Also, Lloyd, I do see it as being relevant to include in a policy how to access
documents and systems that fall under that policy. The policy could perhaps be
based on Section 508, WCAG 2.0, WAI-ARIA, and/or other documents. Including how
to access systems under the policy created is a way of educating the company on
adaptive technologies and work that has already been developed in
accessibility, for how systems are being accessed, using that adaptive
technology. That is why I included those types of examples in the answer to the
poster's original question.
Best regards,
Mike
From: program-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:program-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On ;
Behalf Of Walker, Michael E
Sent: Friday, September 08, 2017 10:11 AM
To: program-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [program-l] Re: accessibility
Thank you for sharing your perspective, Lloyd. What other documents should I
become familiar with, besides Section 508, WAI-ARIA, and WCAG 2.0?
Thank you,
Mike
From: program-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:program-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
[mailto:program-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Rasmussen, Lloyd
Sent: Friday, September 08, 2017 9:59 AM
To: program-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:program-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [program-l] Re: accessibility
Remember that the original question was about setting company policy, rather
than how to access the documents and systems which fall under that policy.
Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act was first created in 1986. It required
that a report be written to Congress detailing the state of accessibility of
federal government systems. Section 508 was greatly expanded in 1998, and the
first set of guidelines was promulgated by the Access Board in about 2002. It
has taken 15 years for the Access Board to revise and update the Section 508
requirements. New regulations only came out this spring.
One important construct from the previous set of regulations is the Voluntary
Product Accessibility Template, in which vendors are supposed to detail which
accessibility requirements they can or cannot satisfy with the product they are
selling to the Federal government. Government contracting people who read these
VPATs often don't know what the contractor is talking about, because they don't
have experience relying on assistive technology to use the products described.
Some companies have been very good in writing up their V PAT documents, while
others say little more than "meets Section 508 requirements."
This situation is improving, but progress is extremely slow for many different
reasons.
I don't claim to be an expert in this area, but I was on committees that were
involved in creating Section 508 back in the 1980s, so you can see where my
cynicism comes from. There are a lot of documents to analyze when it comes to
accessibility policy, and a lot of education still remains to be provided and
applied.
Lloyd Rasmussen, Senior Staff Engineer
National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Library of
Congress
Washington, DC 20542 202-707-0535
http://www.loc.gov/nls/
The preceding opinions are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of the
Library of Congress, NLS.
From: program-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:program-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
[mailto:program-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Walker, Michael E
Sent: Friday, September 08, 2017 9:55 AM
To: program-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:program-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [program-l] Re: accessibility
I have found OCR built into JAWS to work well enough for my needs, but as Roger
stated, try different packages to find out what works best for your needs. It
may even be the case that the entire document does not have to be accessible
for you, which is why you again may want to narrow down the information you
need, as even though OCR is great, it is not perfect.
From: program-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:program-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
[mailto:program-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Roger Woolgrove
Sent: Thursday, September 07, 2017 5:04 PM
To: program-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:program-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [program-l] Re: accessibility
Juan,
I got this message a bit late but essentially Mike has it covered and he gives
good advice.
The only thing I may add is that if a document is inaccessible for whatever
reason there are some good packages which can scan in a document and determine
quite accurately what is written. This is helpful with illegible pdf documents
and the like. A scanner does not have to be used with pdf files and so forth as
they can usually be opened from within the software.
Omni page is one such piece but I have no recent experience.
Kurtzweil 1000 is a good piece of kit and the one I use even though mine is
very dated now, it still gives good results.
There are some freebie OCR packages out there and I'm sure there are many
opinions on them also.
Roger
On 07/09/2017 20:40, Walker, Michael E wrote:
You are welcome. What I recommend is that even though you are coming up with
these policies to make apps, documents, and presentations accessible for your
company, you will want to use your newly acquired knowledge from the standards
I recommended in my last email to know if an app or information produced by it
like a document is accessible. The only true way to know if an app, site, or
document is accessible is to try using it. If it is not, you can reference the
part of the accessibility standards that are relevant for making it accessible.
Also keep in mind that if it is a big app, the company may not be able to
afford to make the app itself accessible, but may consider that when and if it
is time to redesign that app. In some cases, you may need to make due with
features of your screen reader like graphics and custom labels, to help improve
the app's accessibility, or some basic scripting to access those essential
parts of the app or site. Also, when you run into a situation where the app
cannot be accessible, consider finding out if information from the inaccessible
app can be exported to a more accessible Word document, HTML, or PDF. Finally,
do not underestimate the power of asking for help. There will be times when it
is so much faster to narrow down what you need, and have a co-worker look at
the screen with you. That may save you hours of trying to find workarounds to
do something basic, like get a video to play. Pressing alt+print screen to take
a screenshot is one way to do this, if you do not have time to meet with the
co-worker. That screen shot is copied to your clipboard, and you can paste it
into an email. I hope this helps.
Best regards,
Mike
From: program-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:program-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
[mailto:program-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Juan Hernandez
Sent: Thursday, September 07, 2017 2:31 PM
To: program-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:program-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [program-l] Re: accessibility
Thanks for this info. I appreciate it.
Juan Hernandez
Juanhernandez98@xxxxxxxxx<mailto:Juanhernandez98@xxxxxxxxx>
619-750-9431 (M) | 858-777-3311 (F)
My WebSite<http://www.juanhernandez.me/> |
Twitter<../../../../Documents/My%20Received%20Files> |
FaceBook<https://www.facebook.com/blindwiz> |
LinkedIn<https://www.linkedin.com/in/juanmhernandez>
From: program-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:program-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
[mailto:program-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Walker, Michael E
Sent: Thursday, September 07, 2017 12:05 PM
To: program-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:program-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [program-l] Re: accessibility
Hi Juan,
Research Web Content Accessibility Guidelines by the World Wide Web Consortium.
The latest is 2.0. You will also want to become familiar with Section 508 of
the Rehabilitation Act, part of access-board.gov. Additionally, read through
Creating Nonvisually Accessible
Documents<https://nfb.org/images/nfb/products_technology/creating_accessible_documents.docx>.
Mike
From: program-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:program-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
[mailto:program-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Juan Hernandez
Sent: Thursday, September 07, 2017 2:00 PM
To: program-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:program-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [program-l] accessibility
Hi All,
I am developing an accessibility framework/ guidelines for my company.
One of the sections is for external tooling. Can you guys give me any pointers
on this? What I mean by external tooling is software that the company buys to
use internally for Blind and visually impaired employees.
Some of my questions are:
What is the best way to determine a software is accessible? What are some
guidelines to follow for this? Etc...
I am trying to develop an accessibility policy for my company. I have a
section for static documents like word, pdf, etc. How to determine that they
are accessible, how to make accessible documents etc.
Any pointers I would truly appreciate.
Best,
Juan Hernandez
Juanhernandez98@xxxxxxxxx<mailto:Juanhernandez98@xxxxxxxxx>
619-750-9431 (M) | 858-777-3311 (F)
My WebSite<http://www.juanhernandez.me/> |
Twitter<../../../../Documents/My%20Received%20Files> |
FaceBook<https://www.facebook.com/blindwiz> |
LinkedIn<https://www.linkedin.com/in/juanmhernandez>
