{"id":1196,"date":"2012-08-28T11:06:00","date_gmt":"2012-08-28T15:06:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.equipmentlink.org\/blog\/?p=1196"},"modified":"2012-08-28T11:06:00","modified_gmt":"2012-08-28T15:06:00","slug":"the-constantly-changing-landscape-of-accessibility-8282012","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.equipmentlink.org\/blog\/?p=1196","title":{"rendered":"The Constantly Changing Landscape of Accessibility, 8\/28\/2012"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Constantly Changing Landscape of Accessibility\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Contributed by Joel Zimba, Special Projects Coordinator, MDTAP<\/em><\/p>\n

For many years, most accessibility issues had to deal with whether one particular application or another would work properly with screen access software.\u00a0 Every few years there would be the concern of how well things would work with a new operating system, but everything would shake out sooner or later.\u00a0 This was back when most of the accessibility talk had to do with employment and education.\u00a0 No one\u00a0wondered how he\/she would stream that night’s movie to their home theater system.<\/p>\n

Then came the Internet.\u00a0 Web Accessibility (capitalized, because it is an entity unto itself), became an issue of much wider concern.\u00a0 There is still a sort of accessibility arms race going on among developers, corporations, standards bodies and legislatures.\u00a0 Sometimes things seem better and then everything becomes more complex, or a new technology emerges which, after much wrangling, eventually becomes compatible with the existing accessibility infrastructure to one degree or another–PDF files, I’m looking at you.)<\/p>\n

Mobile applications and of course their requisite accessibility are the new “fly in the ointment.”\u00a0 Mobile traffic will overtake Web traffic in the near future, if it hasn’t already.\u00a0 The Internet model of the first decade of the new century is swiftly passing.\u00a0 App accessibility is not as clear cut as Web accessibility.\u00a0 For one thing, most Web accessibility problems can be fixed with a bit of file tweaking and making sure the proper meta information is in place.\u00a0 It gets a bit trickier with Javascript, but it is still a far cry from large-scale application development.\u00a0 In general, apps really are islands unto themselves.\u00a0 The Web browser is not the common denominator as it is with Web Accessibility issues.\u00a0 Mobile applications must obey the accessibility standards provided by manufacturers in order to be guaranteed proper functionality.<\/p>\n

Every week I read another article about how mobile technology is changing the lives of people with disabilities.\u00a0 While many of the mobile applications work well and are fully accessible, there is no guarantee this is going to be the case for any app or for any version of that app.\u00a0 Take for example the newest version of the iOS Facebook app.\u00a0 In some ways it is more accessible than it’s predecessor.\u00a0 It does have quirks, though these quirks are yet again different quirks from the previous version.\u00a0 A glaring problem is the inability to browse your list of friends.\u00a0 While the lettered sections are announced, the individual names are not.\u00a0 This is probably a symptom of a non-standard control being used, which needs to be properly identified to the underlying accessibility framework.<\/p>\n

Such problems are easily fixed by a knowledgeable developer.\u00a0 It is probably comparable to adding the functionality into an existing application to allow it to communicate with a new database or over a new communication protocol.\u00a0 There is little understanding of accessibility itself necessarily.\u00a0 Of course testing and making certain trade-offs becomes necessary at some point.\u00a0 The problem is that each environment is different and the skills necessary have more to do with understanding the system and proper coding practices than the published and well-documented Web Accessibility standards.<\/p>\n

The conversation is jut more difficult.\u00a0 Teaching an accessibility course to Android developers is going to be different from teaching these similar concepts to iOS developers.\u00a0 Oh, and what about these new Windows phones?\u00a0 Time will tell, though accessibility issues will doubtless be yet again different.<\/p>\n

How do we deal with the problem right now?\u00a0 So far, it comes down to user testing.\u00a0 Before buying a new app or upgrading to a new version, you may want to check out mailing lists which discuss accessibility on your specific platform.\u00a0 There are also websites dedicated to reviewing apps for accessibility.\u00a0 For now, someone has to take the plunge.\u00a0 On occasion, refunds are available when accessibility issues are encountered.\u00a0 Many app developers have been surprisingly responsive about making their products more accessible.\u00a0 They are to be commended.<\/p>\n

This sounds like it might be frustrating, but not the end of the world.\u00a0 Wait a moment though, is that your bank’s mobile app you just used to pay your electric bill?\u00a0 Well, a recent update to the Bank of America site has broken accessibility.\u00a0 Many of the controls are unlabelled, and the Bill Pay section is difficult if not impossible to use.\u00a0 Let’s hope this changes sooner rather than later.<\/p>\n

In the grand scheme of things, I would say the overall state of computer accessibility is better than it was ten years ago.\u00a0 For example, the OSX operating system was completely inaccessible for several years.\u00a0 Now, more often than not, any new application I try is 95% accessible.\u00a0 I have come to expect it and it is surprising when things grind to a halt because I can’t actually use an application properly.<\/p>\n

All of these issues will be with us for years to come.\u00a0 The accessibility conversation will doubtless be entirely different in a couple of years.<\/p>\n

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