Delegates shape key access law
The rules that govern Section 508, the groundbreaking US legislation that requires government departments to buy accessible technology are being re-written.
“They are trying to define what accessibility is and catch up with technology,” explained Cynthia Waddell, executive director of the International Center for Disability Resources on the Internet, who was involved in framing the original law.
The US Access Board, which is redrafting Section 508, aims to update the legislation to include newer technology such as real time text, ATMs, mobile technology, electronic books, video and voice texts.
The CSUN conference was the scene of a remarkable exercise in public consultation that saw a hearing in which attendees were invited responded to a series of questions about the proposed changes.
The Access Board wanted feedback on how sensible the proposals are: how much they will cost, how quickly changes can be made and whether they are practical.
The process of redefining 508 is likely to be lengthy. It has already been going for longer than a year and any changes are unlikely to see the light of day before 2011.
“Industry resists anything that means they will have to spend money,” commented Waddell. “So we won’t listen to all the comments. However, my interest is in a win/win for everyone. Sometimes we get into battles were people are not fully informed.”
www.access-board.gov
Veterans spearhead technology charge
Support for veterans – wounded and retired military personnel – plays an important part in the provision of assistive technology in the US.
Over the past 20 years the Computer/Electronic Accommodations Program (CAP) has provided assistive technology to over 85,000 veterans including 14,000 wounded service personnel.
In many cases the technology helps them find work through rehabilitation schemes such as the Wounded Warrior Project and Hire Heroes.
“The problems are huge but it isn’t a hidden issue anymore. Best practice doesn’t work; we are looking for next practice,” said CAP director Dinah Cohen.
Captain Ivan Castro, the only blind officer serving in US Army Special Forces, was a keynote speaker at CSUN. He is one example of a serviceman who has benefited from Veterans Affairs programmes.
Blinded three years ago when a mortar shell exploded close to him in Iraq, Castro has learnt Braille and how to use a computer and can operate a screen reader. He uses a barcode reader to pick out his clothes.
Castro, who has run nine marathons since his injury, told delegates that he had maintained a can do attitude despite his difficulties.
He challenged industry to make products faster, reliable and more affordable. “By the way it would be great if you could make them waterproof as well,” he quipped.
Sue Martin worked as a trainer at a blind rehab centre run by Veterans Affairs in Birmingham, Alabama, one of ten such centres in the US. “I saw my job of giving any vet who wanted to use a computer a way to use one,” she told Ability.
PDFs are well documented
The accessibility of documents and books was a hot topic at this year’s CSUN, if the number of conference sessions run by Adobe was anything to go by.
“Accessibility of documents - particularly PDFs - has become a prime concern,” acknowledged CSUN event manager Wayne Fernandes.
Fernandes said features such as ‘read out loud’, the availability of tabs, the ability to adjust the size of letters, text wrap and controls that adjusted the contrast of documents as evidence that Adobe was nearly there.
However, more attention was required on the training of designers in producing PDFs so that they thought about accessibility from the outset.
Adobe is working on major accessibility improvements to Acrobat and Reader, said Andrew Kirkpatrick, Adobe’s accessibility head.
“Among the expected improvements, are enhanced support for accessibility in PDF forms utilizing Adobe's XML Forms Architecture (XFA) and accessibility support for PDF Portfolios are important for many users,” he said.
Adobe is also building in support for IAccessible2, an accessibility interface provided by The Linux Foundation.
Kirkpatrick did not have a completely easy ride. In one session he had to admit that support for assistive technology was a significant limitation with ConnectPro, online meeting software that is used at some leading British universities.
http://blogs.adobe.com/accessibility/