NYS Forum IT Accessibility Committee

April 2009 Newsletter

### Edited by Joel Obuchowski

Articles and ideas for future newsletters? Please e-mail them to Debi Orton dorton@goer.state.ny.us and Joel Obuchowski jobuchow@ins.state.ny.us

NEXT COMMITTEE MEETING

April 9, 2:30pm - 4:00pm
NYS Forum Offices
24 Aviation Road, Colonie

Remember, we have a NEW location for our meetings.

Directions to 24 Aviation Road:
 
Heading north on Wolf Road, take a right on Metro Park Road (at the Macaroni Grill). At the next intersection, take a right on Aviation Road. The building is on the left, past the access road to the Cicotte Center. We have a large parking lot in the rear of the building. The Forum offices are to the immediate right of the rear entrance.
 
To access Wolf Road south of this location, use Central Avenue or Sand Creek Road, then head North. If coming from the North, access Wolf Road via Albany Shaker Road, and take a left on Metro Park Road.

Conference calling will be available for those who are interested, but please be sure to let us know at least a day in advance if you'd like to attend the meeting via conference call, so that we can reserve the resource.

One of the main topics for this meeting is the organization of a series of local JAWS trainings. Jon Farina, a local JAWS trainer for the Northeast Association for the Blind, will be joining us to discuss how we might make this happen. If you have any interest in local JAWS training, either for you or someone in your agency, we invite you to attend this meeting. In other business, we will be discussing progress on the other training initiatives we developed from the March meeting.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Save the Date!!

On April 23, the IT Accessibility Committee will present a half-day session on Accessibility for Executives at the Crowne Plaza on Lodge Street in downtown Albany. Presenting will be Dee D. McCumber from the NYS Department of Health, and Jeff Bennett from CIO/OFT.

The first half of the session will focus on the role of information technology in the life of people with disabilities and how we can avoid raising obstacles to their use of technology. The second half of the program will be a series of roundtable discussions to help reinforce the information presented in the lecture session.

RECENT NEWS

The Paciello Group and WebAIM Announce Web Site Certification Services for Accessibility
http://www.paciellogroup.com/blog/?p=140

FEATURE ARTICLE

Web Accessibility and Aging Audiences: What We Can Learn

As baby boomers age, people over the age of 65 have become the fastest growing demographic worldwide. By 2020, this group will have over a billion members.

With age comes the effects of the aging process. Interface designers need to consider these limitations when designing: reduced visual acuity; hearing loss; loss of fine motor control; and, learning and memory impairments. This list may seem daunting, but you can apply readily available accessibility and usability guidelines. Research has demonstrated that improving the usability of sites and systems for the elderly, those with limited cognition, and visually impaired populations provides usability gains for the public as a whole.

Font Size and Navigation
In a 2006 study of navigation and usability, researchers examined the effect of font size and design attributes on comprehension. One hundred and five seniors ranging from 58 to 90 years of age participated in the study. Findings showed that 33% of the participants found 8-9 point font size too small, with an additional 22% finding 10 point text too small. In the same study, it was found that the most important factor for increasing usability for the elderly is the use of consistent and persistent navigation.
Simplify Instructions
Most of the people developing web pages now have been using the Internet for at least a decade. Many of the seniors now turning to the Internet may not have seen the Internet until now. If you suspect that your site might attract an older population, avoid using Internet jargon that might be unfamiliar or confusing. For example, if offering an RSS feed, explain what it is and how it works.
How This Translates to New York
New York's older population is growing rapidly. By 2015, adults age sixty and over will make up 20-29% of the population ? 50% larger than the existing senior adult population. This group is also becoming poorer and more diverse. A large percentage of these seniors are becoming computer users, and although high-speed Internet access is growing quickly, it is not yet universal.
 
As seniors' mobility declines, the ability to engage the world via the computer becomes more attractive. Grandmothers are visiting with grandchildren via web cam; other seniors go online for health information or to find out about government programs providing in-home assistance. Being online helps this group maintain their independence.
Welcoming Seniors to Your Web Site
As we age, several of our faculties progressively diminish. Below are some of the problems most likely to affect seniors:
VISION: We already make adjustments on our web sites for blind visitors using assistive technology, but more common in the senior population are people who can see, but not as well as they used to. One way to mitigate problems for this group is to provide options to change the text size of your web site, and provide sufficient contrast between text and background so that letters are easily read. Avoid dark backgrounds, as well.
 
HEARING: Seniors with hearing loss will benefit from synchronized captioning just as deaf visitors will. If you're posting an audio-only file, post a transcript along with it.
 
MOTOR DEXTERITY: Avoid designs that require precise mouse placement, such as tiny radio buttons or sensitive drop-down or flyout menus.
 
COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENTS: Keep your page design clean and uncluttered. Avoid distracting animation, and limit the amount of text on the page. Language should be clear and targeted at a 7th grade reading level (this also helps non-native English speakers).

RESOURCES

Keyboard Accessible Dropdown Menu, Part Deux
http://blakehaswell.com/lab/dropdown/deux/

Practical Accessibility Tips with WCAG 2.0
http://www.sitepoint.com/newsletter/viewissue.php?id=3&issue=233

The Paciello Group and Adobe Present WCAG 2.0 Accessibility Webinars for Flash & PDF
http://www.paciellogroup.com/blog/?p=158

WaSP InterAct Curriculum
http://interact.webstandards.org/