AbilityNet Inclusive use of IT Billy Courtney Assessment Service Manager 2012

Agenda  Introduction to AbilityNet  Why Accessibility  Web Accessibility Issues  Assistive Technology  Q&A

Introduction to AbilityNet Our vision is a world where accessible IT is available to improve the quality of life for those with disabilities and accessibility needs.  We are the UK’s leading charity on IT accessibility and helping organisations benefit from IT and the Internet  25+ years assessing people’s accessibility needs:  Personal assessments  Advice and information  Equipment loan, supply and support  10+ years helping organisations  Deliver accessible, usable websites  Software and associated IT

AbilityNet Services iCOMPLY Accessibility Management Strategy Audits & User Testing Accreditation MiDRAS Assessment Management Assessments Case Management Support & Training Equipment Supply & Install Fundraising Project specific Unrestricted Funds Helping others Volunteering Assessment & Training In home IT support Advice & information IT Projects for Charities

Why Accessibility  In Europe more than 300 million people have a disability. Over 10 million in the UK, plus our ageing population  The groups that have specific Issues with web and intranet accessibility are:  Vision – including blindness, colour blindness and tunnel vision  Hearing – both total deafness and hard of hearing  Mobility problems with hands and arms  Cognitive, Mental and learning disabilities Many have more than one disability

Vision Web presents unique problems to the millions who have low, restricted or no vision. There are 4 broad categories of vision impairment:  Colour blindness – red/green impairment most common, affects 5% of male population and 1% female – test at vischeck.com  Mild vision impairment, larger font size, different background  Moderate vision impairment, screen magnification software  Blind / severe vision impairment, screen readers

Mild vision impairments - adjust the browser

Moderate Vision Impairment - Magnification software

Severe Vision Impairment – Screen Reader / Braille Displays  Screen readers allow users to hear what is happening on their computer by converting the screen display to digitised speech.  e.g. Window-Eyes and JAWS  Refreshable Braille Displays only read one line of text at a time made up of 20 to 80 cells  Each cell contains eight small pins allowing eight-dot computer Braille to dynamically represent what is on the computer screen

Hearing Impairments  Hearing impaired people have particular problems with  Inaccessible multimedia, including video and audio – no captions or transcripts  Captioning  For those whose first language is BSL (British Sign Language) there are words in English that do not exist in their vocabulary. For example; recent research by the BBC found terms such as ‘marinade’ in their recipe section were not understood by BSL users, highlighting the need to provide a glossary for key words

Mobility  People with mobility impairments face challenges when navigating and interacting with web pages.  They may experience difficulty moving the cursor with the required precision or may lack the manual dexterity or hand-eye co-ordination required to use a standard keyboard or mouse.  Some people will use voice recognition to navigate and interact with web pages

Hand/Arm Adaptive Technology Alternative Pointing devices

Hand/Arm Adaptive Technology Alternative keyboards

Cognitive Impairments Cognitive impairments include dyslexia, memory impairments and attention deficit disorders. This group benefits from  Simple language  Consistent navigation, and  Using graphical icons as navigation aids Content should be organised logically and clearly

Cognitive Impairments  There is also software available for people with reading difficulties such as  Browsealoud  Readspeaker  Text Help’s Read and Write. They all read the content of Web pages in synthesised speech.

Two Examples  The Big Project –  World's Worst Website, can you see what’s wrong!  But there is some good out there! &feature=youtube_gdata

Windows 7 Ease of Access  Windows Key + U  Vision  High Contrast  Left Alt + L Shift + Print Screen  Font Size  Make the Screen Easier to Use  Change Size of Text & Icons  Log off/on required  Mouse Cursor  Make Mouse Easier to Use  Extra Large/Inverted  Narrator  Start Narrator

Windows 7 Ease of Access  Physical  Sticky Keys  Shift x5  Filter Keys  Right Shift x8 Seconds  Keyboard Shortcuts  ALT Key  Autocorrect in Word  Windows Voice Recognition

Dragon Naturally Speaking  Demo

Switch Access  The Grid  Switch Input

Eye Tracking  Camera Integrated System  Tracks Eye Position  Mouse Navigation  Dwell Clicking  Communication Aid  Overlaid Software

Apple iOS Accessibility & Apps  VoiceOver  Zoom  Invert  Siri/Evi  LookTel Money Reader

Questions Advice & Information Line