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Archive for June, 2009

Accessibility and You – my brownbag presentation at ebay/gumtree/paypal

From the Wait Till I Come! Website: Today I am going to Richmond in South London to talk to the teams of Gumtree, Paypal, shopping.com and Skype (I think) about accessibility, open web development and a long QandA session in the afternoon. Here are my slides of the talk which will be recorded by them as a video.

Posted: June 30th, 2009 under Education.
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Creation of Accessible Documents

This is the first in a series of Market Updates on the creation of accessible documents. It concentrates on the creation of accessible PDF files from word processing and desktop publishing systems. Document creation is one of the major parts of personal productivity. An accessible electronic document is one that can be read easily by a person with a disability. The possible disabilities include various degrees of vision impairment, muscular-skeletal disorders (that limit the ability to use traditional controls such as a mouse), dyslexia, and learning difficulties. Documents in a language other than the native language of the speaker can be difficult to access, and with the internationalisation of the web this is becoming a more common problem. Some of the issues and solution to this problem are shared with access for the disabled so it will be considered in this report.

Posted: June 30th, 2009 under Education.
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Using NVDA to Evaluate Web Accessibility

From WebAIM - Web Accessibility in Mind: This article is designed to help users who are new to NonVisual Desktop Access (NVDA) - external link learn the basic controls for testing web content, and to serve as a reference for the occasional NVDA user. NonVisual Desktop Access (NVDA) is a free and open source screen reader for the Microsoft Windows operating system. It supports over 20 languages and can run on any computer entirely from a USB drive with no installation. It is important to evaluate the accessibility of web content with a screen reader, but screen readers can be very complicated programs for the occasional user, so many people avoid them. This doesn't need to be the case. While screen readers are complicated, it is possible to test web content for accessibility without being a "power user."

Posted: June 30th, 2009 under Education.
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WAVE in Spanish

From WebAIM - Web Accessibility in Mind: WebAIM is excited to announce the release of the Spanish version (first announced last year) of the WAVE web accessibility evaluation tool. This version also includes several updates, bug fixes, and a couple of new rules. The Center for Persons with Disabilities at Utah State University funded the translation of the WAVE web tool and Firefox toolbar into Spanish. Jon Whiting and Diogenes Hernandez, members of the WebAIM team, coordinated this project. We would like to give special thanks to Nestor Rojas who gave significant feedback and to all others who contributed to the beta version of the Spanish translation. This is a great success for WebAIM, and we would appreciate your help to expand WAVE even more. To do this, you can spread the word and translate into other languages. If you are able, please circulate this announcement to Spanish-language accessibility forums and discussion lists and to Spanish-speaking individuals. Also, if you would like to help us translate WAVE into another language, let us know.

Posted: June 30th, 2009 under Education.
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50 government websites to be made disabled friendly

Disabled rights groups have approached the IT ministry with a list of 50 government websites like that of the Indian Railways, Central Information Commission and Income Tax Department which they want to be made friendly for those with disabilities. "We have identified 50 organisations and departments in the government. We have sent a proposal to the IT ministry to make sites of these WCAG (web content accessibility guidelines) 2.0 compliant, thereby making them disabled friendly. The ministry has shown a very positive outlook on this," Javed Abidi, convener of the Disabled Rights Group, told IANS. According to Abidi, such a move would simplify the Internet interface for people with disabilities by making the websites compatible with the special software they use to access websites.

Posted: June 30th, 2009 under Education.
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BBC Accessible Newsreader

CBBC has just launched its Accessible Newsreader service - an alternative interface to the Newsround website. It's been created to help fill the gap in good quality content available on the web for older disabled children or teenager who use computers operated by switches. The CBBC team behind the Newsreader worked closely with industry experts and special needs schools to produce a greatly simplified interface, which is capable of being controlled by a single switch. Being able to do this kind of thing on a standard website using only a regular internet browser, rather than by downloading a dedicated piece of software, is an exciting development, according to Ian Hamilton, a senior designer in the CBBC Online team. Hopefully, it's something that'll be carried across to other sites, too.

Posted: June 30th, 2009 under Education.
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California considers open digital textbooks

In what could be a first-of-its-kind statewide initiative, California education leaders are working together to compile a list of free, open digital textbooks that meet state-approved standards and will be available to high school math and science classes this fall. At the request of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Secretary of Education Glen Thomas will work with State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell and State Board of Education President Ted Mitchell to develop the list of standards-aligned, open educational resources. The advisory report is scheduled to be released by Aug. 10. Digital textbooks could be useful for students with disabilities, allowing them to access them in a manner that best suits their needs - but only if the materials are designed accessibly.

Posted: June 30th, 2009 under Education.
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What’s on the web? (30 June 2009)


It has come to my attention that in order for you to enjoy success as patients in the new era of health care reform, you must start working now to prevent illnesses that might befall you. Do not, under any circumstances, eat or drink too much. Fast food might as well be considered illegal. Exercise three, four, five times a day, even if it means take time off from work. It goes without saying that you should not smoke. The government has data that demonstrates how you have become fat, lazy, and a huge burden on our health care system.

Posted: June 30th, 2009 under Education.
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Twitter News: Image from 1935 and how hospitals shouldn’t use Twitter


twitter 1935

If you are a hospital, healthcare facility or parent system considering social media, please take the time to learn what is happening in the “Twittersphere”, and do pay attention to the evolving “agreements” of Twitter-etiquette.

Posted: June 30th, 2009 under Education.
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AllTwoPointZero.com: Science, Health and Culture 2.0


Pawel Szczesny had a great idea about visualizing Science 2.0, Health 2.0 and Culture 2.0:

Initially I had an idea to launch a huge portal around “2.0? meme – essentially tracking changes in communication methods across various areas. I wanted to quit science and start a consulting career in helping people to communicate more efficiently (new channels and tools, efficient visual communication, etc.).

Later he created AllTwoPointZero.com,

Even if the “2.0″ phenomena are not a future anymore, “2.0″ is still a useful meme to attach to processes of change. This site is a simple tracker of the news and discussions on a few aspects of the “change” that happens because of the internet. In its current form its not even beta – treat it as experimental alpha, with more links and sources to come.

az20

Posted: June 30th, 2009 under Education.
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