In a fascinating nexus of accessibility and social media right here in the state of Wisconsin, a researcher posted a message on Twitter using a brain-computer interface system — basically by thought.

Adam Wilson, a student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison researching biomedical engineering, posted the message “using EEG to send tweet” by using technology in which the letters of the alphabet flashed individually on a screen, and the computer was able to gauge brain activity, selecting the desired letter when brain responds to it flashing.

Such technology has a long road to go before being mainstream, but its successful test on an Internet application opens up tremendous potential in enabling those whose bodies are inoperable to communicate and interact online.

Read more and watch a video here:

• Researcher use brain interface to post to Twitter (WTN News)

Tags: als, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, brain-computer interface system, eeg, twitter, university of wisconsin-madison, uw

Social media juggernaut Facebook, which boasted reaching 200 million users this week, has been working with the American Foundation for the Blind, and announced some strides towards improving the accessibility of the site, particularly for the visually impaired.

Carl Augusto, President and CEO of AFB, posted a lengthy entry on the Facebook Blog, sharing how he, as a blind person, initially had troubles utilizing Facebook when first visiting.

Two years ago, AFB began discussing with Facebook ways to make the social media site more accessible to blind users. Facebook is working on enhancements, and has published an informational page called Making Facebook Accessible for Everyone.

Among the features highlighted on that page are:

• Audio alternatives to CAPTCHA, which is the technology you see on some websites that requires you to enter letters from a distorted display that a human can decipher but a computer script or automation cannot.
  
• Straight HTML version of the site (specifically, the mobile version) that is friendlier to screen readers.
• Non-Javascript version of Facebook Gift Shop, which addresses a standing frustration with the inaccessibility of that locale
• Ability to use Facebook Chat via screen reader.
• Shortcut keys to key sections of the Facebook, listed out by browser

Tags: american foundation for the blind, assistive technology, carl augusto, facebook, screen readers, Social Media

Next week, the Paciello Group — an organization that works with all manner of entities from governmental to commercial to ensure their technologies are accessible for all people — will be presenting a webinar on Flash and accessibility on Tuesday, March 31st.

There is also one on Wednesday, April 1 about PDF forms and conforming to WCAG 2.0 standards.

Both will take place at 11 a.m. Central time.

Adobe has more details in an entry on their accessibility blog entitled “Accessibility webinars on Flash and PDF.”

Related Links:

• The Paciello Group and Adobe Present WCAG 2.0 Accessibility Webinars for Flash and PDF
• Adobe’s Accessibility blog

Tags: Acrobat, adobe, flash, paciello group, PDF, WCAG

Digital Web Magazine announced it’s ceasing publication. While the site will remain up as an archive of past articles, it is closing its doors to posting web industry news online.

I post this because it was actually a Digital Web Magazine article that first peaked my interest in web accessibility. Leona Tomlinson’s Understanding Disabilities when Designing a Website came through on a general feed (Design Float, if I recall), and I found it very interesting.

In particular, I was struck by the sheer numbers of people with disabilities. When you focus on percentages, single-digit numbers don’t really seem like they have a lot of magnitude. However, when you see numbers like 10 million with vision impairments or 28 million with hearing limitations — it hits you a little more.

The article then went on to list some basic techniques one can use to ensure better accessibility, from alt tags to proper formatting of forms.

After I read that article, I began searching around for others about web accessibility, and the rest is history. This all being said, I’m sorry to hear that Digital Web Magazine is closing shop.

Tags: design float, digital web magazine, disability, leona tomlinson

This past week, Apple released Safari 4.0 beta. With touted speed enhancements that put it ahead of the competition, the beta reportedly has even pushed Safari’s market share over the 10% hump.

As touched on in “The iPhone and Accessibility“, Apple openly demonstrates a commitment to accessibility in its products. How much they succeed will always be open for debate, but it’s certain that they treat the subject seriously.

Even though alphabetizing has more to do with it than anything else, front and center on their 150 Features page for Safari 4 is Accessibility.

New to Safari 4, according to Apple, is support of Accessible Rich Internet Applications, or ARIA. On the heels of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 becoming a Recommendation this past December, just last week WAI-ARIA was published as a Last Call Working Draft. WAI-ARIA takes web accessibility considerations to the next level, helping establish guidelines for dynamic content using more advanced technologies like Ajax and JavaScript. ARIA opens the door for utilizing such coding to interact with assistive technologies.

Also improved with Safari’s new beta are greater Zoom features — combining keyboard commands, Multi-Touch, and a Zoom button that can easily be added to the toolbar. The user can zoom in and out while text and imagery scale accordingly and keep the layout intact.

These, paired with Apple’s already-integrated VoiceOver screen reading feature, keyboard shortcuts, and the ability to create or download custom stylesheets for desired viewing states, make Safari 4.0 — while certainly not a perfect accessibility experience just yet — appear to be progressing respectably.

Tags: accessible rich internet applications, apple, aria, multi-touch, os x, safari, safari 4 beta, VoiceOver, W3C, wai-aria, web browsers, zoom