# Presentation: 234530

## Web Accessibilityon a Shoestring Budget

- Presented by
- Ron Jones
- National Weather Service

## The Webmaster Challenge

- Lack of understanding of usefulness of accessibility
- Lack of time
- Lack of expertise
- Lack of money for accessibility software/tools

- Ensuring that everyone, no matter what their level of ability, has comparable access to and use of information and data on NOAA websites

## So How Many People Have Disabilities?

## Accessibility Isn’t Just for the Blind...

- If you think that web accessibility is only about making information accessible to the blind, you're only getting part of the story.

## Who Benefits From Accessibility?

- Vision Impairments
- Blindness / Low-Vision
- Color Blindness
- Mobility Disabilities
- Hearing Disabilities
- Photosensitive Epilepsy

- Section 508 addresses the needs of people with the following functional disabilities:

## Cognitive Disabilities

- Mental retardation
- Learning disabilities
- Reading disorders
- Attention deficit disorders

- Traumatic head injury / stroke
- Aging population
- Language barriers

- People with cognitive disabilities also benefit from an accessible website

**Notes:**

Learning impairments can range from conditions such as
dyslexia and attention deficit disorder to retardation.
Processing problems are the most common and have the
most impact on a person's ability to use computer
applications. These conditions interfere with the learning
process. Many people with these impairments are perfectly
capable of learning if information is presented to them in a
form and at a pace that is appropriate to them individually.
During the learning process, many individuals with learning
difficulties benefit from having a multisensory experience of
audio speech paired with a visual representation.

Language impairments include conditions such as aphasia
(loss or impairment of the power to use or comprehend
words, often as a result of brain damage), delayed speech (a
symptom of cognitive impairment), and other conditions
resulting in difficulties remembering, solving problems, or
perceiving sensory information.                          

## Situational Limitations

- Situational limitations relate to the prevailing circumstances, environment, or device.
- Examples include mobile devices and device limitations, such as having no mouse, or constraining circumstances, such as interacting with a web site through a computer integrated into a car's dashboard, where the use of the hands and eyes is limited.

## How People With Disabilities Use the Web

- Assistive Technology

## What is Assistive Technology (AT)?

- In general, "assistive technology" is any technology that makes it possible for a person to do something they could not do without that technology. In a broad sense, a step stool could be considered assistive technology, as could a  pair of eyeglasses.

**Notes:**
What is Assistive Technology
In general, "assistive technology" is any technology that makes it possible for a person to do something they could not do without that technology. In a broad sense, then, a step stool could be considered assistive technology, as could a  pair of eyeglasses.

In the area of electronic and information technology, an assistive
technology is a hardware or software solution that enables someone with
a disability to access another piece of hardware or software that they
could otherwise not access.

## Head Wand

- A common method for individuals with quadriplegia to access their computer.
- Can be used to provide keyboard access, turn pages, dial push-button phones, etc.

## Sip/Puff Switch

- Sip/Puff Switch is a head mounted accessory used to actuate a switch by a simple sip or puff.
- Sips and puffs are converted to switch closures inside the Switch Box.

## HeadMouse

- The HeadMouse sensor replaces the mouse for people who cannot use their hands. An optical sensor tracks a tiny target placed on the user's forehead or glasses.

**Notes:**
The HeadMouse sensor replaces the mouse for people who cannot use their hands. A wireless optical sensor tracks a tiny disposable target placed on the user's forehead or glasses. Their movements are  translated into movements of the computer mouse pointer.

## Refreshable Braille Displays

- A refreshable Braille display is an electromechanical device that renders Braille dots with tiny, independently controlled  pins.
- The device reads the text that a computer sends to the monitor and displays it as Braille.

## Vision Impairments

- Blindness –
- Totally blind, cannot see at all
- Legally blind, less than 20/200 in the better eye or very limited field of vision
- Functionally blind
- Low vision
- Colorblindness

**Notes:**
Legally blind, less than 20/200 in the better eye or very limited field of vision

While the term blindness traditionally refers to visual impairment consequent to ocular or cerebral disease, certain individuals with intact visual systems are "functionally blind" because of involuntary, uncontrollable eyelid closure. This condition is designated "blepharospasm".
Irrespective of the cause of blepharospasrn, the person afflicted can be functionally blind and should be accorded the same disability considerations as individuals with primary abnormalities of the visual system. 

