Last Monday, I had a great time presenting “Accessibility: An Even Playing Field” at mkeUX, at 5th Ward Pub in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

mkeUX is a laid back, anyone-welcome group dedicated to promoting user experience. They host presentations in casual settings. It’s light on the formal and stuffy, and heavy on the open sharing of ideas and having fun. My good friends and colleagues Michael Seidel and Mike Kornacki are responsible for it, and it’s been a huge success.

Anyway, it was a lot of fun yakking accessibility. We talked about the different types of disabilities, the laws as they exist today in the United States, and some of best-known lawsuits pertaining to accessibility. I covered some of the types of assistive technologies out there.

The second part of the presentation was sharing examples of some accessibility culprits – but by no means all of them! That included the often-villainous CAPTCHA, and some disturbing and downright offensive examples of it.

I’ve never been overly impressed with slideshows put up on SlideShare. More often than not, it’s out-of-context slides that don’t tell you much.

That being said, I do want to share my presentation. So here it is — but I will add some notes about what each slide means, very soon! This is more a reference for those who attended the event.

Thanks to everyone who did attend, and for everyone who expressed interest. I hope to do this presentation or some form of it again very soon!

Tags: accessibility, assistive technologies, CAPTCHA, milwaukee, mkeux, user experience, ux

I’m thrilled to say that I will be doing an accessibility presentation at mkeUX on December 6th, at the 5th Ward Pub in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Of course, I’ll share my presentation on this blog in the near future, but I’m calling it “Accessibility: An Even Playing Field.” I thought back to January when Glenda Watson Hyatt asked the accessibility world to answer this question in exactly 25 words — What Does Accessibility Mean to You?

As I answered then:
Accessibility is all about lack of restrictions. It is about opening pathways to all people regardless of any limitations. It is an even playing field.

I’ll talk about: what accessibility means to me; what types of disabilities and assistive technologies are out there in any web, application, or game audience; some successes and failures (lawsuits included!); some easy things to avoid…and more.

If you’re free, come on down for it!

Tags: accessibility, milwaukee, mkeux, user experience

I haven’t blogged in over a month, which is not a good thing. However, the main reason that I haven’t is a very good one.

A week from today, I am starting a new job — and it’s directly in User Experience.

When I wrote The Evolution of a Designer, I talked about how time, experience and passion naturally progressed my career towards user experience. I no longer saw myself as strictly a designer or coder, but instead someone striving to build, from concept level through completion and beyond, experiences that users, whether they are disabled or not, can easily understand and navigate through towards whatever their end destination.

What I didn’t realize on that day in March is that, mere months later, I’d get the opportunity to join a User Experience team being formed from the ground up.

I’ve been at the same organization (The Mark Travel Corporation) for over twelve years. I consider myself blessed to have had the opportunity to forge a rewarding career in the Web industry, from an entry-level HTML coder to seasoned web designer to manager of a large team of designers and producers.

Throughout that journey, I’ve learned a lot of things. One, I’ve realized that the most beautiful designs in the world are just pretty pictures if they don’t get the user exactly where they need to go. I’ve realized that whatever the experience — a web site, an application, etc. — content that is poorly-crafted or with no clear strategy will destroy it. And I’ve certainly realized how incredibly easy it is to overlook disabled users in creating these experiences.

Now, I’m delving into a role in which I can truly, day in and day out, focus on getting all of that right, and making a difference along the way. When a large company firmly establishes that user experience needs to be in front of everything they build, that’s a tremendous, exciting opportunity.

I’m beyond thrilled.

As I travel down this path, I’m sure I’ll have plenty to share along the way.

Tags: accessibility, content strategy, user experience, ux, web design

I was just recalling a recent firsthand experience with web accessibility ignorance, and thought I’d share, to kick off 2010.

Not long ago, I was involved in a conversation about incorporating security measures to a registration process on an e-commerce website. One solution that emerged was using CAPTCHA.

For those of you not familiar with the term, CAPTCHA is a process used to protect web sites from automated agents (bots, scripts, etcetera). This is most often done through adding a step in which a user must decipher distorted or obscured characters, or solve a puzzle.

The traditional implementation of CAPTCHA has met with significant outcry from the accessibility minded. Quite simply, how can a blind or visually-impaired user be expected to discern garbled characters on the screen? In such cases, the visually disabled are simply unable to do whatever it is that the CAPTCHA stands in front of, such as registering on a site before purchasing and accessing information.

Alternatives have emerged such as providing an audio equivalent, like reCAPTCHA does.

Anyway, when CAPTCHA came up in my scenario, I quickly pointed out that, whatever solution we seek, we must ensure we’re using a security method that doesn’t render the site inoperable by the visually disabled.

One person responded by pantomiming being blind, finding himself to be hysterical in the process. Another person said — and to get the full effect, be sure to insert dripping sarcasm — “Yeah, because blind people use the Web”.

Even as I typed that, it sounded ridiculous and made up. Needless to say, I was floored by such over-the-top ignorance. I don’t expect everybody to suddenly embrace accessibility because I have, but still hoped that my insight would be taken somewhat seriously, not met with jokes and quips.

I’d like to think that such reactions are rare and will only decrease in the web industry, as accessibility becomes more and more a hot button issue. Some businesses and web services are better than others.

My response, by the way, was something to the effect of, “I imagine there were people at Target.com who made light of accessibility before the multi-million dollar lawsuit.”

Tags: accessibility, CAPTCHA, reCAPTCHA

Come November 12th, it’ll be one year since my first blog post here at theaccessibility.com. Last time, I shared some general thoughts from my rookie season as a blogger. From the ease of WordPress to the struggle of posting frequency (and with quality), it’s been both challenging and fun.

What about, specifically, accessibility – the subject I’ve chosen for my adventures in blogging? I can’t begin to capture all that I’ve learned, but a few revelations immediately struck me when I first tackled the subject.

The visually impaired aren’t the only web users with disabilities
Perhaps in part because of well-publicized stories like Target getting sued by the American Federation of the Blind, there seems to be a large focus of accessibility attention on visual disabilities. At times it seems to overshadow the fact that there are many other disabilities that require web designers to be diligent in their standards and best practices.

Even among the visually disabled, there are more obstacles than not being able to see. Those with color blindness encounter their own problems — certain color combinations can make it very difficult for them to effectively make out what’s being communicated or conveyed on a page.

Individuals with neuromuscular restrictions, brain damage, or just difficulties fully using their hands rely on other means to use their computers and get around the Web. This can be keyboard navigation, or even sip-and-puff technology. Whatever the means, it is an entirely different user experience with its own trappings and limitations depending on how accessible the site is. As one example, if a site’s tabbing progression is out of order, these users will have a heck of a time trying to get where they need to go.

Deaf users encounter their own obstacles, such as lack of captions or text recaps for many online video. The Web is still way behind television, where closed captioning is prevalent. Video is becoming more and more commonplace, particularly as social media flourishes….and while progress is being made, there’s a long, long way to go.

There are also many cognitive disabilities that make web surfing challenging. Those with attention disorders can be distracted or disrupted by excessive movement, blinking or flashing. Those with reading or problem-solving limitations will be able to more easily navigate a web site if the messaging is clear, and the navigation consistent and easy to follow.

Tags: blindness, cognitive disabilities, deafness, disabilities