Dr. Scott Hollier presented on current and future trends in accessibility and the cloud. He discussed how the cloud provides benefits like storage, flexibility and cost reductions but also issues around privacy, security and data ownership. Only Microsoft currently stores accessibility preferences in the cloud. The potential of the Global Public Inclusive Infrastructure is to store accessibility settings in the cloud so any device a user connects to is automatically configured for their needs. However, a lack of standards implementation and infrastructure like broadband currently impact cloud accessibility. Recommendations include governments incorporating accessibility standards and working to improve broadband, and industry ensuring standards compliance and cross-device settings synchronization.

1. Accessibility &
the Cloud:
Current &
Future Trends
Dr Scott Hollier
WA Accessibility Camp 2014

2. 2
• Australia’s only independent not-for-
profit organisation devoted to
increasing access to media for
people with disabilities
• Provides expert knowledge and
advice on existing and emerging
mainstream technologies
• Works as a catalyst for change in
multiple areas of access
Who is Media Access
Australia?

3. Who am I?
• Professional:
• Project Manager & WA Manager for
Media Access Australia
• W3C Advisory Committee representative
• Academic:
• Adjunct Senior Lecturer, Edith Cowan
University
• PhD thesis ‘The Disability Divide’
• Personal: Legally blind, first-hand
knowledge of access issues

4. Business v Consumer cloud
• Cloud represents online service
integration
• Business definition relies on all three
NIST elements: SaaS, PaaS, IaaS
• Consumer cloud framed more into
terms of storage and synchronisation
of device settings (IaaS) and cloud
software (SaaS)

5. Business benefits & issues
• Benefits:
• Workplace flexibility
• Reduced costs
• Issues:
• Privacy
• Security
• Data ownership
• Business cloud is a choice between
local and online infrastructure

6. Consumer benefits & issues
• Benefits:
• Storage beyond the limitations of device
• Free or low-cost services
• Share data with family and friends
• Issues:
• Privacy
• Security
• Data ownership
• For consumers, cloud essential for
effective device use

7. Cloud for people with
disabilities
• Given consumer cloud is essential,
are people with disabilities getting the
access they need?
• Are there disability-specific benefits
the cloud can offer?

8. Cloud comparison
• Analysis of major device OS and
associated cloud services including
Google, Apple Microsoft and cross-
platform service Dropbox
• Assessment includes OS access,
app access and web portal access

9. Cloud access comparison
CATEGORY MICROSOFT APPLE GOOGLE DROPBOX
OS Windows 8+ iOS 8+ Android 4.2+ NA
Cloud storage OneDrive iCloud Drive Google Drive Dropbox
Storage
support on
other OS
iOS, Android Windows Windows, iOS Windows, iOS,
Android
Free storage
space
15GB 5GB 15GB 2GB
Storage web
portal
Yes No Yes Yes
Document web
portal
Yes (view/edit) No Yes (view/edit) Yes (view)
WCAG 2.0
compliance of
web portal
No – some
issues present
NA No – some
issues present
No – significant
issues present

10. Disability-specific services
• Microsoft is the only company storing
accessibility preferences in the cloud
• In Windows 8+ if you log into multiple
machines with the same account,
accessibility preferences
automatically synchronised in real
time
• Includes themes, preferences on
boot and preferences on login

11. Potential of cloud
accessibility
• Cloud + access represents huge
potential in addressing issues
• Key initiative: Global Public Inclusive
Infrastructure (GPII)
• AT preferences stored on the cloud
• After identification, device automatically
gets your preferences and configures itself
• Same interface layout and AT across all
devices: mobile, desktop, tablet, TV
• Voting case study resolved!

12. GPII video

13. Business benefits of cloud
accessibility
• Workplace flexibility allows for
connection of user-controlled
accessible environment to private
cloud
• Potential to incorporate consumer
benefits from public cloud

14. Business risks of cloud
accessibility
• People with disabilities may not want
to explain to employers their access
needs
• Employers may view accessibility as
a low priority when making cloud
purchasing decisions

15. Consumer benefits of cloud
accessibility
• Device independence
• Real-time customisation
• Consistency in assistive technology
support
• Less training
• Global rollout of updates reduces
local ICT costs

16. Consumer issues of cloud
accessibility
• Security
• Privacy
• Lack of infrastructure such as
broadband
• Localised device accessibility issues
• GPII-style setup, training and support
requires high level of support from
government and industry

17. Factors that impact on
cloud accessibility
• Need for all stakeholders to be involved
• Lack of W3C standards implementation
• WCAG 2.0
• WCAG2ICT
• ATAG 2.0 (draft)
• Lack of high-speed broadband:
• Hong Kong: first place 78Mbps
• Australia: 56th place 14Mbps

18. Recommendations –
Government
• Incorporate cloud-related W3C
accessibility standards into their policy
requirements, in particular the use of
WCAG 2.0, ATAG 2.0 and WCAG2ICT.
• Implementation of cloud-related policies
are effectively resourced, implemented
and promoted.
• Work with industry to improve fixed and
mobile broadband

19. Recommendations -
Industry
• Cloud service providers need to ensure
that W3C standards are implemented on
their operating systems, web portals.
• Developers building apps should ensure
that W3C accessibility standards are
incorporated.
• Synchronisation of accessibility
preferences across multiple devices
should be more widely implemented

20. Recommendations –
Consumers with disabilities
• Consider carefully which ecosystem they wish
to use before purchasing.
• Encourage promotion and use of cloud-based
accessibility products and services.
All stakeholders:
• A GPII-style trial should be considered to
properly explore the issues in a non-competitive
environment with a sharing of the results. This
would be best centred around making a
government service accessible, and should
have equal involvement of government, industry
and consumers.

21. White paper availability
• Sponsored by the Australian Web
Industry Association (AWIA)
• Release date mid-August 2014

22. Other MAA projects
Professional Certificate in Web
Accessibility Compliance
• Six week training course
• Delivered by UniSA and MAA
• For ICT professionals to integrate web
accessibility into work practices
• www.mediaaccess.org.au/learn
• Additional accessibility info available
on Access iQ www.accessiq.org

23. Further information
• E-mail:
scott.hollier@mediaaccess.org.au
• Telephone: (08) 9311 8230
• Website: www.mediaaccess.org.au
• Twitter: @mediaaccessaus