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Giving the Blind Better Web Access
crimeandpunishment writes "Decades ago, the breakthrough for the disabled was making buildings wheelchair accessible. Today, it's making their world Web-accessible. Disabled groups are hailing new legislation Congress has sent to the President. Among other things, the measure will give the blind greater Internet access through smart phones, and require devices like iPhones and Blackberrys to be hearing-aid compatible. 'It breaks down barriers for all of us,' says Mark Richert of the American Foundation for the Blind."
These sorts of well-intentioned pieces of legislation are the kind of thing that ostensibly are for our betterment and they always look great on paper. But when you're actually have to design a website and you start running into the requirements of Section 508 and other such well-meaning laws, the feel-good shine wears off fast. Inevitably they mean considerably more work in the best case scenario, and a "dumbing down" of a website in the worst case scenario (if you follow the "suggested" best-practices). You can look at the "cultural heritage" laws in Quebec as an example of where good intentions can go. It starts off with a noble goal of not excluding French-speakers from public life, and eventually leads to something like Bill 101, which all but outlawed English in the region, complete with a language gestapo.
I'm all for the blind being able to use the web. But wouldn't it be much better to approach the issue as a technological one on the viewer's end, and not a legislative one on the designer's end? I would much rather be asked to do something that TOLD to do it, under threat of law.
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
.... just stop them from putting their cane through the screen!
No, this does not "break down barriers for us all". It breaks down barriers for certain people, while putting up barriers for anyone creating web content.
I realize that there are good intentions behind this and that is truly admirable, however, it was though of from only one side. Those who would like this kind of access will certainly benefit but the companies will suffer. It will cost more to make websites and devices compatible and people will not be willing to pay more. Ask yourself, honestly, are you willing to pay more? Of course some people are but most are not. That means that the manufacturers will have to either eat the cost or force it back onto the consumers.
I'm sure he will salute the new Handicapper General.
Not to sound too heartless but the pain of making apps user friendly to someone who can't see is next to impossible for someone who can see. How about we wait and put our money into cybernetic eyes. They already exist they just need to get better.
reminds us of 3rd Reich 'press releases'. even the unsighted could spot this want(ing) ad.
It also has provisions for CC or subtitles for the HOH/deaf. This has me hoping. Despite the fact that most of the players support CC, the online video/movies seem to ignore it. It strikes me as odd that every DVD has either CC or Subtitles (they have to by law), but only 18 movies in the Sci-Fi/Fantasy catetory at the itunes store have CC.
Atlas stands on the earth and carries the celestial sphere on his shoulders.
Web reads you!
This will be used for two things that will shock SHOCK many liberals when it happens:
1) Shut down dissenters by charging them with a civil rights violation or something similar when they, out of sheer ignorance, create a badly designed site.
2) Pummel small vendors of devices.
But again, they'll be shocked---SHOCKED--that it'll be used like that. Much like people were SHOCKED that RICO and the USA PATRIOT Act have been heavily abused.
This has nothing to do with the Web. It's about telephony in its VoIP form, broadcast content redistributed over the Internet, and mobile browsers. It doesn't affect web sites. See S.3304.
If people have to build alternate, blind-reader compatible web pages in addition to Flash crap, why not just skip Flash entirely?
I see what you are trying to say, but the phrase "the right way to..." never sits well with me. The "right way" can be interpreted from many perspectives. Unfortunately the "right way" is typically the way your manager or boss thinks is the "right way" which often means the "fastest cheapest way"
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Just as an exercise, geeks, try running your computer without a monitor for no less than 4 hours. It is a lesson you won't soon forget.
that must be it? has to be muslim though? leaves out a few likelihoods? could be those darned cubans? southern baptists? tea partiers? aliens?
"... and require devices like iPhones and Blackberrys to be hearing aid compatible."
They are not compatible now? Out of the evils the distinguised Americans want to keep out of their country, Nokia, at least, sells wireless loopsets (Bluetooth "headset" for T-coil hearing aid users) and - surprise surprise - their Bluetooth-equipped phones support these accessories.
How is Apple helping people with disabilities? Why they would care - after all, there's not a mountain of easy money waiting in there.
...by investing in tech and science that can make them see it with their EYES!
While it is nice to see the gov't pass laws like this, it would be even nicer to see them put up the funding for developing the tech/science further behind studies like the one I linked to. Or lifting the ban on stem cell research so that we can really get on track with giving back the senses that have been robbed from so many people, among other things.
"I hope you know how very lucky you are to know me, because I am so incredibly incredible."
This blind guy says the iPhone left his "life changed forever" and it's even allowed him to 'see' color again. His story is very moving and astonishing.
"The other night, however, a very amazing thing happened. I downloaded an app called Color Identifier. It uses the iPhone’s camera, and speaks names of colors. It must use a table, because each color has an identifier made up of 6 hexadecimal digits. This puts the total at 16777216 colors, and I believe it. Some of them have very surreal names, such as Atomic Orange, Cosmic, Hippie Green, Opium, and Black-White. These names in combination with what feels like a rise in serotonin levels makes for a very psychedelic experience."
OOOOOOOuch. whois the ones who decide for them, what is interesting/relevant/stuff that matters? what if it's those hired goons of jahbulon attacking europe? shouldn't everyone be able to read/see/hear about it, even if it's unpopular?
