Disability Dialogue with Bill

Holidays; Sharing Your Time Can Be a Valuable Gift

During the holidays I enjoy participating in get togethers with family and friends. I am aware not everyone has family or friends nearby. Also, some people believe they are too busy to share time with others and prefer to be alone. I feel one should participate unselfishly with others if given the opportunity. Over the past few years I have lost many loved ones and am grateful I was able to be with them sharing memories when I had a chance to.

During this time of the year we have many opportunities to share our self with others. For example, for the people in the US we recently had Thanksgiving. We also have Christmas, Hanukkah and New Years among many other holidays.

If your special holiday traditions involve the purchase of gifts, I understand some wish to participate in such However I believe a gift of sharing yourself can be more valuable than any store purchased gift.

I am aware of the value of assistance and sharing because of the many challenges my wife, Kathy, and I attempt to overcome daily. I use to do all the driving when I had eyesight. Now that I am blind and can no longer drive and my wife does not feel comfortable driving on freeways traveling is difficult. Not having the option to drive introduces unique challenges when Kathy is sick and I need to bring her to the doctors, get medicine for us or do grocery shopping. Repairing/maintaining minor things around the house is challenging and extremely time consuming. Reading my postal mail and responding to correspondence is also difficult for me.

Why We Have New Obstacles We Are Grateful To Overcome:

On May 26, 1999 I had become critically ill and went into the hospital. I spent seven months in the hospital, in which three of the months I was in a coma.  I returned home from the hospital on December 28, 1999. We received medical bills totaling over one million dollars which caused Kathy and I to address several challenges. When we received the medical bills at this stage in my recovery I was in bed and could not get out without assistance. Unfortunately at the same time the landlord raised our rent.  Also we no longer had medical coverage due to exceeding the limits of the insurance policy.  Therefor we were on our own to pay any remaining costs out of pocket.

Despite these difficulties, the alternative of my dying during my hospitalization would have been far worse.   

I am grateful to be able to say I survived so I can share my time with others and enjoy life and all the difficulties it presents at times. Even though my life has changed forever when I hear the song by Barbra Streisand,  “The Way We Were”, it reminds me of the way it used to be.

I am happy my wife Kathy and I were able to uphold our wedding vows we committed to each other on June 14, 1987 which are noted below and to continue to give each other the best gift of all.

I (name), take you (name), for my lawful wedded wife/husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part. 

I am grateful I have the opportunity to work in my profession long hours at times with little downtime even through some weekends. Despite the challenges my wife Kathy and I continually face and somehow overcome I still try to find time to provide my gift of helping others.  Examples are being a mentor, helping to increase accessibility/usability in my workplace, helping drive inclusion and helping others in my community.

Below are some suggestions on how an individual can share time with others as well as demonstrate gratefulness. 

Examples of Valuable Gifts from My Wife Kathy, Family and Others:

• I am grateful Kathy did not take the advice of others and leave me when I was in the hospital during my seven month stay. This gift enabled us to continue on our life journey sharing life’s experiences together.
• I am grateful Kathy did not accept the advice of the hospital personnel of sending me to a rehabilitation facility far away from family and friends when I ran out of insurance after being in the hospital for seven months. She gave me the loving gift by taking me home to provide  some rehabilitation herself which also enabled me to connect with local organizations to further assist me instead of my being isolated in some far-off location.
• I am grateful my dad provided the gift of building me a standing frame from plans he got from one of our local hospitals. This enabled my wife Kathy to work with me daily at home using this device along with the other required therapy.  Although most doctors thought I would never walk again, using this standing frame with other therapy eventually enabled me to walk again with the assistance of two canes, one support cane and one long white cane for navigation.  
• I am grateful after I got home from the hospital in December of 1999 for some family members, a co- worker and others who came over to provide the gift of assistance.
• I am grateful after having a total hip replacement in 2013 Kathy provided the gift of bringing me home to help me perform  the required rehabilitation which enabled me to recover and heal at home instead of sending me to a rehabilitation center.
• I am grateful I have Kathy to provide gifts all year long such as maintaining our home, our yard, our car as well as doing the finances, cooking delicious meals and all of the other things she does daily from sunrise to well past sunset, occasionally taking some time off for herself.
• I am grateful that Kathy decorates our home for the holidays sharing the gift of enjoyment and holiday traditions for all who are able to experience the holiday wonderland.  This environment spreads the happiness and cheer that goes with creating a festive and loving environment.
• I am grateful to have received the gift of positivity and prayers from many people all around the world to assist me in coming out of my coma and surviving my critical medical condition.

