Web Site Accessibility Blog

Courtesy: Good Experience Blog

The number one reason to build an accessible website (or to be accessible, no matter what the subject): You lose money, and potential customers have bad experiences.

Good Experience Blog shows an experience at Bloomingdales when a father with a stroller asks a store clerk if there is an elevator. The clerk replies: “No. There’s an escalator over there.”

Why is this customer experience broken? Let me count the the ways.

• Bloomingdale’s, a major retailer spread across many floors, has only one elevator accessible from its Lexington Avenue entrance.

• The clerk, upon seeing a customer in need, suggests an irrelevant solution and then goes back to work.

• There is no acknowledgment that this is an inconvenience - not the clerk, not even the sign. Customers who can’t climb stairs or stand on an escalator - customers in wheelchairs, parents with strollers - are just out of luck.

This could be humorous, if it weren’t so despicable and thoughtless:

A wheelchair ramp goes to a landing with more stairs at a courthouse in St. Petersburg, Florida. Unfortunately, I have experienced these types of situations with family members who have been in wheelchairs.

How many websites do you know of that provide just enough accessibility to get to the inaccessible features?

Posting has been light lately at the Accessibility Blog, as things have been very busy. So I thank you for being patient. Because of this, I am making the following request:

The Accessibility Blog is experiencing a higher than normal demand for consulting services. If you are an accessibility consultant in residing in the Northeast United States, and you have more than three years experience in accessibility standards and programming, I would be interested in hearing from you.

Experience in enterprise-level or government accessibility projects is preferred. The ability to write in-depth analysis and reports is critical. Grammar, spelling, research, and concise verbal summaries are important to these projects. Writing skills are essential to these projects and those who have those abilities will be given preference.

Please send your qualifications and references to accessibilityblog@gmail [dot] com.

Via “Captial One Hates Deaf People” at consumerist.com
In a non-web related story, a deaf customer of Capital One was attempting to apply for a Capital One credit card. She needed to finalize the information, but Capital One would not accept relay calls. She attempted to put her mother on the line to explain that she was deaf and needed the relay to communicate. Capital One would not let her speak through her mother or accept the relay call, again.
Here’s part of her experience:

The verification department immediately said they did not accept relay calls and would not talk to me, but instead would send me back to customer service dept which had told me that they could NOT help me. I got angry at this point and told them that I was not happy with being shuffled about because as a deaf person, I’ve had to deal with this sort of crap before the ADA laws came in place. I then told them that I would be reporting them to Better Business Bureau and asked the relay operator to hang up on them (which she happily did because she was not happy with the mistreatment either!)”

Read the entire account at The Consumerist, then Digg the story!

In what is becoming an annual pilgrimage to the land of silicon, I am getting ready to head out to Search Engine Strategies in San Jose. I have to say of all of the SES events, this is one of my favorites.
I’ll be speaking at three sessions during the week, as (finally) usability has found a place in a search conference. I and a few others have been pushing for a usability session, and now we have our chance. This should be a lot of fun, and we might actually teach somthing useful! If you are going to be at the conference, please attend and show your support for introducing usability to the search space!
I’ll be speaking on the following topics:

Successful Site Architecture,
Aug 8th, 3:30 PM

Usability & SEO: Two Wins For The Price Of One,
Aug 9th, 3:15 PM

Site Clinic (Bring your site!),
Aug 10, 9:00 AM

If you are attending, please be sure to say “hello” and introduce yourself! The Hilton bar will be the main hub of activity. So, even if you are not attending the conference, but are in the area, feel free to stop by!

A human interest story you will have to read to believe.

Ben is a 14-year old who enjoys skateboarding, video games, kickball and basketball – to watch him you wouldn’t believe that he does not have eyes. Ben was diagnosed with retinal cancer at age 2, and lost his ability to see when he was three. However, that has not kept him from doing all of the things that he wants to do.

