chapter 7 accessibility and internationalization

Chapter 7

Chapter 7Accessibility and Internationalization

Chapter 7

Accessibility• Introduction

– Accessibility is a fundamental aspect of Web pages

• Web use affects all areas of society• Barriers on the Web must be resolved• One goal of HTML 4.01 is to ensure accessibility• Requires unilateral browser support

– Americans with Disabilities Act• May require public pages to conform to

accessibility requirements• If not, discrimination may follow

– Accessibility a marketplace issue, as well

Chapter 7

Accessibility• Web Accessibility Initiative guidelines

– Provide equivalent alternatives– Rely on more than color for emphasis– Design for ease of comprehension– Design for device independence– Use markup and style sheets properly– Make tables, new technologies transform

gracefully– Let users control time-sensitive data– Provide access to user interfaces– Provide context and orientation screens

Chapter 7

Accessibility• Visual disabilities

– Text• Use <H1> for headings and <H2> for subtopics (allows

users to skip sections)• Make enlarging fonts easy (use relative (%) sizing)

– Color• Provide high contrast between background and text

– Graphics• Use ALT tags for all meaningful graphics• Use blank ALT tags (Alt=“”) for decorative graphics

– Use MathML or EzMath for coding mathematical expressions

Chapter 7

Accessibility• Auditory disabilities

– Transcripts should be available of spoken portions of pages

– Video clips should be close-captioned– Follow NCAM guidelines

• National Center for Accessible Media• WBGH (PBS) in Boston, MA

Chapter 7

Accessibility• Motor disabilities

– Avoid image maps with precise hot spots– Avoid applets and Flash files that require

mouse operations– Realize that accessibility should impact

all venues

Chapter 7

Accessibility• Cognitive disabilities

– Make navigation as easy and clear as possible

– Simplify headings– Summarize text– Allow for scalable fonts

Chapter 7

Accessibility• Speech disabilities

– Web is moving toward speech activation• Chat rooms• Speech to text

– Important to consider implications for those with speech challenges

– Internet telephony• Integration of voice and text to ensure

communication

Chapter 7

Accessibility• Accessibility in HTML 4.01

– Link tag• Provides for alternative version of page

– Title attribute• Adds extra context to links• Clarifies Abbreviation and Acronym elements

– Tab order• Tab key defines path in links and forms

– Fieldset and Legends• Group input areas and provide extra information

– Tables with caption, summary and axis features

Chapter 7

Accessibility• Assistive technology

– Ensure pages conform to assistive devices• Screen magnifiers and readers• Refreshable Braille, voice recognition• Keyboard and mouse alternatives

– Screen readers• Connect Outloud• JAWS

Chapter 7

Accessibility• Validation and review

– Ask the assistance of a visually impaired reader

– W3C (validator.w3.org/ )– LIFT (www.usablenet.com/home.htm)– Bobby (www.cast.org/bobby)

• Optimal validation and review requires both human and online assistance

Chapter 7

Accessibility• Legal issues

– ADA and ARA both require compliance• All electronic and information technology must be

available to disabled persons• Accessibility must be guaranteed by government-

funded institutions• All info published on Web is public knowledge and

public have right to share it• Colleges and public schools must comply as well

– Telecommunications Act and Assistive Technology Act also require compliance

Chapter 7

Accessibility• Case study

– David Oberhart, communications specialist• Blind since 1983, has been working on Unix-

based computers since 1983• Biggest accessibility problem is with current

information, such as news

– HTML gives us power to accommodate people with visual and other impairments

Chapter 7

Accessibility• Resources

– HTML Writers Guild– W3C’s WAI Initiative– Publishing Tools

• A-Prompt Toolkit– Reviews for accessibility during authoring

process• HotMetal PRO

– offers accessibility checking, prompting, and pop-up warnings

Chapter 7

Accessibility• Practical accessibility solutions

– Create secondary text-only pages – Provide ALT tags with all graphics – Provide transcripts for audio and video – Provide scalable text with CSS:

• 12em, emphasis, relative size - recommendable from accessibility standpoint

• 12pt, minimum static size – recommendable from design standpoint

Chapter 7

Localization and Translation• Internationalization

Def: the creation of materials whose design and content are culturally neutral

– W3C concerted effort• Increasing awareness among Web

designers and browser developers • Stressing the importance of Unicode• Creating study groups to consider

international concerns

Chapter 7

Localization and Translation

Chapter 7

Localization and Translation• Unicode and language attributes

– Ensuring that characters are available for multiple languages

– Unicode• Solves problem of representing multilingualism• Provides capacity to encode all characters used

for the written languages of the world

– Language attribute• <HTML lang="es"> establishes Spanish language

for Web page• Still somewhat limited browser support

Chapter 7

Localization and Translation• Designing for localization

Def.: Locale: combination of a language and a cultureDef.: Localization: tailoring a website design and its content

to a specific locale

– Translating the content• May require a local, human translator• Content needs to be adjusted to fit the

cultural background

– Reshaping it to fit the local culture• Must be tested with local potential users, if

possible

Chapter 7

Localization and Translation• Design considerations

– Symbol, Graphic and Icon use • Should be universally symbolic and global in

meaning • Use of a commonly-used symbol in America

may be meaningless in other countries

– Web designers have responsibility to use universal symbols on Web pages

Chapter 7

Localization and Translation• Color symbolism

– Identical colors symbolize different concepts for different countries/cultures

– Example: the color purple• in Latin America, associated with death• in China, suggests barbarity• in Europe, associated with royalty

– Web designers have responsibility to use appropriate colors, given their audience

Chapter 7

Localization and Translation• Web-specific issues

– Design goals should accommodate 80% of global users’ technology

– Technological considerations• Various speeds and costs of connection • CPU speed • Various monitor sizes

– General tip: limit graphics to 30K/page

Chapter 7

Localization and Translation• Formatting issues

– Translation of English into other languages expands text up to 100%

• Solutions– Use smaller fonts in versions with translated text– Adjust leading and tracking– Add pages to translated versions– Use fewer columns and eliminate illustrations

– Text expansion• Text in narrow columns may need to be smaller• White space may need to be reduced

Chapter 7

Localization and Translation• More formatting issues

– Tables: text expansion challenges: • May cause awkward hyphenation • May force a one-page table to need two pages • Resist "tweaking" formatting by inserting manual

line breaks. • Design tables with expansion in mind• Make cells wide enough to accommodate

expansion• Keep in mind that table height or width might

increase

Chapter 7

Localization and Translation• More formatting issues

• Avoid small caps• Avoid underlining text• Use non-breaking spaces (&nbsp;) instead of line

breaks• Choose standard fonts• Use wide columns to avoid word-breaking

problems • Design for flexibility with:

– Telephone numbers and addresses – Numeric expressions and delimiters – Currency and time – Dates and calendars – Weights and measures

Chapter 7

Localization and Translation• Text in images

– If possible, place descriptive text outside of the image

– If necessary, use call outs to identify elements in an image while being language neutral

Chapter 7

Localization and Translation• Writing guidelines

– Assume that English is not the first language of your users

– Follow these tips• Clarify your writing • Avoid ambiguity • Focus on your writing style • Ensure relevance for your audience

Chapter 7

Localization and Translation• Clarify your writing

– Maintain consistency between various components of the website

– Visibly structure document’s organization• Clearly define headings and text • Use illustrations • Organize information in tables • Use bulleted lists • Number steps within a procedure

– Expand Abbreviations, Acronyms, and Mnemonics – Clarify numbers– Follow sound syntax

Chapter 7

Localization and Translation• Avoid ambiguity

– Rewrite strings of modifiers – Eliminate ambiguous words– Look for possible misrepresentations of

words and rewrite when necessary– Use sentences with parallel construction– Break long sentences into shorter,

simpler ones

Chapter 7

Localization and Translation• Focus on writing style

– Shorten sentences• Break them up into smaller sentences • Make a bulleted list from three or more items

– Leave “that” in for clarity• especially important in sentences with past

participle and present participle constructions– Confusing without "that":

» AccessPath Manager is a Web-based access management system designed to deploy and manage complex, distributed dial pools.

– Clarified with "that": » AccessPath Manager is a Web-based access

management system that is designed to deploy and manage complex, distributed dial pools.

Chapter 7

Localization and Translation• Ensuring audience relevance

– Measurement• Metric vs. non-metric measurements• Using . or , for thousands separator

– Time• 12-hour vs. 24-hour notation

– Addresses and phone numbers • US format may not fit a world-wide standard

– Avoid nation-centric language• Assume a world-wide audience

Chapter 7

Localization and Translation• Other issues

– Ambiguity, jargon, confusing phrases, and humor• May cause confusion and misunderstanding• Preferable to “play it straight”

– Analogies and figurative language• Effective only in local culture, not worldwide

– Audio concerns• Use specific sounds, according to country• Use specific voices, according to culture