making electronic communications disability accessible: enhancing usability for everyone sally...
TRANSCRIPT
Making Electronic Communications
Disability Accessible: Enhancing Usability for
EveryoneSally Kuhlenschmidt
Association of University Programs in Health Administration, Nashville, TN
June 2003
Objectives
• To provide an overview of implications of ADA for electronic communications
• To provide guidance on making your electronic communications accessible & increasing usability
Pertinent Laws
• ADA 1990– 1996 DOJ ruled applies to
webpages
• Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973- if fed $$, can’t exclude
Pertinent Laws
• Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1986– requires federal electronic and
information technology – to be accessible to people with
disabilities, – including employees and members
of the public. – Uses W3C guidelines
More Laws
• Section 255 of Telecommunications Act 1996– requires telecommunications products
and services to be accessible to people with disabilities
Terms
• Disability– Impairment that substantially
limits major life activities– LD, ADHD, vision, motor, etc.– 1 in 10 college students
Terms• Accommodation
– Providing an equivalent experience that isn’t an undue burden.
– You don’t get to decide what “undue” is.
– We know what the courts are “buying”
• Level 1 of W3C at least.• Thoughtfulness– moving target.
– Build in or “retrofit”.
Terms
• Usability– The effectiveness with which any
person can use your electronic communications.
– Good design & universal.– Considerable overlap with
accommodation
Electronic Communications
• All required components of any course or university service, e.g.,– Audio, video, multimedia, text– Webpages whether yours or not– E-mail– Forms, e.g., chat, discussion boards– Satellite, ITV– Software, CD Roms, DVD, tapes, – Etc.
Why accommodate now?
• Technically, can wait until requested• Problem: technology requires large
amounts of time to retrofit• Better to start now building in the
basics (easiest) or retrofitting to save stress later
• Better to consider when buying software, etc.
• And it’s simply good design.
Examples
• Use videos or Javascript? Need transcripts
• Using images? Need descriptors on each one.
• Teachers: start now, or try to do it during the term at a pace to give the disabled student an equivalent experience.
• Service Units: start now
List
• Your electronic communications that are required/necessary for your audience.– Email– Webpages or activities (e.g., chat)
• Not just your own webpages
• Prioritize– most essential.• Alternatives
Principles of Accommodation
• Accommodation depends on– Specific person w/disability– The task to be accomplished– The available technology
• Knowing the range of disabilities to consider, helps– Sensory…motor…
psychological…combinations
Principles of Accommodation
• Equivalency of experience. – Can’t drop the requirement just
for the disabled person. – Could substitute.– Unlike public school, don’t have
to help disabled “be the best they can be.”
Principles of Accommodation
• Since technology changes, including assistive technology,Necessary accommodations will
change.
Be Thoughtful
Principles of Accommodation
• Many accommodations are conceptual, e.g.,Laying out navigation for a blind
person
Describing an image
• Technology may be a solution, not just a problem
Principles of Accommodation
• It is easier to build in than to retrofit. E.g., a lab
• When planning, have an accommodation consideration phase/checkbox
Principles of Accommodation
• Consider maintenance of the accommodation when planning– 2 websites: Flash plus text only…
versus– 1 text website
Principles of Accommodation
• Consider the nature of the task– A method may be adequate for a
short, simple, less critical task (e.g., alt tag descriptor; TDD phone for question from deaf)
– But not adequate for a longer, more complex, more critical task (e.g., text of an interactive video? TDD for class discussion?)
Principles to Practice
Web Site Design
• Imagine how your page– Sounds through a speech
synthesizer– Feels like in Braille– Looks like in super large font
• Imagine navigating it– by voice– or keyboard
Usability
• Classic design principles– Central web page with overview
• Consistent structure• List/headings• Headlines as text, not images
– Cascading Style Sheets• separates display from the
information
Usability: Color
Want High Contrast in colorsBlack text on white
Color Blindness? Avoid combinations– red green, – blue-yellow
Avoid color coding information
• Favor frames over tables– Label frames with name/title
attributes
• Favor html over PDF, doc
• Image Maps: use Client Side maps and text for hotspots
Provide Descriptions
• Images: ‘Alt’ tag or long description• Links: meaningful
– not “link here” but “CNN newsroom”
• Tables: Headers• Graphs and charts: summary text• Audio/video content:
captions/transcripts
Web Site Design
• Avoid– Scripts, applets, or plug-ins
• or provide alternates.
– Animated images– Multi-column tables
• line by line reading must be sensible• summarize
Distance Learning
• Chat rooms– challenge to follow
• Reflect before doing– Opportunity if designed for
accessibility– Obstacle if not
• Blackboard/WebCT
Tutorial
National Center on Low Incidence Disabilities: Creating Accessible Websites - http://vision.unco.edu/AccessibleDesign/
Checklist
W3C Guidelines http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT/wai-pageauth.html#toc
Validate
• Accessibility– http://cast.org/bobby/
• HTML usage– http://validator.w3.org/
Homework
• Go home
• Remove your mouse
• Navigate your website
• Make modifications
Summary
• Plan for Accessibility
• Describe what you are doing– in Person– on a WebSite
• Follow-up with external checks
• Profit from accessible communications
Bottom Line
• The technology shouldn’t get in the way of any person participating…that requires us to be thoughtful.
More Information
• This presentation on the Webhttp://www.wku.edu/
~kuhlenschmidt/access/
Thank you!