Importance of Accessibility for a Successful and Future-Proof Business - CSUN International Accessibility Conference

25th Annual International Technology & Persons with Disabilities Conference Importance of Accessibility for a Successful and Future-proof business March 2010 Artur Ortega http://developer.yahoo.com 1

Who is Artur Ortega? http://developer.yahoo.com

Who is Artur Ortega? Blind Software Engineer http://developer.yahoo.com

Introduction Photo: Stephen Schobloch http://developer.yahoo.com

Accessibility QA SEO UED a11y i18n Legal http://developer.yahoo.com

Reasons for Accessibility • Social responsibility • Avoiding risk of lawsuits • Robustness • Revenue http://developer.yahoo.com 6

Diversity http://developer.yahoo.com

Usergroups • Silver Surfers • People with disabilities http://developer.yahoo.com 8

Standard WCAG 2.0 consist of four principles: Principle 1: Perceivable Information and user interface components must be presentable to users in ways they can perceive. Principle 2: Operable User interface components and navigation must be operable. Principle 3: Understandable Information and the operation of the user interface must be understandable. Principle 4: Robust Content must be robust enough that it can be interpreted reliably by a wide variety of user agents, including assistive technologies. http://developer.yahoo.com 9

Laws US: Section 508 UK: DDA UN: Convention on Disability Rights http://developer.yahoo.com 10

How everything fits together WCAG 2.0 Users Legal http://developer.yahoo.com 11

Silver Surfer Definition: an older user of the Internet, usually someone over 50. Etymology: a humorous reference to the comic book character and also to the fact that older people who surf (= use) the Internet often have grey or silver-coloured hair. Source: Oxford University Press 2010 http://www.oup.com/elt/catalogue/teachersites/oald7/wotm/wotm_archive/silver_surfer?cc=global http://developer.yahoo.com 12

Users with disabilities • Visually impaired • Blind • Hard of hearing • Deaf • Dyslexic • Reduced mobility • Learning disability • Situative disability http://developer.yahoo.com 13

Family & Friends Accessibility attracts not only people with disabilities but also their families and friends. http://developer.yahoo.com

Usergroups: a detailed view Usergroups: a detailed view http://developer.yahoo.com

Older Internet Users Older users were more likely to use the internet to access - travel information - health and medical information (46<=> 36%) Source: Nielsen Panorama Survey, April 2007-March 2008 (N = 21,570 for 14+ years age http://developer.yahoo.com 16

Understanding Connectedness • Removes feelings of isolation • Being able to communicate with family overseas • Maintain daily contact with relative in time of sickness or adversity • Ability to stay involved in work Source: Understanding Personal Connectedness, CTN presentation at the Communications Policy and Research Forum, Tuesday 30 September 2008, http://www.networkinsight.org/verve/_resources/CPRF08_Program_110808_.pdf http://developer.yahoo.com 17

Keeping up with technology changes Technology attItudes: “I try to keep up with technology” (Results by Age %, n = 17,527) Source: Nielsen Panorama, March 2008 http://developer.yahoo.com

Keeping up with technology changes Two thirds of Australians found it difficult to keep up with technological changes. Older age groups were least likely to 'try to keep up with technology' (44%) than other age groups. Source: Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) Consumer Survey, June 2008 http://developer.yahoo.com

Users with disabilities A study conducted in Germany in 2008 found that: • They use web 2.0 above average • They use the web for compensating disabilities • They use the web differently depending on disability • They consider web 2.0 very useful • They use the web independently with the assistive technology • They find that the barriers they face are always quite similar: e.g. visual captchas, usability, language, inconsistency • They are quite creative to overcome the barriers when the site is useful or of interest • Their way of communication is reflected in the web 2.0 Source: >Chance und Risiken des Internets der Zukunft aus Sicht von Menschen mit Behinderungen<, Study by "Aktion Mensch" in Germany http://developer.yahoo.com

