[bksvol-discuss] Re: Bookshare Bulletin
- From: "Pavi Mehta" <pavim@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 27 Mar 2009 12:30:12 -0700
Dear Sue,
I think Ann did mention a cut and paste workaround for opening the link. But I
have included the text of the Accessibility article below (with a wry,
apologetic smile to acknowledge the irony of the fact that this article on
accessibility was not easily accesible).
All good things,
Pavi
Accessibility Tips From Bookshare Volunteers
By Pavi Mehta
Bookshare's growing library owes a great deal to its virtual community of over
1400 volunteers. Logging in from remote locations all over the country, these
dedicated individuals scan and proofread books for the collection. Since many
Bookshare volunteers have print disabilities themselves, we asked them to help
us come up with five key accessibility challenges that they commonly encounter
on websites. The Bookshare library has incorporated many of these features and
suggestions into its new design. The perspectives of our volunteers are deeply
informed by their personal experience. Below are their observations and
suggestions.
5 Key Website Accessibility Challenges
1. A lack of alt text attributes for images: Alt text are meaningful labels
for the images that appear on the website. They allow individuals with visual
disabilities to identify what's on the page, and where links lead to. E-book
reader software tools can either read this text in a page, read the alt
attribute on images, or drop back to reading file names if it can't find text.
For instance, if a reader hears "navbtn01_off" instead of "navigation bar"
chances are she won't have a clue where that link leads.
2. Form label placement: E-book readers, by default, look for form labels
either to the left or above where the information is to be entered. If labels
are placed elsewhere, this poses an accessibility problem for users.
Adobe Flash &/or PDF content: Flash and PDF content on a site need not be an
obstacle to accessibility. But it is often found on websites where the creators
have not built their content with accessibility in mind. The Adobe website has
lots of information about making both Flash & PDF documents accessible.
3. Sight-dependent captcha puzzles: Captcha is meant to lock out spammers, but
often also prevents people who can?t see the images from using the site too.
Worse yet, if a site uses inaccessible captcha on its contact form, you can?t
write to the site owner for help.
4. Using color to designate meaning: Sometimes colors are used to designate
meaning, e.g., red means contains x or y, etc. The problem is that as much as
10% of the world's population has some form of color-blindness and the website
may not be interpreted by these individuals as its designers intended.
5. The World Accessibility Initiative develops guidelines widely regarded as
the international standard for Web accessibility. Visit their website to learn
more: www.w3.org/WAI/
We would like to thank Bookshare volunteers Jackie McBride, Monica Willyard,
Monica Svopa, Rick Roderick and Elizabeth Aldworth for contributing to this
story.
-----Original Message-----
From: bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx on behalf of siss52
Sent: Fri 3/27/2009 12:12 PM
To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: Bookshare Bulletin
RE: [bksvol-discuss] Bookshare BulletinPavi,
How are we to read this article if we cannot access it?
Sue S.
----- Original Message -----
From: Pavi Mehta
To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ; Volunteers, Bookshare
Sent: Friday, March 27, 2009 2:02 PM
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: Bookshare Bulletin
Hi Ann,
Thanks for letting us know about this. I will forward your mail to our
Communications Director so that we can take this into account for all future
mailings.
In case some of you haven't seen it yet, there is an article in the Bulletin
regarding accessibility that credits several of our volunteers. (It was
written based on input some of you sent in awhile ago). Congratulations to
the contributors on that!
Warm regards,
Pavi
-----Original Message-----
From: bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx on behalf of Ann Parsons
Sent: Fri 3/27/2009 10:22 AM
To: Volunteers, Bookshare
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Bookshare Bulletin
Hi all,
Just a quick comment about the Bookshare Bulletin. I got it today in email.
Nice articles. However, one warning, the URL's which are cited in the email
have a ']' at the end of the URL's. This make's it impossible for one to
activate the link from within the email. You get an error. You have to cut
and paste the URL into your browser and be sure that you leave off the ']'
symbol. In case some of you have your punctuation turned off, I'm speaking
of the right bracket symbol. Articles are fine, just inaccessible unless
you know what's what.
Ann P.
Ann P.
--
AAnn K. Parsons
Portal Tutoring
Email: akp@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Web Site: http://www.portaltutoring.info
blog: http://www.samobile.net/users/akp
Skype: Putertutor
"All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost." JRRT
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