You Are Here: IT Accessibility Committee March 2006 Newsletter
### Edited by Joel Obuchowski
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If you would like to provide comments about or items to include in this newsletter, please e-mail Debi Orton (dorton@goer.state.ny.us) and Joel Obuchowski (jobuchow@ins.state.ny.us).
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NEXT COMMITTEE MEETING
The NYS Forum IT Accessibility Committee will hold its next monthly meeting on Thursday, March 9 from 2:30 to 4:00 and the Forum offices, 411 State Street, Albany. On the agenda will be discussion about our continuing review of our curriculum, upcoming presentation opportunities, a report on the GOER/PEF training initiative, agency contacts during the month, and more. We hope to see you there.
If you would like to suggest any items to be added to our meeting agendas, please contact Debi Orton at dorton@goer.state.ny.us.
**** REMINDER: Successful Web Communication Series ****
Don't forget that registration is still open for the Successful Web Communications Series, co-sponsored by GOER and PEF. Executive Branch employees represented by PEF or CSEA, and employees who are designated Management or Confidential can attend these classes at no charge. The series is also open to other public sector employees on a cost basis.
For more information on the series, visit: http://www.goer.state.ny.us/train/WebCommunications/index.html 
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RECENT NEWS
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NYS DEPT OF CIVIL SERVICE LAUNCHES NEW SITE
- The Department of Civil Service launched its new web site on February 22, 2006. The new site has several Accessibility features built in:
The standard templates include a visible "Skip to content" link. This allows users with sight disabilities, users who prefer the keyboard for any reason, and visitors with motion disabilities to jump over the page navigation straight to the page's content.
The Department opted for lightweight, consistent navigation. The site design allows visitors to progress through a series of links towards the information they desire, with lots of feedback. Usability studies have shown that users are willing to keep clicking if they know they are getting closer to the information they need. The success of this site supports that position.
The site utilizes three main layout styles. This consistency makes it easy for visitors to find the information they want on a page quickly. The site only use additional styles in limited situations where special needs demand them.
The entire site is CSS-based, and uses semantic markup heavily. The site is quite usable, if less attractive, with styles turned off. This approach has simplified page construction for content developers, and encourages standard design and layout (since it is easier to use the standards than fight them).
The site designers have been very careful to use descriptive link text, where the link itself describes its destination, rather than the still ubiquitous "Click here" that is often seen on other sites. This helps everybody, not just users with disabilities.
The Civil Service site has been described as an excellent example of "Before" and "After." The lessons learned in the four years since the last site rewrite have been put to good use. Visit the site and see: http://www.cs.state.ny.us/
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TARGET CORPORATION SUED FOR DISCRIMINATION AGAINST THE BLIND National Federation of the Blind Charges Website Violates California law
Berkeley, CA (2/7/06) --- The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) filed a class action suit today in California's Alameda County Courthouse against Target Corporation, the nationwide discount retailer which operates more than 1,300 stores in 47 states.
The suit - brought by NFB, the NFB of California, and a blind Californian, Bruce "BJ" Sexton, on behalf of themselves and all blind people in California - charges that Target's website (www.target.com ) is inaccessible to the blind, violating the California Unruh Civil Rights Act and the California Disabled Persons Act.
The plaintiffs are represented by Disability Rights Advocates, a Berkeley-based non-profit law firm that specializes in high-impact cases on behalf of people with disabilities, Schneider & Wallace, a plaintiff's class action and civil rights law firm in San Francisco, and Brown, Goldstein & Levy a leading civil rights law firm in Baltimore, Maryland.
"Blind customers should have the same access to Target's online services that Target offers its sighted customers," says NFB President Dr. Marc Maurer. Dr. Maurer explains that blind persons access websites by using keyboards in conjunction with screen-reading software which vocalizes visual information on a computer screen.
Target's website - which according to its home page is "powered by Amazon.com" - contains significant access barriers that prevent blind customers from browsing and purchasing products online, as well as from finding important corporate information such as employment opportunities, investor news, and company policies.
