Automating for Accessibility (WWW2002)
The practicality of supporting accessibility’s many dimensions
(Adaptive Technology Resource Centre, University of Toronto, Canada)
Many dimensions… many considerations.
There was a time when an accessible Web page meant one that:
- Allowed people with visual, auditory and motor deficits to access the content
of images, sounds, and controls within HTML pages.
Many dimensions… many considerations.
Today an accessible Web page may need to take into account:
- People with less commonly understood disabilities: such as learning disabilities
and intellectual deficits.
- A wide variety markup and multimedia formats.
- Dynamic Web content rather than static Web pages.
Many dimensions… many considerations.
These developments are likely to lead to the production of even more implementation-level
requirements for Web authors.
In a perfect world, every author would read and follow all these requirements…
Many dimensions… many considerations.
… but in the real world:
- Authors may be technologically naïve – relying on WYSIWYG tools,
- Authors may work on tight schedules,
- Authors may know, but not care, about this issue.
Many dimensions… many considerations.
The only practical solution is to automate compliance with accessibility requirements
to the greatest extent possible:
- Within the tools that authors already use,
- Within tools beyond basic HTML editors,
- With more sophisticated checking strategies.
Integration in Tools Authors Use
- Poor integration makes accessibility seem like a separate (optional?) concern.
Integration in Tools Authors Use
- Well integrated mechanisms can keep authors aware of accessibility tasks
with less annoyance.
Integration in Tools Authors Use
- The most effective mechanisms will probably be those that reduce the chance
of problems getting into the document in the first place.
Integration in Tools Authors Use
- Sometimes integration will benefit authors as well. ex. alt-text registry
entries may help the author search their image archives.
Beyond HTML
Authoring tools for other Web formats (Flash, PDF, etc.) are beginning to take
account of accessibility – this trend needs to continue and expand to:
- Graphic, sound and multimedia editors.
- Dynamic and collaborative Web content generators.
Beyond HTML
For example:
- Whiteboards are often an access problem because authors find it difficult
to draw and describe their work at the same time.
- But mechanisms might be developed to share the description duty.
- This will provide an easily searchable archive for all participants as well
as an access accommodation.
Beyond HTML
More Sophisticated Checking
The hardest part of accessibility checking is asking an author to manually
check their work for something.
More Sophisticated Checking
More Sophisticated Checking
To deal with this:
- Algorithms and heuristics that enable automated checking must continue to
be developed.
- Machine check-ability should be kept in mind as requirements are developed.
More Sophisticated Checking
More Sophisticated Checking
More Sophisticated Checking
Looking ahead:
- Audio files may be scanned by voice recognition systems to create transcripts.
- Machine vision systems may help describe images.
- Language clarity and reading level may be automatically adjustable.
- …
Conclusion
- As more of the dimensions of Web accessibility are explored, the requirements
for accessibility are likely to become more numerous and varied in nature.
- Author acceptance of these requirements will depend on the degree to which
authoring tools automate the tasks entailed by the requirements.
Thank You
Screenshots:
- W3C-WAI ATAG Techniques (Prompting Appendix)
- A-Prompt (http://www.aprompt.ca)