## How the Vision Impaired Use the Web

- Blind users
- Screen readers
- Audio web browsers
- Braille displays
- Low vision
- Screen readers / audio web browsers
- Screen magnifiers
- CCTV displays

**Notes:**
Severely visually impaired after correction but can increase visual function with the use of adaptive aids. When ordinary eye glasses, contact lenses or intraocular lens implants cannot provide sharp sight and an individual is said to have low vision. Although reduced central or reading vision is common, low vision may also result from decreased side (peripheral) vision, a reduction of loss of color vision, or  the eye's inability to properly adjust to light, contrast or glare

## Evaluating Accessibility

- Display page with graphics turned off
- Opera browser
- Display page as “text only” version
- Lynx
- _[Lynx viewer](http://www.delorie.com/web/lynxview.html)_

## Slide 17

**Notes:**
NWS Web Site – Netscape 4.79

## Slide 18

**Notes:**
NWS Webpage – Lynx text browser

## Screen Readers - Windows

- JAWS
- Window Eyes
- HAL
- OutSpoken

## Audio Web Browsers

- IBM HomePage Reader
- Connect Outloud
- WeMedia
- Simply Web

**Notes:**
Convert HTML documents into speech.
Most Internet Explorer egine

IBM Home Page Reader - $149 retail, government pricing may be available
WeMedia - free

## Macintosh Accessibility Options

- outSPOKEN, a screen reader software
- inLARGE, a screen magnification software
- Duxbury Braille Translator (DBT), Braille translation software
- Wanna-Be Web Browser (similar to Lynx)

## Linux Accessibility Resources

- Screen Readers
- Emacspeak (Linux)
- BEAM XVI for Linux
- Speakup
- YASR (Yet Another Screen Reader)
- Linux Accessibility Resource Site:
- http://trace.wisc.edu/linux/

## Colorblindness

- Vischeck – online simulation of color deficiency
- Checks individual images and web pages
- VischeckJ and ImageJ
- Windows, Macintosh OS, and Linux
- Vischeck Photoshop Plug-In for Windows

**Notes:**
Color blindness is a result of a defect in the cone receptors in the retinas of the eyes
Color blindness is a male dominant trait, one male in twenty suffers from some form of color blindness, but only one in several hundred females are color blind. The symptoms range from an inability to see one color, or shades of one color, to a lack of ability to see any color at all

Vischeck URL is still under development. 
It won't work with sites that do an immediate redirect, use Macromedia Flash, or those that use certain javascript operations.

Cascading style sheets (.CSS files) and frames are a problem too. 

Processing some pages takes some time- please be patient! 

## Colorblindness

- “Grayscale a web page”
- Free plug-in for Internet Explorer 5+ Only
- Removes all color from page

**Notes:**
Grayscale the Page removes colors from the page so you can see what the page will look like to a color-blind person. The DOJ questionnaire recommends checking this guideline by using a black-and-white monitor or by printing out the page; this bookmarklet makes the check much faster. Machines with slow processors may experience some oddness while scrolling after using this tool.

## Mobility Impaired

- Speech recognition systems
- On-screen keyboards that can be used in conjunction with mouse, touch screen, trackball, joystick, switch, or other pointing device
- Alternative input Devices such as alternative keyboards,wands and sticks, sip and puff systems

**Notes:**
Mobility impairments can be caused by a wide range of
common illnesses and accidents such as arthritis, stroke,
cerebral palsy, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, loss of
limbs or digits, spinal cord injuries, and repetitive stress
injury, among others. As a result of these accidents or
conditions, individuals might be unable to use (or be without)
arms or fingers to interact with their computers using the
standard keyboard or mouse.

