by | August 25, 2008 · 10:55 am

Information accessibility in the chilly south

Recently I visited Dunedin. I always enjoy a visit to Dunedin, even if it is the middle of winter, perishing cold and threatening to rain most of the time, but the welcome is always warm. Of course the day I left was perfect.I was there for work as part of Otage Uni’s Disability Awareness Week. It was full on. I gave a speech and took part in a debate, which sadly we lost, although only because our adjudicator had the casting vote. Oh well, there was a pleasant little bottle of wine for each of us and it was fun. The speech was reported in the local rag and the photo wasn’t too ghastly I am told, even if the story contained the odd inaccuracy.

But that wasn’t all. There was an assortment of meetings, including on career services for disabled students and several about accessible information and web accessibility. We also ran two workshops, introductions to web accessibility and to information accessibility.

Information accessibility is a really interesting area for us at AccEase. We have always concentrated on web accessibility but information accessibility is equally important and our workshops had a really enthusiastic reception. There will be more to come, and we will be taking a more integrated approach to information accessibility. And so to quote a cliche – “watch this space”.

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Filed under Information Accessibility, Web Accessibility

by | August 3, 2008 · 1:49 pm

The eight top accessibility faults in government web sites

Over the years AccEase has assessed and surveyed hundreds of New Zealand Government web sites. We have found some common problems which create difficulties for users. Here are the top eight.

  1. Text alternatives for images are missing or useless. Alt text is not a caption, but rather conveys the same meaning as the image. If the image is purely decorative then use a null or empty “” alt so it will be invisible to a screen reader. Screen reader users must really get sick of hearing “image image image” ad nauseam. Good alt text can be useful for sighted users too.
  2. Essential public accountability and other important public documents on the site are in pdf only. These are a real problem, and not just for blind people. They are large files, and often don’t re-size well. Pdfs are designed to be printed and often do not work at all well on the screen. I could go on.
  3. Poor colour contrast means essential information might be unreadable for some users. This is often a problem with essential navigation.
  4. Poor enlargement means a very tiring experience for many people, including those in poor light or who left their specs at home.
  5. Failure to use access keys. Consistent use of access keys is important not only for blind users but for people who navigate the web without a mouse.
  6. Small navigation points. These can easily be missed by the user and are really annoying for people with poor hand-eye co-ordination.
  7. Accessibility statements focused on compliance rather than an understanding of an audience. That is quite insulting to the user. In other words, we don’t really care about how bad your experience is on our site, or if you can find what you are looking for. We just want to tick some boxes to get the SSC off our backs.
  8. Overly busy home pages. Now where on earth in all this clutter can I find?

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Filed under Web Accessibility

by | July 21, 2008 · 10:11 am

A really disabled toilet

So-called “disabled toilets” are often the cause of much anguish to those who have no choice but to use them. The term acquired a whole new meaning recently when Dougal Stevenson, that doyen of National Radio recounted a story of a southern gentleman, who, like the three old ladies in the song became locked in the lavatory. Yes you can find absolutely anything on the Net!

The story goes that this person was attending a luncheon at Carisbrook, the aptly named in this case, house of pain, or at least significant discomfort. It appeared that everyone needed to use the facilities at the same time, presumably because they had all imbibed a similar amount. The queues proved too long for this gent who, in increasing discomfort went to find an alternative.

After much desperate searching he finally discovered a toilet for “the disabled” in the bowels of the building along some far corridor, (aren’t they always.) Ascertaining that there was no one else around he thankfully entered.

However he discovered that when it was time to exit the handle of the door would not turn. The toilet was indeed disabled, or should I say seriously impaired. The opportunity for this pun seemed lost on Dougal, but I couldn’t resist the temptation!

Fortunately for the trapped lunch guest rescue came before Monday to Saturday and after his rescuer in turn had to be rescued it was decided the door should be fixed before the game.

So all you crips who attended the infamous test match between the All Blacks and Springboks a week or so ago can thank this anonymous person for getting the probably sole accessible (?) loo in Carisbrook fixed! (I hope.)

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Filed under Disability Issues

by | June 30, 2008 · 9:28 am

In memory of the Rev. Dr Christopher Newell AM

The disability world has lost one of its finest minds and a stalwart friend. Chris Newell was an internationally noted bioethicist and a respected Anglican clergyman and teacher, a disability rights leader and someone unafraid to stand up, as it were, and be counted when it came to the crunch over a range of disability issues.

Although he is gone his work will remain as a tangible reminder of a man who inspired many with his passionate commitment to the human rights of disabled people, and to living life to the full.

But he was also a husband and father and a friend. He had a particular connection with Wellington and disabled people here as he chose to be a member of Wellington DPA, even though he lived in Tasmania.

He was loved and respected by many. I will remember the pleasure of his company, his generosity of spirit and his humour with gratitude. I am proud to call him a friend. He will be missed by many. I do hope that at such a terrible time for Jill and the girls and the rest of his family they can take some comfort from the many loving tributes to him paid in public, and the many more I am sure they will receive in private.

Farewell Chris. Rest in peace.

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Filed under Disability Rights