Most amazingly, Ben uses echolocation to “see” objects. By clicking with his tongue, he is able to perceive distances, objects and obstacles in his path. By hearing the echo, Ben can tell what is ahead and what it is made of. He is truly a special young man and is baffling the experts.

Having lived with a father who has combated Multiple Sclerosis for over 20 years, I am always overwhelmed to hear stories of people who demand not to be considered “special” or “victims of circumstance.” People who demand to live life the way they want with no special treatment or quarter given to them is an amazing and inspirational story every time. We all have something to learn from the will and determination demonstrated by these inspirational few.

There’s Ben zooming around on his skateboard outside his home in Sacramento; there he is playing kickball with his buddies. To see him speed down hallways and make sharp turns around corners is to observe a typical teen – except, that is, for the clicking. Completely blind since the age of 3, after retinal cancer claimed both his eyes (he now wears two prostheses), Ben has learned to perceive and locate objects by making a steady stream of sounds with his tongue, then listening for the echoes as they bounce off the surfaces around him. About as loud as the snapping of fingers, Ben’s clicks tell him what’s ahead: the echoes they produce can be soft (indicating metals), dense (wood) or sharp (glass). Judging by how loud or faint they are, Ben has learned to gauge distances.

The technique is called echolocation, and many species, most notably bats and dolphins, use it to get around. But a 14-year-old boy from Sacramento? While many blind people listen for echoes to some degree, Ben’s ability to navigate in his sightless world is, say experts, extraordinary. “His skills are rare,” says Dan Kish, a blind psychologist and leading teacher of echomobility among the blind. “Ben pushes the limits of human perception.”

I can’t do much more for this story other than to quote a few paragraphs and to tell you that you have to read the entire story. The Boy Who Sees with Sound - People.com

Now that Google has changes its policies and added an accessible alternative, I thought that others would fall in line. Wow, was I wrong. In the past few weeks I have been overwhelmed with CAPTCHA’s as I have opened accounts at many social media sites.

One of the most egregious was at Yahoo, which had an accessible alternative in the past, but seems to have dismissed it in order to gain access to Yahoo! Groups. I guess the blind have no business over at Yahoo Groups? Is that the message?

Fortunately, there was one CAPTCHA that rose above them all. A new social media site, Zoints has the best CAPTCHA alternative I have seen yet - a simple logic puzzle that requires the user to select two items that are edible out of a list of five - very simple, and it accomplishes the goal of the CAPTCHA -

(click to view larger image)

Here’s my rant:
By the way, by definition (Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart) if the CAPTCHA does not allow blind users to access the site, then it has not done it’s job. Most offensively, you have called the blind users non-human by using an ineffective and poorly designed test that does NOT distinguish computer from human. ’nuff said.
Here now is the circus of CAPTCHA participants:

First up, Yahoo Groups. Not only is there a link for more information about the CAPTCHA, which I though would provide an alternative. It explains the need for the CAPTCHA, what it does - but provides NO ALTERNATIVE!

Next up - Social Media bookmark phenomenon, Digg, does not allow blind users to use the service.

And finally, MySpace (big surprise). I guess no blind people are allowed in MySpace - no big deal, it’s only porn anyway, isn’t it?

That’s it for today’s edition of Circus of CAPTCHA’s.Be sure to let the creators of Zoints know that you appreciate their creative, inclusive approach to the real purpose of the CAPTCHA.

I’m waiting on a delayed flight to Chicago, heading to the DMA Catalog Conference this week. It will be interesting as my first session is the first session of the week, bright and early Monday morning at 8:15. Somehow, I’ll need to register and get my badge and find the room at the not-so-small McCormick Place.

I’ll be speaking on Search Engine Optimization, with a little heavy duty stuff thrown in like accessibility and keyword long tail concepts. I am using the NFB v. Target lawsuit to show how a simple accessibility program implemented in the site can also help search engine rankings. I’ve heard that the attendees are all over the board in their understanding of SEO, so we’ll see what happens. For the rest of the conference, I’ll be doing site clinics for merchant sites and offering advice on improvement.