The plaintiffs charge that Target.com fails to meet the minimum standard of web accessibility. It lacks compliant alt-text, an invisible code embedded beneath graphic images that allows screen readers to detect and vocalize a description of the image to a blind computer user. It also contains inaccessible image maps, preventing blind users from jumping to different destinations within the website. And because the website requires the use of a mouse to complete a transaction, blind Target customers are unable to make purchases on Target.com independently.
"We tried to convince Target that it should make its website accessible through negotiations," says Dr. Maurer. "It's unfortunate that Target ws unwilling to commit to equal access for all its online customers. That gave us no choice but to seek the protection of the court. The website is no more accessible today than it was in May of last year, when we first complained to Target."
Explaining the grounds for the NFB suit, Mazen M. Basrawi, Equal Justice Works Fellow at Disability Rights Advocates, notes that Target's actions are in violation of California law, which in turn incorporates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). "Target.com is a 'public place' within the meaning of California Civil Code because it is open to the public, and because the laws apply to all services related to Target stores, including the website," says Basrawi.
"Simply put, Target is a retail outlet, a public place, with a public website. The retail outlet is a store, and the website is a service provided by and integrated with the brick-and-mortar stores," Basrawi continues. The complaint filed today by NFB in California Superior Court for Alameda County seeks to enjoin Target from continued violation of the California Civil Code. The suit asks the court to declare that Target is operating its website in a manner that discriminates against the blind and persons with visual disabilities in violation of California law, and seeks damages for the plaintiffs.
"I want to be able to shop online at Target.com just like anyone else," says UC Berkeley student BJ Sexton, who is a named plaintiff in the lawsuit. "I believe that millions of blind people like me can use the internet just as easily as do the sighted, if the website is accessible."
For a related 02/09/2006 article that cites the above press release, please visit the following link: http://webstandards.org/buzz/archive/2006_02.html#a000604
If you are interested in a fact sheet or in reading the actual complaint, you can find it on the Disability Rights Avocates site at http://www.dralegal.org/cases/private_business/nfb_v_target.php .
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DTS subtitling system offers 'Signs' of new access
By Chris Marlowe Wed Feb 15, 1:10 AM ET
Subtitles are an essential part of the story in the independent film "Universal Signs." Rather than merely translate what the actors are saying, they give viewers an intimate window into a unique subculture by using the latest captioning technology.
Producer Catherine Miller says the movie is about a man whose life is nearly destroyed by a tragedy for which he feels responsible -- because his deafness meant he could not hear the screams of a drowning child. The story is told primarily using American Sign Language, with captions for those who don't know it, accompanied by an interpretive score composed for a small orchestra.
"All of the shots are framed so the deaf can watch it in their native language, which has never been done before, while hearing audiences will be able to witness the beauty of a visual language," Miller says. "Deafness is not a disability, it is a minority subculture. The captions are just like when you go to a foreign film. You're seeing this new and different story, but at the same time it's human and universal."
Miller says the project wouldn't have been feasible without DTS' Cinema Subtitling System technology. "We wanted to make it as accessible to as many people as possible," she says. "And to be honest, as an independent filmmaker, as cheaply as possible."
To read the entire article, please visit this Yahoo News link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060215/film_nm/subtitles_dc
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TESTING, TOOLS and TRAINING
LAST CALL!
Leadership Academy: Ensuring Campus Web Site Accessibility
- March 14, 2006
- 9:00 a.m. * 4:00 p.m.
- Syracuse University
- Syracuse, New York
Teams consisting of staff in IT, web development, publications, libraries and disability services from colleges throughout New York are invited to register for this full-day Leadership Academy covering many aspects of web accessibility. The program will address:
- Legal considerations
- Costs and benefits of accessible design
- Barriers created by inaccessible web pages for people with disabilities
- Specific accessible design techniques
- Creating accessible distance learning content
- Evaluating your web pages for accessibility
- Developing a campus-wide web accessibility policy
Plan to have a team from your college attend. Visit the Events page of the http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/extension/ped/northeastADA/events/index.html Northeast ADA & IT Center for more information or to register for this event. Call 800-949-4232 if you have questions.
