[nfbcs] Accessibility presentation in my computing ethics class

Sun Mar 9 01:57:58 UTC 2014

Thank you very much.  this is very helpful

On Saturday, March 8, 2014, Nicole Torcolini <ntorcolini at wavecable.com>
wrote:

> Some of your questions are very broad , and there is no short answer.
> However, I will try to address some of the web related ones.
> "What makes a web page accessible vs not accessible with speech?"
> Okay, so it depends on what you're definition of "accessible" is. If you
> mean, "it can be done, but not necessarily in the easiest way", then I
> would
> say:
> 1. All images have labels
> 2. All enabled controls are on the tab order as appropriate (e.g., only the
> selected radio button in a group is on the tab order, but this correctly
> accounts for the entire group vs. a stand alone button that needs to be on
> the tab order)
> 3. All custom controls have:
> A. Correct ARIA roles and attributes that are maintained
> B. Correct keyboard handling as specified in the ARIA Best Practices
> 4. The screen reader is notified of all dynamic changes and alerts
> However, to be truly accessible, that is not quite enough, so to add to
> that:
> 5. All visual divisions on a page are marked such that they can be
> identified and preferably navigated to by a screen reader (e.g., headings
> or
> ARIA regions)
> 6. Focus does not trigger actions (e.g., don't change the page as soon as
> the selection in a combobox changes without the user first pressing enter
> or
> pressing okay or doing something else that indicates that that is actually
> the desired action)
> 7. Do not use tables purely for layout when their contents is something
> other than data. This drives screen reader users nuts.
> 8. Avoid recurring and uninformative labels such as "Click here" and "Learn
> more" as many screen readers have a feature to find and display all of a
> certain type of element on a page, but these dialogs are less than helpful
> when the elements in them have the same name
> That is all that I can think of at the moment, but you might find looking
> at
> the ARIA spec somewhat helpful. There are also other guide lines for making
> a website accessible.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nfbcs [mailto:nfbcs-bounces at nfbnet.org <javascript:;>] On Behalf Of
> Suzanne Germano
> Sent: Friday, March 07, 2014 9:39 AM
> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list; nfbcs at nfbnet.org<javascript:;>
> ;
> arizona-students at nfbnet.org <javascript:;>
> Subject: [nfbcs] Accessibility presentation in my computing ethics class
>
> I am a legally blind computer science student at Arizona State University.
> I am currently taking a course in computing ethics. I chose to do my
> presentation on computing and the disabled. There are only a couple of
> pages
> in our text about it that talk about accessibility but also talk about
> companies deciding not to provide accommodation becasue technology now
> allows employees to work remote.
>
> I will be researching the subject but I know that the people on these lists
> have vast knowledge so I thought this was the perfect place to ask
> questions. I am a user of mac zoom and zoontext so I dont' know a lot about
> the specific accessibility issues when using JAWS
>
> So here are some of my questions. Also feel free to offer information on
> anything I may have left outs.
>
> What do software developers need to do to ensure the software they develop
> is accessible via a screen reader?
> Is is just things like in visual studio setting the Accessibility
> Properties
> of a control like a combo box?
> When I use ZoomText the insertion point is tracked in some software but not
> others. What needs to be done to allow tracking? Does the software need to
> expose something?
> What makes a web page accessible vs not accessible with speech?
> What have been people's experiences with things like blackboard, or other
> sites you are required to use in school to access your class, turn in
> assignments, take online quizzes/tests etc.
> Where can a developer go to learn about requirements for accessibility,
> what
> makes a program or webpage more accessible Does anyone have experience on
> the job in which a program you were using was accessible but they came out
> with a new version that was no longer accessible? Specific examples would
> be
> really helpful What laws exist concerning accessibility to computers,
> software etc?
> I would really love to show a demo of someone who is really experienced
> with
> JAWS especially someone who works in the computer science field. Would any
> one be willing to provide me with a short video of you working so the
> students can see how we work in the field? I would provide a link to my
> dropbox for the video. I can do any required editing.
>
> After I present to the class, I am planning on providing my presentation to
> the dean of computer science and explain why I believe accessibility should
> be taught from the beginning to computer science students. If they learn to
> at least think about it when learning to develop software I believe they
> will be more likely to do it in practice. I believe most people don't even
> think about since it does not affect them or anyone they know.
>
> I also think it would be really cool for the disabled student resource
> center to partner with the computer science department to set up a list of
> volunteers who are users on screen readers to sit with students and test
> the
> accessibility of their code as a learning experience.
>
> Thank you in advance for your help
> Suzanne
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