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Accessibility with Reasonable Adaptation |
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Towards Accessible ICT :
Promoting Accessible ICT :
First Kuwait International Conference on the Role of People with
Special Needs in Building the Information Society "Access to Information", Achieving the value proposition of accessibility on the Internet; issues of information policy, structures and technologiesPart 1 of 3:
II. Select Review of Issues and Trends in Information Structures and TechnologiesThe table below indicates that as at 31 December 2005, there were an estimated 1,018,057,389 Internet users world-wide, although estimated usage varied among regions, from not quite 3 per cent of the population of Africa to nearly 70 per cent of the population in North America. WORLD INTERNET USAGE AND POPULATION STATISTICS[57]
Notes to the table: (1) Population and Internet usage data are as at 31 December 2005. (2) Demographic data are from <http://www.world-gazetteer.com/>. (3) Internet usage data compiled from material published at <http://www.nielsen-netratings.com/>, at <http://www.itu.int/home/index.html>, by national Network Information Centres and related sources by Miniwatts Marketing Group <http://www.internetworldstats.com/>, ©Copyright 2006. The table suggests that relative levels of social and economic development influence Internet usage among all regions. However, what is more striking is the significant expansion in Internet usage in developing Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and Western Asia during the first five years of the twenty-first century – although per cent share remains low compared to Europe and North America. A. Factors influencing Internet usage 1. Consumer technologies A major factor in the rapid expansion of Internet usage is the pace of developments and wide dissemination of consumer technologies. Commoditization of information and communication appliances is resulting in near-ubiquitous access to information goods and services. Pre-paid mobile telephone cards and expansion of "cyber cafes" are resulting in new patterns for ICT access and usage. Innovative, user-based structures are producing and distributing an ever-expanding range of Internet-based information and communication goods and services. 2. XML schema A second factor concerns technical developments for production and publication of digital content, in particular the growing use of Extensible Markup Language (XML) schema in content development, for publication format and in speech recognition,[58] which are all contributing to the development of scalable Web-based databases. Extensible Markup Language (XML), a member of the Standard Generalized Markup Languages (SGML) like HTML (Hype Text Markup Language), was originally designed to support large-scale electronic publishing and now is playing an important role in the exchange of a wide variety of data on the World Wide Web.[59] XML provides a text-based means to describe and apply a tree-based structure to information, whether this is a document or spreadsheet. XML complements HTML – a principal programming language of the World Wide Web – by describing information in terms of elements and attributes, while HTML formats and displays the information. XML is considered to be an important tool for the further development of the World Wide Web, since it provides a cross-platform, software and hardware independent tool to transmit information.[60] The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), a nonprofit organization, has identified XML as the recommended metalanguage for the further development of the Web, since authors can develop content that is controlled by languages of their choice and even of their own making. The IMS Global Learning Consortium, a nonprofit organization that supports adoption and use of learning technologies worldwide identified XML as the basis for all of its specifications since XML facilitates accessibility through transformable, structured, text-based content. XML allows a range of flexible stylesheet transformations, and allows simple changes to font size and color as well as the use of complex translation grammars used to translate a presentation into entirely different modalities.[61] Moreover, XML is supported by all major computer platforms and browsers, which is an important consideration for assistive and augmentative technologies, which often require interoperability between the application delivering content or services and the specialized application of end users. The Center for Technology in Government of the State University of New York at Albany began in June 2005 an 18-month project of studies and training workshops on use of XML in the development and management of Web sites for a number of governmental agencies of New York State (USA) with a view to drafting, publishing and distributing guidelines and case studies on XML-enabled technologies in Web site management, performance, accessibility and value.[62] The project was initiated in response to the cost of developing and maintaining public Web sites and focused on XML in the light of its capacities to support effective data exchange between applications. CTR identified four potential benefits of XML-enabled technologies:
