This isn’t exactly a brand new headline, but that happens when you’re away from blogging for awhile. Kudos to Newegg for getting deserved recognition in the web accessibility world. Late July, the retailer of software and computer hardware became the first online merchant to earn the National Federation of the Blind’s gold level Nonvisual Accessibility Web Certification.

“The National Federation of the Blind is pleased that Newegg.com, one of the largest online retailers in the U.S., is setting an example for the industry by providing an unprecedented level of access to its Web site for blind shoppers. We are pleased to award Newegg.com our gold level Nonvisual Accessibility Web Certification, which has never before been achieved by an online retailer. It is also notable that Newegg.com achieved this high level of certification in only six months.”
– Dr. Marc Maurer, president of the National Federation of the Blind

When the cases of prominent web sites getting in legal trouble over poor accessibility have little trouble making headlines, it’s nice to see that some sites are getting it right.

Source:
National Federation of the Blind Awards Newegg.com with “Gold Level” Certification for Providing Equal Access to Visually Impaired Users on Newegg.com

Tags: National Federation for the Blind, newegg, NFB, Nonvisual Accessibility Web Certification

I’m downright appalled at how much I’ve neglected this blog in the past month. The fact of the matter is that work demands, among other things, contributed to theaccessibility.com taking a hiatus.

Nevertheless, that still doesn’t make me feel good about disrupting what was becoming a good blogging rhythm. And we all know that frequency of quality posting is key to any successful blog.

This is a short blog post to get back into the swing of things.

Last week, Apple released iPhone OS 3.1. There are some nice features in the release, but one in particular adds a nice little accessibility win.

The upgrade makes it easier to activate the accessibility features on your iPhone. By clicking the Home button three times, you can toggle on VoiceOver, Toggle White on Black, and Ask.

While arguably a minor enhancement, anything that makes accessibility features easier to get to is admirable. As I’ve said before, Apple seems to genuinely take accessibility seriously, as they continue to evolve their products such as the iPhone, Snow Leopard and now the mobile OS. Are they perfect? Of course not. But at least there is continual progress.

Tags: apple, iphone, mobile