If you are in the Chicago area this week, drop me a line, as I always like to meet friends while I am in their local town. I also like to meet those that I have only known through the blog or articles. Just drop me a line and I’ll try to let you know where I will be some evening.
Fortunately, I am in an airport that offers free wi-fi. Enough can’t be said about free wi-fi in airports . . . it makes waiting much more bearable.

When I read Chris Hofstater’s post yesterday about his experiences with Apple products, I had a feeling it would grow. I knew Apple had a great track record in Accessibility, as i was a Mac fan for many years. I had the “portable” Mac, as it got me thru college, and I was always amazed by the MacTalk feature.

Chris observes the past record of Apple and how they have sacrificed accessible for cool. The iPod is a classic example of an anti-blind product. There is no capability for voice in the iPod, which it certainly has the computing power to do. From focusing on accessibility to now focusing on cool, Apple has changed the core of their development and left accessibility behind.

Chris follows up yesterday’s post with a new one today, as the response was overwhelming. So, he does what any good blogger would do - talk about the subject even more. So, part 2, More about Apple and Me. I highly recommend this reading as a history lesson about Steve Jobs, Apple, Microsoft and IBM. Solid stuff, and well worth your time.

I received an email from Chris Hofstater last month, informing me that he has started to blog at http://blindconfidential.blogspot.com/. Chris is a former VP at Freedom Scientific and one of the main forces behind JAWS. He has relocated to Florida and seems to be occupying his time with more things that I could keep up with.

For starters, we both have a love of saltwater fishing. While he likes to go out in a kayak, I prefer to keep my feet on an old pier or breakwall. He has also started a new endeavor, Project Paddle Odyssey, based on his love of outdoor sports, as a way to help other blind people can become independent in outdoor sporting.

His blog is full of both commentary and very insightful stories about dealing with blindness and the expectations or frustrations that one goes though. If you are a sighted person, I recommend reading Chris’ blog even more, as he communicates with honest intensity about his life. He does a very good job of bringing ideas and thoughts to people who have never had to experience what he has, and he is an outstanding representative to do so. His post about learning Braille and the actors in his mind re-awakening is foundational, and should be required reading for any sighted person commenting on blindness.

However, his blog is not just rants, observations and some irreverent humor; he has some solid technical posts about AT, podcasting, blogging and PDA’s. His comments on adapting adaptive technology are telling for anyone that is in the field. The love-hate affair with Audible had me rolling in laughter, yet starting to understand his life even more.

Head on over to Blind Confidential and add it to your subscriptions. You won’t be disappointed.

And Chris, “Braille booth babes for the blind”? That may catch on – I won’t be surprised if they are at the next show that I attend.

Search Engine Strategies New York is wrapping up – I’m on my way to the last session of the day. Speaking at the last session of the last day is always an interesting prospect, but it is also the most fun, as everyone loosens up.

Earlier in the week I was on a Site Architecture panel and was able to speak to architecture from an Accessibility standpoint. Audiences seem to be more and more receptive to this message. I’ve been intertwining accessibility into my search engine marketing sessions for almost three years now, and the mood seems to be changing.

Audiences are surprised to hear that basic accessibility is also basic search engine optimization. That creating an accessible site can be done while optimizing a site. The perception is that accessibility is a long, arduous and expensive process, however, anyone who looks at the W3C checklist will see differently. Those checkpoints are not just good accessibility but good marketing techniques as well. What is even more surprising is that the majority of site owners that I have talked to at this conference do not know what their site looks like in a cell phone or mobile device.

Of course, bringing the mobile device into play creates another set of priorities for a site owner. Accessibility is important, but mobile device accessibility brings the point home more effectively. That’s the good and bad of the issue. The mobile device issue is the one that pushes the site owner or manager over the edge. I’m glad people are taking the issue more seriously – part of me just wishes it was for accessibility alone that they would see the potential.