However, XML is not without its critics a tool for data representation, manipulation and transmission on the Internet. Adam Bosworth, Vice-President of Engineering for Google, notes: (1) XML does not handle binary data well; (2) XML does not handle links; and (3) XML documents tend to be monolithic.[64]He notes that two formats that overcome a number of XML limitations are obtaining wide use on the Web: RSS 2.0 and Atom.[65] Both are news feed formats, specified in XML, and support a base schema that provides a model for sets. 3. Internet as a platform A third factor is the increased use of the global Internet as a platform for the development and provision of a range of services in the public, private and non-governmental sectors. At one level, this is evident in the expanded use of the Internet by Governments to communicate with their constituencies and deliver services electronically: e-Government, in other words. Internet-based Software as a Service (SaaS) and virtualization of business processes are resulting in new models for organization and management of enterprises, public and private. The value proposition of SaaS is multitenancy; it is a utility that is "always on," allows for decentralization of business processes[66] and provides a platform for heterogeneous application development and deployment. As with many portal based resources, SaaS can present accessibility problems to end users through non-provision of text equivalents of graphical elements, use of frames and inaccessible Java applications. Grassroots approaches to social networking, using the Internet as a platform for instantaneous messages, exchanges of photos, audio and video content, and creating archives and specialized databases are contributing to significant increases in the number and scope of communities of interest within and among countries. B. Web 2.0 Rapid changes in information and communications technologies indicate that complexity kills innovation while ease of comprehension and unambiguous content[67] translate into significant opportunities to create new structures to communicate, to share knowledge and to develop, deliver and distribute content and services. Many of these characteristics are associated with "Web 2.0" – a term attributed to the O"Reilly Media Group[68] but which were also discussed in Kevin Kelly's "New Rules for the New Economy" (Wired, September 1997)[69] and Sir Tim Berners-Lee's Weaving the Web (1999).[70] In contrast to the twentieth century Web 1.0, Web 2.0 is characterized by the use of the Internet as a platform to develop and share dynamic rather than static content.[71] A key difference between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 designs is the extent to which Web 2.0 content is based on cooperative efforts using Internet-based services rather than discrete software packages. In the Web 1.0 era, the Netscape® browser was delivered as a unique client application while in Web 2.0 the Google search engine and related services are based on Web services to create, manipulate and manage a wide and rapidly expanding range of specialized databases. 1. Self-service Web, the "long tail" and mashups In Web 2.0 designs, user self-service and Web-based data management services are able to peruse the full extent of the searchable Web; and many Internet services prosper by serving as intermediary between end users and the "long tail"[72] of mainly small-scale, autonomous sites that provide specialized content and services, such as online auctions and specialized book, music and video and related media services. Associated with the self-service model is the Web 2.0 principle that services improve as more people use them, refer others through hyperlinking[73] or build upon Internet-based resources to create unique user-defined experiences through composite, user-defined applications - a "mashup".[74] A common "mashup" is to allow users to access Google Maps[75] in connection with database search results, such as locating a residence for sale or rent,[76] or ski locations globally.[77] Mashups can present accessibility problems due to bandwidth considerations as well as representation of graphical content in alternative formats, but as developers create mobile mashups, accessibility workarounds are inevitable – if only for the "coolness" challenge. 2. Social bookmarking The hyperlinking – or social bookmarking - capacities attributed to Web 2.0 provides a way for interested communities of users to create specialized databases that are nonhierarchical and dynamic in content. For instance, a number of mainstream online news sites, such as the Toronto Star < http://www.thestar.com >, include the option for uses to send a "tag and save" link to the <http://del.icio.us> social bookmark manager site. Similarly, Digg, the technology news compiler <http://digg.com>, relies upon its community of users to provide input. Social bookmarking of Internet resources reflect the perceived utility of resources listed, which is in contrast to Web search engine algorithms which generally rank pages in terms of "hits" received.[78] Intelligence gained through social bookmarking contributes to further development of search "metalanguage". 3. Scalable, user-defined databases The user-defined Web 2.0 is resulting in the creation of large, scalable – and generally accessible – specialized databases through cooperative efforts, which make extensive use of XML schema, RSS feeds[79] in particular. Many of these Web-based scalable databases are the product of voluntary data compilation efforts[80] with a focus on Peer-to-Peer (P2P) exchanges of digital content – legal or otherwise. The open source BitTorrent <http://www.bittorrent.com/ > is both P2P protocol and file distribution client for content creators and publishers. 4. Weblogs and the expansion of user-defined news and opinion Another type of Web 2.0 user-enabled database is the dynamic product of online Weblogs – or "blogs", which harvest the collective intelligence, opinions and experiences of end users on a range of issues - specialized or idiosyncratic - through the power of popular participation and XML-based schema. While Weblogs employ XML schema, few provide accessible registration pages. Most sites use scrollable displays of their terms of use / agreement text, and include a "CAPTCHA" bitmapped image[81] to confirm that the user is a human being and "not a spam robot."