## Deaf / Hearing Impaired 

- Captioning
- Captioning displays spoken dialogue as printed words on a computer monitor.
- Real-time captioning - a method of on-line captioning to provide simultaneous, word-for-word transcription of a speaker's words.
- Post production captioning
- Transcripts

## HTML Editor Add-in Tools

- Dreamweaver
- 508 Accessibility Suite
- Check Page for W3C Accessibility
- Several Accessible Image Extensions
- Flash – requires Flash MX

- FrontPage
- AccVerify SE
- Adobe GoLive 6.0
- InSightLE

**Notes:**
HoTMetaL can also check your document for accessibility. It checks for a few standard things

LIFT for Frontpage and Dreamweaver is available but exceeds the “shoestring” budget ($150 to $400 for Frontpage, $300 to $400 for Dreamweaver – prices are “retail”)

AccVerify SE can be upgraded to full version for approx $100 retail (government discounts may apply)

## On-line Tools

- _[“Bobby”](http://bobby.cast.org/html/en/index.jsp)_
- _[“Ask Alice”](http://www.ssbtechnologies.com/AskAlice/report?id=520579352)_ (report on www.noaa.gov)
- _[The WAVE](http://www.temple.edu/inst_disabilities/piat/wave/)_
- LIFT on-line (report on www.noaa.gov)
- _[Vischeck](http://www.vischeck.com/vischeck/vischeckURL.php)_ (downloadable version also available)

## A-Prompt Toolkit

- Free
- Checks both Section 508 standards and WAI guidelines
- Windows 95/98/NT/2000

- A-Prompt (Accessibility Prompt) is a software tool designed to evaluate Web pages for accessibility barriers and then provide fast and easy way to make the necessary repairs

## HTML Tidy

- Fixes HTML-tagging mistakes automatically
- Works on hard-to-read markup generated by specialized HTML editors and conversion tools
- Can help identify where further attention on making pages more accessible is needed

**Notes:**
Fixes HTML-tagging mistakes automatically, also works on hard-to-read markup generated by specialized HTML editors and conversion tools, and
can help you identify where you need to pay further attention on making your pages more accessible to people with disabilities.
Builds available for FreeBSD/x86, Linux/Alpha, Linux/PPC, Linux/Sparc, Linux/x86, Mac OS X/Darwin, Solaris/Spar, Win32, MkLinux, Mac OS (Classic), OS/2.

## HTML Kit

- text editor designed to help HTML, XML and script authors to edit, format, validate, preview and publish Web pages.
- Includes syntax highlighting for HTML, XHTML, XML, CSS, XSLT, JavaScript, VBScript, PHP, ASP, Java, Perl, Python, C/C++, Visual Basic, Pascal/Delphi, Lisp, SQL, INI/Conf, and more

## Accessibility Bookmarklets

- Free plug-in for Internet Explorer 5 or above
- Located in “Favorites” and may be triggered like any Favorite

## Accessibility Bookmarklets

- “Grayscale the Page” removes colors from the page so you can see what the page will look like to a color-blind person.
- “Kill Style Sheets” removes style sheets from the page. Accessibility guidelines require that the page still be readable without style sheets.
- “IMGs without ALTs” displays the addresses of the images on the page that have empty ALT (alternative) text.

## Making Multimedia Accessible

## Does Multimedia Have to Be Accessible?

- Video and multimedia products that "support NOAA’s mission"are required to be captioned and audio-described.
- For instance, a training film on how to use the AWIPS system of the National Weather Service to forecast weather, is a training production that supports NOAA’s  agency mission.

**Notes:**
Video and multimedia products that "support NOAA’s mission"are required to be captioned and audio-described.  For instance, a training film on how to use the AWIPS system of the National Weather Service to forecast weather, is a training production that supports NOAA’s  agency mission. A video of a retirement celebration, on the other hand, would not be "in support of NOAA’s agency mission" and therefore is not covered by these provisions.

## Captioning

- Captioning displays spoken dialogue as printed words on a computer monitor.
- Captions comes in two forms: *open *- where the spoken information is presented visually on the screen without additional equipment and *closed* - where use of a decoder is necessary to view the captions.

## Real-Time Captioning

- a method of on-line captioning to provide simultaneous, word-for-word transcription of a speaker's words. It is typically used for live programs such as a presidential speech, sporting event, newscast, or other events that do not allow time to prepare prerecorded captions.

