All About Accessibility
I have a cousin with Cerebral Palsy. She can’t walk or write, and is mostly blind. But, she’s finishing university, so she needs a computer.
The Open Document (ODF) “debate” going on in Massachusetts right now is centering on accessbility, namely that the programs that can write ODF (OpenOffice.org [OOo], KOffice, etc.) do not have all the features that are needed by those with various disabilities. Some of these features are OS dependent, so OOo on Windows might have a feature, but in Linux it would be missing, while others are program depenedent, so OOo might be lacking. See Peter Korn’s indepth analysis for more details.
This is an important issue for all of us. I don’t think twice about using my computer to read newspapers, write letters and papers, read and send email, make purchases online, instant message others, etc. But could I do that if I couldn’t see? What about if I couldn’t type?
How can Open Source offerings help? Many of them are already well on there way, from screen readers to visual aids to voice recognitions. But people with disabilities are the best way to test and ask for improvements, maybe even to help code! (See a mailing list on issues for those with visual impairments)
Developers need to incorporate these libraries and helps into the programs we write. On the web, our sites need to make sense when read by a screen reader, etc. No surprise, W3 already has guidelines, now we just have to follow them!
Two closing thoughts:
1. Many sites use an image that contains letters and numbers that have to be typed in to complete a transaction or log in (this is supposed to discourage script writers). What if you can’t see the screen? That letter / number information won’t be part of the code as that would defeat the purpose.
2. Microsoft is outspoken on behalf of those with disabilities to point out the shortcomings of ODF programs with respect to accessibility. Visual Studio, their flagship product to produce .NET and ASP web applications produces very inaccessible HTML code.