[82] Basic information in accessible format on creating a Weblog is available from the online Wiki.ehow <http://www.wiki.ehow.com> which is defined as the world's "largest "how-to" manual. At the enterprise and organizational level, Social Text <http://www.socialtext.com> provides both open source and proprietary software to create Weblogs and Wikis (online databases) behind a firewall. At the individual level, Movable Type <http://sixapart.com/movabletype>, Live Journal <http://www.livejournal.com> and BlogDrive <http://www.blogdrive.com> all provide online resources to create unsupported Weblogs. However, these sites include CAPTCHA bitmapped security images, which pose difficulties for users with disabilities. In a recent study, the American Foundation for the Blind <http://www.afb.org > found that most blogs provide accessible content but encountered accessible problems when attempting to perform essential blogging functions: ability to create an individual account / blog; edit their user profile; compose, read, and lend style to their own blog entries; link the content of their blogs to relevant online material; and review comments of their readers. The principal problem encountered was registration of an individual account, with the exception of one site, Bloglines <http://www.bloglines.com/> which used email to confirm that the user "was human" and provided a link to activate the user account. One challenge the AFB study found with topic-specific blogs is they tend to contain a voluminous amount of content, and numerous hyperlinks, which can make it difficult for blind users to construct a mental image of the site's layout without the benefit of formatting cues. The study concludes by observing that education regarding accessibility for computer users with visual disabilities is essential if improvements are to be made by designers and developers of blogs and related applications, particularly at the level of registration.[83] 5. Social networking and user-defined communities of interests Social networking is another user-defined application that builds upon Web 2.0 design concepts. Social networking is based on specialized portals which are used to establish and develop communities of interest online for professional and personal purposes. Some are open to all users while others are based on an "invitation" to join. In the Web 1.0 era, such functions were carried out by advertising-supported resources, such as Yahoo! Groups <http://groups.yahoo.com/>, but growing interest in user-defined rich content and dynamic dialogue coupled with ease of access to lightweight Web-based applications have resulted in the establishment of a growing number of social networking portals. At the enterprise level, portals such as LinkedIn <https://www.linkedin.com/>, Ryze <http://www.ryze.com/> provide resources to search for and establish business and professional contacts. Individual interests can be pursued through sites such as Friendster <http://www.friendster.com/>, Orkut <http://www.orkut.com/> and MySpace <http://www.myspace.com/>. As is the case with Weblogs, the accessibility issue in online social networking is provision of text equivalents for the considerable graphical content, accessible registration, and ease of navigation of voluminous content. For instance, MySpace, among others, uses a CAPTCHA bitmapped security image on its registration page. 6. Lightweight programming and new business models Web 2.0 designs leverages the Internet as a platform that supports lightweight programming and business models that allow for loosely coupled systems and provide opportunities for end users to share, to syndicate and to remix content. For instance, Amazon.Com allows users to refer to content or services available on its sites – books, for instance – and resource can be published in accessible XML format over HTTP (Hypertext Markup Language). 7. Client-side rich content and AJAX Web 2.0 designs are associated with the rich user experience through delivery of active content and full-scale applications to the end user; much of this is based on use of AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML). AJAX is not a programming language per se but a set of technologies to produce content on a client browser rather than retrieve from a remote server.[84] AJAX-based applications can pose problems to users of assistive and augmentative devices: AJAX applications are based on JavaScript, which must be enabled on the client device and may not be available on some devices such as certain mobile terminals and Lynx browsers; the browser must also to support the XML HTTP Request object, which currently is available in Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer and the Apple Safari browser on Mac OS-X.[85] A more basic problem with AJAX for users of assistive and augmentative devices is that it dynamically updates a page after it has been loaded. Current adaptive and assistive software generally would not be aware of such changes, since these do not follow the classic definition of "page organization" for screen readers.[86] This represents a major area for developer effort if persons with visual disabilities are to enjoy fully the potential of Web 2.0 designs and concepts. 8. Emergence of the seamless digital lifestyle Ray Ozzie, Chief Technology Officer of the Microsoft Corporation, recently observed that the rapid changes in information and communication technologies and the adoption of service-enabled software that "just works" at the grassroots have contributed to the emergence of a "self-service Web" in which effective Web designs can attract and promote products and services, increasingly based on a limited use or online advertising supported model, can help specialized research and learning, and enables individual efforts in self-help and make recommendations to others. He also noted the ubiquity of mobile communication devices and ways in which personal computers have morphed into a range of information and media appliances that are contributing to the emergence of a seamless "digital lifestyle" centered on Internet-based services. However, he cautioned, "the power of technology also brings with it a cost;… the array of technology in an individual's life can be daunting;… products must deliver a seamless experience, one in which all the technology in your life 'just works' and can work together on your behalf, under your control."