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, W3C

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Visual Style

• Color
• Dont use color to convey primary meaning
• High contrast

• Font
• Sans-serif
• Relative font size

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Images Multimedia

• Provide a text-equivalent to visual or audio
  information (alt-text or captions)
• If video, captions / alt-text should be
  synchronized
• Avoid flickering

• The Living Room Candidate, American Museum of
  the Moving Image
• Simulation exercise for the non-disabled
• Turn your speakers off and watch.
• Turn your monitor off and listen.

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Markup

• Correct, structural rather than fixed markup
• Use CSS to control page elements (but dont
  convey critical info through CSS)
• Elastic, relative units
• Avoid
• Font tags, fixed pixel sizes

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Quality Content

• Plain, readable language
• Quality descriptions and link text
• Clear referents
• Avoid jargon and specialized language unless your
  audience is insider-only

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Can Use If You Do It Carefully Dont Do It If You Can Help It
Image Maps Images that blink or flicker
Data tables Decontextualized pop-ups
Graphs and charts
Scripts
Frames
Applets and plugins
Forms
From Maximum Accessibility
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Tips

• Skip navigation or skip to main content

• 1-pixel accessibility info at the top of your page

• Offer alternative stylesheet option

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Testing, Simulation Repair

• W3Cs Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) -
  comprehensive list
• Accessibility Toolbar (for IE)
• Evaluating Web Site Accessibility (checklists,
  tips, and more)

Simulation of www.utexas.edu appearance for users
with diabetic retinothopy
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Best Testing Tool

• User testing with groups of users
• who have mixed disabilities

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Local Accessibility Opportunities

• Accessibility Internet Rally
• - AIR-Texas
• - AIR-University
• UTs Accessibility Institute
• - Free training
• - Accessibility research
• - Site evaluation and user testing

• Knowbility Accessible Technology
• - Community training programs
• - Annual accessibility conference (free to UT
  students, faculty staff)
• Jim Thatcher, Accessibility Consultant
• - Free training
• - Site evaluation

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References

• Clark, Joe. Building Accessible Websites. New
  Riders, 2002.
• Slatin, John and Rush, Sharron. Maximum
  Accessibility Making Your Web Site More Usable
  for Everyone. Boston Addison-Wesley, 2003.
• Mueller, John Paul. Accessibility for Everybody
  Understanding the Section 508 Accessibility
  Requirements. Berkeley Apress, 2003.
• Thatcher, Jim. Constructing Accessible Websites.
  San Francisco Apress, 2003.
• Van Duyne, Douglas and Landay, James and Hong,
  Jason. The Design of Sites Patterns, Principles,
  and Processes for Crafting a Customer-Centered
  Web Experience. Boston Addison-Wesley. 2002.

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Accessibility Resources Online

• Glossary
• Toolbar
• Resource Center
• Course / tutorial

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• Questions?
• Contact m.mclaughlin_at_mail.utexas.edu.