the next accessibility tab is wafer thin
Nov. 30th, 2010 12:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
deborahI've got another litcrit post bubbling along on the back burner, but in the meantime, if I don't clear out some of these tabs my browser will explode. So here, have some web accessibility linkspam:
In response to the Canadian government ruling that all government websites need to be made accessible, Adobe put out a snippy and pedantic clarification on Adobe and accessibility: "Quick Thoughts On Canadian Legal Ruling" explaining that it's just untrue that PDF and Flash are inaccessible for people with screen readers. So yes, Adobe. We acknowledge that PDF and Flash can be made accessible, in some circumstances, if the creator made an effort. (Much easier for PDF than for Flash, which has numerous circumstances in which it can just not be made accessible.) Your pedantic point is true. However, until you make a concerted effort to make creating accessible PDF and Flash easy for content creators, the majority of such documents on the web will have accessibility problems. Any noob using Dreamweaver to create a basic HTML page is likely to create something with at least basic accessibility. The same is not true for PDF or Flash. Make it easy, make it freely documented, make it available in tools that don't cost anything more than the basic creation tools in the first place. Stop being snippy about people complaining, and fix your tools and documentation.
And on that note, three cheers for the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, for creating a course "Creating Accessible Flash".
Here's a good reminder for web developers on "Lightboxes and keyboard accessibility". Lightboxes are one of the two reasons I need to have JavaScript turned off for Google these days.
Need another good resource on write good alternative text for images?
This list is fabulous: "The Accessibility Checklist I Vowed I'd Never Write". I also hate checklists, but they are really good for people who don't have time to focus on learning the basic principles. It's also available in German.
Everyone is passing around this article on "ARIA and progressive enhancement". It's a good one. On a more introductory note, IBM has provided a basic introduction to ARIA.
Stanford has a really good, if technical document: "Functional Requirements for an Accessible Streaming Media Technology".
Finally, a fabulous link. "A World In Which People With Disabilities Have Unlimited Employment Opportunities, from the US Department of Labor, which provides
In response to the Canadian government ruling that all government websites need to be made accessible, Adobe put out a snippy and pedantic clarification on Adobe and accessibility: "Quick Thoughts On Canadian Legal Ruling" explaining that it's just untrue that PDF and Flash are inaccessible for people with screen readers. So yes, Adobe. We acknowledge that PDF and Flash can be made accessible, in some circumstances, if the creator made an effort. (Much easier for PDF than for Flash, which has numerous circumstances in which it can just not be made accessible.) Your pedantic point is true. However, until you make a concerted effort to make creating accessible PDF and Flash easy for content creators, the majority of such documents on the web will have accessibility problems. Any noob using Dreamweaver to create a basic HTML page is likely to create something with at least basic accessibility. The same is not true for PDF or Flash. Make it easy, make it freely documented, make it available in tools that don't cost anything more than the basic creation tools in the first place. Stop being snippy about people complaining, and fix your tools and documentation.
And on that note, three cheers for the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, for creating a course "Creating Accessible Flash".
Here's a good reminder for web developers on "Lightboxes and keyboard accessibility". Lightboxes are one of the two reasons I need to have JavaScript turned off for Google these days.
Need another good resource on write good alternative text for images?
This list is fabulous: "The Accessibility Checklist I Vowed I'd Never Write". I also hate checklists, but they are really good for people who don't have time to focus on learning the basic principles. It's also available in German.
Everyone is passing around this article on "ARIA and progressive enhancement". It's a good one. On a more introductory note, IBM has provided a basic introduction to ARIA.
Stanford has a really good, if technical document: "Functional Requirements for an Accessible Streaming Media Technology".
Finally, a fabulous link. "A World In Which People With Disabilities Have Unlimited Employment Opportunities, from the US Department of Labor, which provides
Tips for Ensuring Access for Applicants with Disabilities. Everyone involved in hiring should read this!
