Importance of Accessibility for a Successful and Future-Proof Business - CSUN International Accessibility Conference

25th Annual International
Technology & Persons with
Disabilities Conference

Importance of Accessibility
for a Successful and
Future-proof business
March 2010
Artur Ortega

http://developer.yahoo.com
1

Who is Artur Ortega?


Who is Artur Ortega?

Blind Software Engineer


Introduction

Photo: Stephen Schobloch

Accessibility

QA
SEO

UED a11y
i18n
Legal


Reasons for Accessibility

• Social responsibility
• Avoiding risk of lawsuits
• Robustness
• Revenue

6

Diversity


Usergroups

• Silver Surfers
• People with disabilities

8

Standard
WCAG 2.0 consist of four principles:

Principle 1: Perceivable
Information and user interface components must be presentable
to users in ways they can perceive.

Principle 2: Operable
User interface components and navigation must be operable.

Principle 3: Understandable
Information and the operation of the user interface must be
understandable.

Principle 4: Robust
Content must be robust enough that it can be interpreted reliably
by a wide variety of user agents, including assistive technologies.

9

Laws

US: Section 508
UK: DDA
UN: Convention on Disability Rights

10

How everything fits together

WCAG 2.0 Users

Legal

11

Silver Surfer

Definition: an older user of the Internet, usually
someone over 50.

Etymology: a humorous reference to the comic
book character and also to the fact that older
people who surf (= use) the Internet often have
grey or silver-coloured hair.
Source: Oxford University Press 2010 http://www.oup.com/elt/catalogue/teachersites/oald7/wotm/wotm_archive/silver_surfer?cc=global

12

Users with disabilities

• Visually impaired
• Blind
• Hard of hearing
• Deaf
• Dyslexic
• Reduced mobility
• Learning disability
• Situative disability

13

Family & Friends

Accessibility attracts not only
people with disabilities but
also their families
and friends.


Usergroups: a detailed view

Usergroups:
a detailed view


Older Internet Users

Older users were more likely to use the internet to
access
- travel information
- health and medical information
(46<=> 36%)
Source: Nielsen Panorama Survey, April 2007-March 2008 (N = 21,570 for 14+ years age

16

Understanding Connectedness

• Removes feelings of isolation
• Being able to communicate with family
overseas
• Maintain daily contact with relative in
time of sickness or adversity
• Ability to stay involved in work
Source: Understanding Personal Connectedness, CTN presentation at the Communications Policy and Research Forum, Tuesday 30
September 2008, http://www.networkinsight.org/verve/_resources/CPRF08_Program_110808_.pdf

17

Keeping up with
technology changes
Technology attItudes: “I try to keep up with technology” (Results by Age %, n = 17,527)

Source: Nielsen Panorama, March 2008


Keeping up with
technology changes

Two thirds of Australians found it difficult to
keep up with technological changes.

Older age groups were least likely to 'try to
keep up with technology' (44%) than other
age groups.
Source: Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) Consumer Survey, June 2008


Users with disabilities

A study conducted in Germany in 2008 found that:
• They use web 2.0 above average
• They use the web for compensating disabilities
• They use the web differently depending on disability
• They consider web 2.0 very useful
• They use the web independently with the assistive technology
• They find that the barriers they face are always quite similar: e.g.
visual captchas, usability, language, inconsistency
• They are quite creative to overcome the barriers when the site is
useful or of interest
• Their way of communication is reflected in the web 2.0
Source: >Chance und Risiken des Internets der Zukunft aus Sicht von Menschen mit Behinderungen<, Study by "Aktion Mensch" in Germany


Creativity to overcome barriers

Blind users take photos and share them on flickr.


Useful
Web 2.0 and mobile connectivity

Mobile application keeps person with diabetes in contact with the
clinic and helps to monitor values.


Similar requirements:
classic & situative
disability


Subtitles for video
More than 120 million
Americans benefit from
subtitles including:

• 28 million deaf and hard-of-
hearing people
• 26 million elementary school
children practicing reading
skills
• 30 million people learning
English as a second language
• 40 million Americans ages 16
and older learning to read.

Without counting:
• all users in a silent office
• users in a mall or gym
• etc.


Driving a car

• Can't use
hands
• Can't use
eyes
• Only
reduced
attention


Situative disability

Instead of distinguishing between
being disabled and not disabled,
we have only requirements on the
situative context.
Source (german): Barrierefreies eGovernment, by Herbert Kubicek, Henning Lühr, Beate
Schulte http://www.ifib.de/publikationsdateien/Barrierefrei.pdf


Yahoo!

For people 55+ in Japan:

• web-based email grew 88% to 7 million users in November
2008
• more than 20% of all visitors to email site category.

“The increase in visitation to email sites has largely been
driven by an increase in usage among the older age
segments, reflecting the maturation of the Internet as a
communication vehicle,” said Maru Sato, managing
director of comScore Japan.
Source: comScore, Inc. January 15,
2008 http://www.comscore.com/Press_Events/Press_Releases/2009/1/Email_Usage_Japan/


Failures


Difficulties: Where are the issues today?

Study with adults aged 50-85 years how they used
the Internet related to Medicare services:

Results indicated many of them:

• made errors
• used inefficient search strategies
• encountered search problems
• encountered problems with usability
• were frustrated interacting with the website
Source: 1 Kuhn and Al., What Types of Difficulties do Seniors Encounter When Using the Internet to Make Health Care Decisions?
Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting Proceedings, 53rd meeting, October 2007, Maryland USA. Aging , pp. 11-14(4)


Solution: Improvement by accessibility

Principle 1: Perceivable
Information and user interface components must be presentable
to users in ways they can perceive.

Principle 2: Operable
User interface components and navigation must be operable.

Principle 3: Understandable
Information and the operation of the user interface must be
understandable.

Principle 4: Robust
Content must be robust enough that it can be interpreted reliably
by a wide variety of user agents, including assistive technologies.


Outlook:
what can we improve?


Audio captchas

Adding an audio alternative to the visual existing one

• no longer excluding visually impaired
users
• increases user group
• reacting to negative PR on the web


WAI-ARIA

Adding roles to AJAX based web applications

• makes AJAX work with screen readers
• makes AJAX work with screen magnifiers
• adds semantic information about dynamic content


Semantic markup

Using a proper html structure

• better SEO
• better usability for keyboard users
• better usability for screen reader and screen
magnifier users
• consistency


Subtitles for video

The request and ability to store and display subtitles

• opens video for a wider range of users
• videos can be consumed on other markets
• makes video work in difficult environments
regarding noise


Conclusion

QA

UED SEO

a11y

$$$ i18n

Legal



Photos: Attila Husejow, Luke Robinson
Diversity

38

Artur Ortega

Accessibility Evangelist
Yahoo! Europe Ltd
125 Shaftesbury Avenue
London WC2H 8AD
United Kingdom
ortega@yahoo-inc.com

39

Importance of Accessibility for a Successful and Future-Proof Business - CSUN International Accessibility Conference

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