## Audio Descriptions

- Audio Descriptions (AD) are additional narrative tracks that describe the current scene or setting.

**Notes:**
Audio descriptions began in the early days of radio when all users relied on well-composed descriptions to visualize what they could not see. Today, most people watch television as a replacement for radio. Unfortunately, this development has created a large void for members of the blind community who must rely on audio to extract the entire meaning of an audio-visual presentation.

## What Should Be Captioned?

- Captioning and audio descriptions are only required to be provided when important to understand the audio or visual components of a video or multimedia production.
- Ex: A videotaped lecture would need to capture the lecturer’s words in captions but the captions need not also relate that students’ chairs were squeaking or that the door at the back of the room was closing loudly as people exited.

## What about audio descriptions?

- Only those visual portions that are necessary for the comprehension of the production’s content need to be audio described.
- Ex: A videotaped lecture would need to include an audio description of graphics the  lecturer draws to illustrate a point, but would not need to include an audio description of the strictly verbal – or "talking heads" – portion of the lecture.

## Captioned Presentations

- SAMI (Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange) Demo

- SMIL (Synchronized Media Integration Language) Demo

## Off-line Captioning

- Preparation of captioning for non-live or  prerecorded programs. At time of playback, captions are part of the video and may be "open" or "closed."
- Off-line captioning is highly accurate and can include descriptive captions as well as dialogue.

## MAGpie Captioning Tool

- Media Access Generator (MAGpie), for creating captions and audio descriptions for rich media
- A  tool for adding captions to Flash using MAGpie's XML data file. This tool is available for beta testing along with MAGpie

## Accessible Javascript

- Not every user has a graphic environment with a mouse or other pointing device. Some users rely on keyboard, alternative keyboard or voice input to navigate links, activate form controls, etc.

## Accesssible Javascript Events

| With
"onmousedown | With
"onmouseup“ | With
 "onclick"  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Use
"onkeydown" | Use
"onkeyup" | Use
"onkeypress" |

- A page designed for keyboard access (in addition to mouse access) will  generally be accessible to users with other input devices.

## Accessible PDF files

-  Read Adobe PDF documents with Windows based screen readers from vendors such as Freedom Scientific and GW Micro
-  Create new tagged Adobe PDF files from applications such as  Microsoft Office 2000 for Windows
-  Check and touch up documents for accessibility with the Accessibility Checker and the Tags Palette.

## Evaluating PDF Files

- Convert PDF file to simple HTML on-line
- If the Adobe® PDF is on the Internet, you can mail the URL of the PDF in the body of an e-mail message and receive the file back via e-mail as either text or HTML
- If the Adobe® PDF is on a local drive, you can mail the PDF file as an attachment and receive the file back via e-mail as either text or HTML

**Notes:**

A service hosted by Trace Research Center also allows you to convert Adobe PDF documents.

You can either mail the URL of the Adobe PDF or attach the Adobe PDF document itself to your e-mail message and send it to pdf2txt@sun.trace.wisc.edu (for plain text) or to pdf2html@sun.trace.wisc.edu (for HTML). The convertor will mail back the translation of the PDF file.

## Macromedia FLASH -Making it Accessible

- Uses Microsoft Active Accessibility
- Requires Macromedia Flash MX development software
- User must have Macromedia Flash Player 6 installed
- A  tool for adding captions to Flash using MAGpie's XML is also available for beta testing

## PowerPoint Accessibility

- Copy the outline into an HTML page and format it yourself, making sure that you add in any parts that  were left out of the outline.
- Use the "Save as accessible HTML" plug-in for PowerPoint which is still in the development stage

- PowerPoint content can usually be easily made very accessible on the Web to every type of disability group except one: the blind

## Achieving Web Accessibility

- Growing numbers of web users will benefit
- Creating accessible web sites does not add significant time to the process
- Create web sites to HTML standards, not software
- WYSIWYG editor plug-ins and other evaluation/repair tools are readily available

- Ron Jones
- NWS Columbia SC
- _[Ronald.c.jones@noaa.gov](mailto:Ronald.c.jones@noaa.gov)_
- (803)765-5501 ext 225