[87] C. Convergence and implications for accessible ICT for all While a growing number of Governments have introduced national legislation or administrative guidance or both on providing accessible information and communication goods and services, and the draft international convention on the rights of persons with disabilities has a consensus draft article (number 9) on accessibility, the principle force driving accessibility on the Internet is the way in which the World Wide Web provides an open and reliable framework for integrating digital content – data, voice and video – and technological advances that provide a universal way to unambiguously define data and services with open standards, XML in particular. Norms and standards are important components in a process of removing barriers to participation and promoting accessible information goods and services, but the business case and social networking potential of accessible information and communication goods and services are important determinants in that process, which has major implications for whatever governance regime may emerge as follow up to the Tunis phase of WSIS. Notes to the text [57] ©Copyright 2006, Miniwatts Marketing Group, available at http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm. [58] Voice-XML http://www.voicexml.org/. [59] W3C.ORG: Extensible Markup Language (XML) 1.0 (Third Edition), available at http://www.w3.org/XML/Core/#Publications. [60] XML Tutorial, available at http://www.w3schools.com/xml/. [61] National Center for Accessible Media (USA), Using XML for Accessibility: 4.1 XML is Customizable and Flexible XML is the W3C recommended metalanguage for the web. Using XML, authors can develop content that is controlled by languages of their choice and even of their own making. For the purposes of these Guidelines, authors are advised to use XML-based languages in preference to plain HTML. In addition, they should seek to confine their selection of special-purpose XML languages to those already in general use, especially those languages designed with accessibility provisions. XML has significantly fewer limitations than HTML. While the tags and attributes within HTML are restricted to a pre-defined set, XML offers expert developers the capability to employ author-defined tags. This flexibility makes XML more fully customizable. Headers and paragraph tags can be made more descriptive. Instead of the standard header and paragraph tags found in HTML, XML allows the developer to define tags, making them more intelligent and intelligible. Thus it is possible for an author to tailor data files to meaningfully describe the type of data in any particular set of tags in a data file. This flexibility also allows the author to mark up data files with tags that clearly differentiate content intended for different users with different needs. For example, a single data file can contain content designed both for blind or visually impaired users and sighted users. Section 4.2.2 provides an example of how this can be achieved using XML and stylesheets. These flexible tags also support the editing process by permitting authors to use a different 'editing' view than they intend to display for their readers. A visually impaired author, for example, could use a large print view but publish in a smaller print. Another important difference between HTML and XML lies in the way that the two languages handle the structure and display of data. HTML combines structure and display data. XML separates structure information from display information. The XML metalanguage can create languages that describe and manage the structure of data or that format data. The semantics of an XML document are, therefore, defined by the applications that process them and/or by stylesheets (Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformations, XSLT). Stylesheets render the content of the XML file appropriately for differing output formats. 4.2 XML Allows for Standardization for Accessibility, Validation and Well-formedness XML-based mark-up languages, including those created by authors, depend upon online DTDs or schemas that provide rules for their interpretation. This means that the tags, including those in XHTML, must be well formed and validated. This additional strictness, not required by HTML, imposes a discipline on content developers but it is not burdensome. There are code validators available from W3C and both the content files and the associated stylesheets can be validated for correct code. As described in the principles on standards, validity and well-formedness generally contribute to accessibility Available at http://ncam.wgbh.org/salt/guidelines/sec4.html. [62] Eileen Colkin Cuneo, "XML in Government: Promise and Politics," Information Week (March 20, 2006), available at http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=183700357. [63] Center for Technology in Government, Web Site Management Using XML: A Testbed Project: Summary, available at http://www.ctg.albany.edu/projects/xmltb?proj=xmltb&sub=summary. [64] Adam Bosworth, "Learning from the Web," Semi-structured Data, vol. 3, no. 8 (October 2005), available at http://acmqueue.com/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=337. [65] Wikipedia. "Atom compared to RSS," available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atom_%28standard%29#Atom_Compared_to_RSS_2.0. [66] Recent