[accessibleimage] Update on Google Word Verification Accessibility Petition

Dear list members, friends, and colleagues,

I want to give you an update on the Google Word Verification 
Accessibility petition, and to clear up some potential confusion 
regarding the actual web form itself.

First, though the petition has only been up for about one week, I'm 
very glad to report that there are now just over thirteen hundred 
names!  Many thanks to those of you who have shown your support.  The 
comments that some of you are leaving are excellent, and serve as even 
further illustrations of just how important this issue is becoming 
around the web, and with Google, in particular.

Second, from some of the feedback a few of us have gotten, I 
understand that some confusion might perhaps be occurring, with the 
first screen's Preview button, and the nexgt screen's final approve 
button steps, as people are adding their names to the petition .  I'm 
afraid the directions in my previous message might have been a bit 
unclear.  For those of you who believe that you have already signed 
the petition, once you pressed the Approve button on the screen after 
the form, you should have immediately received a confirmation Email 
from PetitionOnline.com, stating your signature number.  If you have 
not received that Email, or if you haven't yet placed your name on the 
petition and desire to do so, then please, follow the steps below, to 
fully complete the process, and to show your continued support for 
requesting that Google provide alternatives to the ever-growing 
barrier of inaccessible visual verification.

Here are a few handy tips, including some screen reader hints, to 
clear up confusion about the web form for the Google Word Verification 
Accessibility petition.

When you go to the direct link to add your name to the Petition
http://www.petitiononline.com/captcha/petition-sign.html

and I will given again at the end of these directions,
here is what you can do, in order to successfully fill in the form and 
add your name:

1.  To start, go to the top of the web page, Control plus Home.
find the first edit box on the page.
In Jaws, you can press the letter f, and it should say the word Edit.
Press Enter or the spacebar to activate forms mode.
In Window-Eyes, press the letter c for control, until you hear the 
word Edit.  Press Enter, or Control plus Shift plus A, to turn off 
Brows/MSAA mode.

Type your name as you would like it to appear on the petition.

2.  For either screen reader, Press tab, and enter your Email address, 
for purposes of confirmation and verification by the system.  If you 
do not supply your valid Email address, you will not receive a 
confirmation Email, and your name will not be successfully added.

3.  With either screen reader, Tab to the Comments box, and add a 
comment if you would like.  Comments are of course optional.

4.  For Jaws, turn Forms mode back off again.  To get out of Forms 
mode, press the PC Cursor key, the plus key on your number pad.  It 
should say Forms Mode off, Virtual PC Cursor.
In Window-Eyes, turn Browse/MSAA mode back on, with Control plus Shift 
plus A.

Note, for this next step, if you'd like to keep your Email address 
private, the default setting, skip step number 5, and go directly to 
step number 6.

5.  For either screen reader, when down arrowing past the Comments 
edit box, you will find three radio buttons.  These are to set your 
desired level of Email privacy.
By default, the first radio button is checked to keep your Email 
address private.
You can also choose to have your address viewable only to the petition 
author, Darrell Shandrow in this case.
The third option, is to make your Email address public, but you can 
ignore this option, as the PetitionOnline website disables this 
feature, so that automated programs cannot harvest people's Email 
addresses from the website.
If you would like to select the second or third radio button, press 
the spacebar when it says Radio button not checked, for your desired 
choice.  Viewable by the author is the second of the three, and public 
is the third one of the three.

6.  With JFW, press the letter b for button, and you should hear the 
words preview your signature button.
With Window-Eyes, press the letter C for Control, until you hear 
Preview Your Signature Button.

With either screen reader, press spacebar or enter on this Preview 
Signature button, to go to the next screen.  The approve signature 
button is only found on this second screen, and is unfortunately not 
offered as a choice on this first one where you enter your name, etc.

7.  On the Preview Signature screen, you can use your arrow keys to 
read through and preview how your name and optional comments will 
appear.  To make corrections, press Alt
plus left arrow to go back to the original screen with the form.  If 
things are fine, and you want to add your entry as is,
in Jaws, press the letter b until you hear the words "approve 
Signature button."  To activate this button, press the spacebar or 
Enter.
In Window-Eyes, press C for Control, until you hear Approve Signature 
button.  Press the spacebar or Enter to activate this button.

8.  Once your name has been added successfully, you will receive a 
confirmation message, to the Email address you've provided.

Again, here's the more direct  link to place your name on the 
petition, asking Google to implement an accessible solution for 
graphical word verification, Captcha:

Direct link to Sign Petition page.
http://www.petitiononline.com/captcha/petition-sign.html

Thank you very kindly once again, for your active and continued 
support of this critical issue, for computer users with any sort of 
print-reading disability.

Very sincerely,
Tina Ektermanis, petition signature #5
Greeley, Colorado, USA
tina-e@xxxxxxxxx

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