Disabilities and Computing Program

Please join us! Our parent department is officially hiring for this position.

This is a full-time one-year contract position at UCLA.

Participate in web accessibility efforts at the University of California. Work as part of the ATS Web Team and the Disabilities and Computing Program group, focusing on the convergence of web design, web accessibility and adaptive technologies.

For complete details, please read the job description in PDF, or job description in Word format.

To apply, please send a resume to chris [at] ats.ucla.edu.

USA.gov has published a resource guide on multimedia online materials and accessibility:

Make Your Multimedia Section 508 Compliant and Accessible (WebContent.gov)

This is a thorough survey of the topic, with many links to examples, legal references, and further resources.

On a few points it seems to me to set a high standard for federal agencies.:

• Captioning must be provided for live video (such as live speeches);
• Audiodescription as well as captioning must be included where necessary;
• The accessibility rules apply to agencies posting material to public websites (Youtube etc.) “Many agencies have found that a practical approach to providing accessible content is to post videos and presentations
  on these sites and also post the same content, in an accessible manner, on their own agency sites.”

These points have been “gray areas” in the past. For example, captioning of live video gets a lower priority rating in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0. However, the USA.gov document stresses the affirmative need for access on all three of the above issues.

On April 28 the DCP presented a look at the Web Content Authoring Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0, which became an official W3C Recommendation in December, 2008. We presented a brief review of the history of adaptive technology and how it fits in or clashes with web technology. This was followed by a discussion of the Web accessibility Guidelines and the basic things that authors can do to be part of a universally accessible Web experience.

Here are the Outline notes for the talk.

For many years T.V. Raman has been a force to be reckoned with in the accessibility world. He has written his own screen reading programs and worked for several major companies. The NY Times story describes some of his current work at Google:

For the Blind, Technology Does What a Guide Dog Can’t

Google’s many web interfaces have varying levels of accessibility. The basic search screen that we all know has been functional from the beginning, and added more structure (heading tags) about two years ago. The Gmail interface is much more difficult, but many accessibility improvements have been made as the service has evolved. However, the Chrome browser is reaching its completed “1.0″ status without any screen reader accessibility.

You may follow selected projects of interest from the myriad of Google activities on our Google Development(s) page.

The Web Content Authoring Guidelines 2.0 were made an official W3C Recommendation yesterday. The changes to the Guidelines and associated documents expand Web accessibility to include file formats and technologies that have become common: PDF, Javascript and Flash, among others. The Guidelines now also emphasize testable results, bringing accessibility closer to an objectively measurable standard.

The Guidelines are based on four principles, from which a vast array of technical documents and specifications are derived. In the shortest form, all Web content should be perceivable, operable and understandable to everyone, and the content should be robust.

The table of contents for the Guidelines document also serves as a summary and brief explanation of the accessibility principles:

• 1 Perceivable
  • 1.1 Provide text alternatives for any non-text content so that it can be changed into other forms people need, such as large print, braille, speech, symbols or simpler language.
  • 1.2 Provide alternatives for time-based media.
  • 1.3 Create content that can be presented in different ways (for example simpler layout) without losing information or structure.
  • 1.4 Make it easier for users to see and hear content including separating foreground from background.

• 2 Operable
  • 2.1 Make all functionality available from a keyboard.
  • 2.2 Provide users enough time to read and use content.
  • 2.3 Do not design content in a way that is known to cause seizures.
  • 2.4 Provide ways to help users navigate, find content, and determine where they are.
• 3 Understandable
  • 3.1 Make text content readable and understandable.
  • 3.2 Make Web pages appear and operate in predictable ways.
  • 3.3 Help users avoid and correct mistakes.
• 4 Robust
• 4.1 Maximize compatibility with current and future user agents, including assistive technologies.

Some blog entries from participants in the process give a sense of the work that has been done since 1999, when the original Guidelines were published.:

A personal reflection on the WCAG 2.0 publication, by Shawn Lawton Henry (Web Accessibility Initiative Outreach Coordinator);

Thoughts from Matt May (from Adobe).

Direct links to the most important WCAG documents can be found on our Web Access Developments page.