studies indicate four areas for business process outsourcing: (1) finance and accounting, (2) human resources, including payroll and benefits management, (3) supply management and procurement, and (4) vertical processes specific to an industry such as claims processing, mortgage and credit in David L. Margulisu, "The great business process handoff," Infoworld (May 5, 2005), available at http://www.infoworld.com/article/05/05/09/19FEbpo_1.html?s=feature. [67] A recent study conducted at Carlton University (Canada) involving 500 participants found that users formed an opinion about a Web site in about 1/20 of a second, and the initial impression was carried over in subsequent opinions about the site, see Gitte Lindgaard, Gary J. Fernandes, Cathy Dudek and J. Brown,, "Attention web designers: You have 50 milliseconds to make a good first impression!" Behaviour and Information Technology, vol. 25 (March-April 2006) pp. 115 – 126, abstract available at http://www.websiteoptimization.com/speed/tweak/blink/. See also Malcolm Gladwell, Blink: the power of thinking without thinking (New York, Little Brown and Company, 2005), which examines rapid cognition: "the two seconds it takes" to make a decision and when quick judgments are not appropriate. [68] Jim Rapoza, "What Web 2.0 means to you," eWeek, January 2, 2006, available at http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1907188,00.asp. [69] Kevin Kelly, "New Rules for the New Economy; Twelve dependable principles for thriving in a turbulent world," Wired, issue 5.09 (September 1997), available at http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/5.09/newrules.html. [70] Tim Berners-Lee, with Mark Fischetti, Weaving the Web: the original design and ultimate destiny of the World Wide Web (New York, HarperCollins, 1999; glossary of key terms, http://www.w3.org/People/Berners-Lee/Weaving/glossary.html. [71] Tim O"Reilly, "What is Web 2.0: Design patterns and business models for the next generation of software," (09/30/2005), available at http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/oreilly/tim/news/2005/09/30/what-is-web-20.html. [72] Chris Anderson, "The Long Tail," Wired (October 2004), available at http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.10/tail.html. [73] Hyperlinking or hypertext is one form of "hypermedia." Hyperlinking is created by embedding links to external URL's within a text block, at http://www.mandala-designs.com/marylhurst/day_spa/hyperlinking.htm. There are a number of legal issues associated with hyperlinking, copyright protection in particular; see for instance Maureen A. O'Rourke, "Legal Issues on the Internet: hyperlinking and framing," D-Lib Magazine (April 1998) available at http://www.dlib.org/dlib/april98/04orourke.html. [74] Wikipedia (Cleanup camp, January 2006) "Mashup (web application hybrid)," available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mashup_(web_application_hybrid). [75] Google Maps API, available at http://www.google.com/apis/maps/. [76] http://www.housingmaps.com/. [77] http://www.skibonk.com/ski/index.jsp. [78] Wikipedia. "Social bookmarking," available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_bookmarking. The article includes a select list of social bookmarking services. [79] RSS is a family of web feed formats, specified in XML and used for Web syndication. RSS is used by news websites, Weblogs and podcasting. The abbreviation is variously used to refer to the following standards:
Web feeds provide web content or summaries of web content together with links to the full versions of the content, and other metadata. RSS delivers this information as an XML file called an RSS feed, Web feed, RSS stream, or RSS channel. In addition to facilitating syndication, Web feeds allow a website's frequent readers to track updates on the site using a news aggregator – or simply aggregator, which provides a consolidated view of content in a browser display or desktop application. See Wikipedia (10 April 2006) "RSS (file format), available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSS_(file_format). [80] Dan Bricken, "The Cornucopia of the Commons: how to get volunteer labor," (2000), available at http://www.bricklin.com/cornucopia.htm. [81] CAPTCHA (Completely Automated Public Turing Test to Tell Computers and Humans Apart) is a security test designed to block software robots from interacting with a Web site. It requires visual verification of a bitmapped image. However, such security tests block humans who are blind, deaf, hard of hearing, have low vision, or a cognitive/intellectual disability such as dyslexia – as well as many users of mobile computing devices. W3C Working Group Note, "Inaccessibility of CAPTCHA; Alternatives to Visual Turing Tests on the Web" (23 November 2005), available at http://www.w3.org/TR/turingtest/. [82] https://www.livejournal.com/create.bml. [83] American Foundation for the Blind, "Is Blogging Accessible to People with Vision Loss?" available at http://www.afb.org/Section.asp?SectionID=57&DocumentID=2753. [84] Wikipedia. "Ajax (programming)," available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AJAX. AJAX uses a combination of:
[85] Peter Krantz, "AJAX and Accessibility," available at http://www.standards-schmandards.com/index.php?2005/03/01/16-ajax-and-accessibility. [86] See, "Accessibility and design of AJAX applications," AJAX magazine (October 10, 2005), available at http://ajax.phpmagazine.net/2005/10/accessibility_and_design_of_aj.html; and Joe Walker's Blog, "3 Myths of Ajax and Accessibility," available at http://getahead.ltd.uk/blog/joe/2006/03/09/1141929483908.html. [87] Ray Ozzie, "The Internet Services Disruption" (October 28, 2005), available at http://www.scripting.com/disruption/ozzie/TheInternetServicesDisruptio.htm. |
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