DEADLINE FOR REGISTRATION: Wednesday, March 8, 2006
SAVE THE DATES
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April WOW Session on Search Engine Optimization Planned
The Forum Webmasters' Guild has arranged for the World Organization of Webmasters (WOW) to bring Bebo White, a pioneer in web development, back to the Albany area to lead a workshop on Search Engine Optimization. If you attended Bebo's previous session on Web Application Development or saw his presentation at the Webmasters' Guild 10th Anniversary celebration, you know what a dynamic and knowledgeable presenter he is.
More information will be coming soon, but for now, here's what we know for sure.
Date: Wednesday, April 26 and Thursday, April 27
Cost: $195 (reimbursable through the VALT program for PEF-represented employees, or WOW will accept purchase requests if your agency pays the tuition)
Where: TBD
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NYS Standards, Web Site Validation and Testing Session Set
The April Webmasters' Guild meeting will focus on NYS Mandatory Technology Standard S04-001, which contains 14 checkpoints NYS web sites must conform to. Debi Orton of the Forum's IT Accessibility Committee will provide a brief overview of the checkpoints and will demonstrate the validation and testing regimen used to evaluate entries for the Forum's Best of the Web award. This year, conformance to the standards will be required.
The April meeting will be held on Friday, April 7, in the Empire State Plaza in Albany.
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Governor's AT Expo Coming to Empire State Plaza
The biennial AT Expo will be held on May 11, 2006, at the Empire State Plaza in Albany. The Expo is coordinated by the NYS Committee on Quality of Care and Advocacy for Persons With Disabilities, and is a showcase for a full range of assistive technologies and informational sessions. The Forum IT Accessibility Committee will be providing a full day of programs based on their recently-updated curriculum, and we will announce a schedule and registration information later this month. You can find out more about this event at http://www.atexpo2006.com
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USABILITY TESTING - AN OPINION
http://www.cre8pc.com/blog/2006/02/there-is-no-reason-for-web-site.html
WEBAIM TECHNIQUES
- CSS - Screen Reader styles and Pitfalls to Avoid
We used to think of ways to hide content for those using screen readers from our sighted users, such as matching text color to the background against which it would be displayed. Now there are ways to provide content for screen reader users using CSS. See "CSS in Action: Invisible Content Just for Screen Reader Users" http://webaim.org/techniques/css/invisiblecontent
.Now that we've convinced you that separating presentation and content is a GOOD thing, we also need to warn you that while CSS offers the possibility of great improvements, it's not a panacea. The article "CSS Pitfalls" from the WebAIM.org site does a good job of explaining some potential problem areas to avoid: http://webaim.org/techniques/css/3
- AJAX Accessibility
A new IT buzzword is making the rounds -- AJAX. WebAIM has begun a series introducing AJAX with emphasis on the accessibility ramifications of this new set of technologies, and you can read "Part 1* Accessibility Issues", the first article in their series "Accessibility of AJAX Applications" at http://www.webaim.org/techniques/ajax/
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A LIST APART ARTICLES
"In Search of the Holy Grail" -- The one layout that seems hardest to implement is one in which three columns maintain proportion and proper source order. Matthew Levine provides the answer that ended his quest for a "liquid layout". - http://alistapart.com/articles/holygrail
"Helping Your Visitors: a State of Mind" -- Practical advice on using your site to communicate with your visitors in the most effective way possible. - http://alistapart.com/articles/helpingvisitors
"The Accessibility Hat Trick: Getting Abbreviations Right" -- When the abbr and acronym elements were first proposed, they were good ideas in search of a practical implementation. With the acronym element being deprecated for XHTML 2.0 and the latest browsers offering abbr support, the time has come to revisit this good idea. - http://alistapart.com/articles/hattrick
"Sensible Forms: A Form Usability Checklist" -- Although this article has at least one serious flaw -- implying that using colors to identify required fields -- it's still worth reading for the thoughtful discussion about choosing form controls with a view toward usability. - http://alistapart.com/articles/sensibleforms