Google Analytics tells me that I got 20k visitors yesterday. Four of them used NS4. 1500 of them used IE6. There are few NS4 users that I honestly don't care how my site renders in their browser. There are enough IE6 users that I do have to care how my site renders in their browser.
How can I get Google Analytics to tell me how many of my visitors are blind and using screen-readers?
why spend so much time and money making all of these devices hearing-aid compatible? why not just make the hearing-aids device compatible? install bluetooth receiver in hearing aid. problem solved.
FOXTROT UNIFORM CHARLIE KILO
link to the guy's blog:
http://behindthecurtain.us/2010/06/12/my-first-week-with-the-iphone/
pumping plain text to anyone identified coming to my website as impaired.
It is the safest route to follow. Any attempt by me or other others to gracefully handle it only will invite lawyers whose occupation is find those who slip up while acting on good intentions. No, take it to the minimums required and forget it. This is a far different issue than handling weaker devices. You are not up against a finite thing, that is what a device is capable of, your up against a new infinite, what the impaired user thinks they can accept. You can't win except by going for zero.
Been there, done that, you won't believe the crap with ADA my cousins have been hit with at a bakery/cafe. There are people out there whose only business is to use laws like to make money, they could care less that you finally complied, they want money.
The flip side is, perhaps we will get back to deliver information instead of delivering effects. I am so tired of websites that make me work for the content
* Winners compare their achievements to their goals, losers compare theirs to that of others.
The summary notes (and the article agrees) that:
Among other things, the measure will give the blind greater Internet access through smart phones
Laws provide nothing. They are demands a layer of government makes that are backed by a specified threat for not providing what is demanded.
Developers, researchers, and other technical people will provide this capability
And if you think this is nitpicking, consider the difference between having an idea and implementing an idea.
Government is, therefore, the original model for the patent troll. Claim that something should happen, wait until someone accomplishes it, then take all the credit.
The difference is that government gets to create pain before and until implementation rather than after.
Granting I would like to pick up a few extra rifles that had 'Never fired, only been dropped once'.
John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
This guy's been trying to kill Flash since 1938 !
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
I just don't see the point.
The next thing blind people are going to want is to drive.
They're BLIND.
Seeing is a HANDICAP, hence the restrictions.
If this was an "untapped market", you'd see more innovation.
Simply put - it's not. Roughly 3% of Americans are "legally blind".
And not all of them are bitching about "equal access"...
This used to be a really evil thing, but now it's a blessing in disguise. The right way of making a web page (nice clean <p>s and unordered lists, alts on all the images, styled with CSS) is extremely accessible. The more people do that, the better!
If I had mod points, you would get some!
I have said this for years. It forces people to learn to use CSS properly in order to be 508 compliant. It also has the benefit of (hopefully) weeding out so many of the "programmers" that give web programming a bad name. If a company has to legally make a site 508 compliant, then we won't have all of these horrendous websites that only work in IE nor will we have the programmers that make them still in the field. Hey! My bank! I'm looking at you!!!!
Of course, I'm sure that the legislation will be fubar somehow...
Unfortunately the "right way" is typically the way your manager or boss thinks is the "right way" which often means the "fastest cheapest way"
The standards-compliant way is often the "fastest cheapest way" to serve your customers with disabilities.
Handicapped accessible == machine readable.
Machine readability can be a bad thing when human eyeballs are the product and the information on your web site exists solely to entice humans to look at your advertisements. Watch as TV listings sites have introduced CAPTCHAs and distort the listings in ways that only a full CSS layout engine can untangle, specifically to deter machines that screen-scrape instead of paying per month for API access.
If you grok HTML and CSS then I fail to see how an accessible design costs a whole lot more than a non-accessible one.
Accessible design costs more if you incur costs per day or per view that advertisers are supposed to pay, but they don't pay if most of your visitors are scrapers. To take a bad gaming analogy: is it desirable to make a first-person shooter "accessible" to aimbots?
I'm looking at the percentage of gays and the percentage of blind people, noticing they are the same and getting a kick out of it.
Because someone else can't tell the difference.
Linux with Orca and Compiz. I used Windows and ZoomText for many years, but I got tired of their bull****.. Allow me to explain. While I was going to college, I needed access to multiple machines in multiple classrooms. Being a victim who had actually legitimately purchased the software ($600), they would only allow me to have it on three machines at a time. God forbid we take a ****ing fourth class! We actually had to buy another copy *just for me to use* to satisfy their BS license terms.
So anyway, Orca with Firefox generally works well, but the magnifier that is part of Orca completely sucks. It runs at about 10 FPS and the screen frequently goes garbled. This is where Compiz comes in. The Enhanced Zoom plugin is close to perfection. The only thing it lacks is the ability to track typed characters as you type. The Compiz magnifier is high-performance, low-resource draining, and even works with videos and the like. This is why I tend to get angry when I hear some no-nothing imbisil refer to Compiz as "nothing but unnecessary eye-candy".
If it wasn't for Compiz, I would still be forcing the X server to run in 320x200 mode to achieve magnification. I would rather eat dog food than be preyed on by the Windows "accessibility solution providers".
We're not blind and don't need to.
Some of your customers are blind, and you need to understand how your customers "see" your company.
Why don't you go for a swim without using your arms or legs?
Does this video count?
Next to it would be the audio captcha button.
I tried the audio CAPTCHA here and could not solve it. It consisted of indistinct voices buried in layers of backwards speech. Do I need to turn in my human card?