Creativity to overcome barriers Blind users take photos and share them on flickr. http://developer.yahoo.com

Useful Web 2.0 and mobile connectivity Mobile application keeps person with diabetes in contact with the clinic and helps to monitor values. http://developer.yahoo.com

Similar requirements: classic & situative disability http://developer.yahoo.com

Subtitles for video More than 120 million Americans benefit from subtitles including: • 28 million deaf and hard-of- hearing people • 26 million elementary school children practicing reading skills • 30 million people learning English as a second language • 40 million Americans ages 16 and older learning to read. Without counting: • all users in a silent office • users in a mall or gym • etc. http://developer.yahoo.com

Driving a car • Can't use hands • Can't use eyes • Only reduced attention http://developer.yahoo.com

Situative disability Instead of distinguishing between being disabled and not disabled, we have only requirements on the situative context. Source (german): Barrierefreies eGovernment, by Herbert Kubicek, Henning Lühr, Beate Schulte http://www.ifib.de/publikationsdateien/Barrierefrei.pdf http://developer.yahoo.com

Yahoo! For people 55+ in Japan: • web-based email grew 88% to 7 million users in November 2008 • more than 20% of all visitors to email site category. “The increase in visitation to email sites has largely been driven by an increase in usage among the older age segments, reflecting the maturation of the Internet as a communication vehicle,” said Maru Sato, managing director of comScore Japan. Source: comScore, Inc. January 15, 2008 http://www.comscore.com/Press_Events/Press_Releases/2009/1/Email_Usage_Japan/ http://developer.yahoo.com

Failures http://developer.yahoo.com

Difficulties: Where are the issues today? Study with adults aged 50-85 years how they used the Internet related to Medicare services: Results indicated many of them: • made errors • used inefficient search strategies • encountered search problems • encountered problems with usability • were frustrated interacting with the website Source: 1 Kuhn and Al., What Types of Difficulties do Seniors Encounter When Using the Internet to Make Health Care Decisions? Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting Proceedings, 53rd meeting, October 2007, Maryland USA. Aging , pp. 11-14(4) http://developer.yahoo.com

Solution: Improvement by accessibility Principle 1: Perceivable Information and user interface components must be presentable to users in ways they can perceive. Principle 2: Operable User interface components and navigation must be operable. Principle 3: Understandable Information and the operation of the user interface must be understandable. Principle 4: Robust Content must be robust enough that it can be interpreted reliably by a wide variety of user agents, including assistive technologies. http://developer.yahoo.com

Outlook: what can we improve? http://developer.yahoo.com

Audio captchas Adding an audio alternative to the visual existing one • no longer excluding visually impaired users • increases user group • reacting to negative PR on the web http://developer.yahoo.com

WAI-ARIA Adding roles to AJAX based web applications • makes AJAX work with screen readers • makes AJAX work with screen magnifiers • adds semantic information about dynamic content http://developer.yahoo.com

Semantic markup Using a proper html structure • better SEO • better usability for keyboard users • better usability for screen reader and screen magnifier users • consistency http://developer.yahoo.com

Subtitles for video The request and ability to store and display subtitles • opens video for a wider range of users • videos can be consumed on other markets • makes video work in difficult environments regarding noise http://developer.yahoo.com

Conclusion QA UED SEO a11y $$$ i18n Legal http://developer.yahoo.com

http://developer.yahoo.com Photos: Attila Husejow, Luke Robinson Diversity

http://developer.yahoo.com 38

Artur Ortega Accessibility Evangelist Yahoo! Europe Ltd 125 Shaftesbury Avenue London WC2H 8AD United Kingdom ortega@yahoo-inc.com http://developer.yahoo.com 39

Importance of Accessibility for a Successful and Future-Proof Business - CSUN International Accessibility Conference

by Artur Ortega on Mar 30, 2010

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Importance of Accessibility for a Successful and Future-Proof Business - CSUN International Accessibility Conference — Presentation Transcript