Breaking the Barriers Making digital content accessible to people with special needs Jukka K. Korpela

Open WWW?  small font size  text not resizable  poor contrast  several menus (confusion)  scrolling text (below “60” ) Text browsing: tragicomic

Aspects of accessibility  Non-visual browsing  Legibility of text to visually impaired  Simple structure for cognitively challenged  Usability without mouse  Simple language  Text-only versions: harmful

Challenges 1. We don’t know enough 2. We need new techniques & methods 3. Goals and policies to be defined 4. Ensure implementation

Approaches  Official recommendations –W3C (WAI), EU, … –public sites only –limited impact –partly out of date –credibility  Laws –US: Section 508 –federally funded sites only –“undue burden” exemption  Competitions –quality criteria –rewards –motivation?  Advice, support –attempts in EU (“centres of excellence”) –guidelines vs. consultation –new technologies (tools)

Goals vs. tools  Guidelines (WAI) as goals  Checklists as goals  Accessibility checkers (e.g., Bobby) as goals  Lost focus: aiming at satisfying criteria, not helping people  Example: accesskeys (shortcuts) –Alt+F opens “File” menu –Alt+F has page-specific function  Send feedback, complain!

Understandable texts  Key issue: affects most people  Some special needs: –language barriers –cognitive disabilities –elderly people (vocabulary)  Public sites use very complex language  Easy Language recommendations  Readability indexes (grade levels) – for English  Legal requirements on readability?  Spelling and grammar checks  Language-specific guidelines and tools

Combined strategy  Create and maintain guidelines –universal –language and culture specific –topic-specific  Set up legal requirements when suitable –effective –enforceable –enforced  Organize support centres –tutorials –consultation –gathering user experience  Patience! We have a long way to go.

Participation  People with special needs can make special contributions –complaints, critique –testing –new ideas  One man’s necessity is his neighbors’ convenience –font size control –keyboard navigation –haptic mouse  Mainstreaming  Localization, customization, personalization