Other Examples of Valuable Gifts:

• I am grateful for the gift of assistive technology. When I went blind this technology enabled me to retain my job after a lot of training and commitment to re-skilling myself.
• Give the gift of your personal companionship by spending time with others to help decrease loneliness and promote happiness.
• Offer your gift of experience, time and expertise to help people in your workplace, non-profit organizations, neighborhood, your community and other places around the world who can benefit from your skills and knowledge.
• Provide the gift of assisting the less fortunate, the disabled, the elderly or those who are in need so as to help increase optimism and self-esteem as well as helping them with tasks they cannot do themselves.
• Provide the gift of knowledge by teaching, mentoring and give guidance to people in your personal and professional life to help in order to share educational opportunities.
• If in your professional life you are in direct contact with customers you should provide the gift of treating them with respect and caring like you should do for everyone.
• If you work in an organization or business and are able to develop programs to assist employees or customers with challenges or disabilities in the work-place or customer facing products or services you can provide a unique gift by launching programs to assist these employees and customers to be more self-sufficient.
• One can provide the gift of inclusion and equal access by developing and promoting accessible and usable web pages, applications and devices.  This practice can help increase inclusion and reduce exclusion.

These gifts I have listed are equally reciprocal as gifts to yourself. When you give the gift of yourself there are others that receive your gifts through the people you touch.  One other side benefit of providing such gifts is that you will never know who you may have helped from your generosity and caring.

Do you have any suggestions on how to share unselfishly and celebrate holidays while helping others? Can you provide ideas as to how to have time to help the less fortunate, the elderly or the disabled? Do you have any stories to share to help us all learn the benefits of providing the gift of assisting others in need while increasing happiness?

We all look forward to hearing your valuable thoughts and comments.

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season and a Happy New Year and can find some time to create happiness for others!!

Bill Tipton

Contributing Author,

Global Dialogue Center

http://www.globaldialoguecenter.com/

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/wdtipton

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bill.tipton.39

Twitter: http://twitter.com/wdtipton

Lack of Awareness Can Result in Accessibility Obstacles

Has anyone ever heard discussions about people with disabilities not necessarily needing or requiring access to particular applications, web pages or documentation because they assume people with disabilities will never use them?

Or, maybe you have experienced people displaying a lack of awareness of what skills disabled people have to offer? Others may not be willing to fully utilize the valuable and unique skills people with disabilities have. Maybe that is because they are unaware of how effective assistive technology can be at levelling the playing field and assisting employees to be as effective as anyone not using assistive technology. Some uninformed people may assume no disabled person could be a people manager or a leader of others. Therefore, their thought process is that applications needed to perform that job function is not required to be accessible since no disabled person will use those particular applications, web pages or documentation. This thought process unfairly restricts promotional opportunities for the disabled.

It is also possible you may have heard someone tell a person with a disability that they do not need to use that application therefore it does not need to be made accessible. Perhaps you have also overheard the excuse that it is not likely a person with a disability who uses assistive technology is going to become a system administrator, therefor that function of the software does not need to be made accessible.

I know of people who are disabled and use assistive technology successfully who perform very technical roles. For example, database administrators, system administrators managing systems locally or remotely using software, application developers and scientists as well as others working in many other highly successful professional roles including managers.

To increase accessibility/usability I feel it is not beneficial to make assumptions on who will use a product. It is far easier to design and develop all applications, web pages and documentation to be accessible and usable to all people. This best practice will also save valuable time and money if a person reports an accessibility issue that requires the developer to immediately drop everything and retrofit the product for usability/accessibility after the product has already been designed, developed and released to the public.

Has anyone ever experienced any of the awareness or stereotypical challenges I talk about above regarding accessibility? Does anyone have any ideas of how to break the assumptions that people with disabilities should not be restricted to certain jobs or professions despite their education and skills?

Does anyone have any thoughts on the value of accessibility and the benefits of demonstrating inclusion and valuing all people equally? Has anyone experienced any positive examples regarding this topic that you might want to share? 

Lastly, does anyone have other tips or success stories to help educate us all on the benefits of fully utilizing the complete talents of people with disabilities instead of restricting their professional or personal progress?

We all look forward to hearing your valuable comments and tips.

Bill Tipton

Contributing Author,

Global Dialogue Center

https://www.globaldialoguecenter.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wdtipton

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bill.tipton.39

Twitter: https://twitter.com/wdtipton                

Documentation Accessibility: Consider Usability as Well

Are you a developer or designer of software (standalone or web based) and would like to develop a product to enable as many people to effectively use it successfully?  

To assist in increasing customer satisfaction do you develop your product to be as usable and accessible as possible? Do you follow and conform to such guidelines as the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1) and the Revised Section 508 standards and Section 255 of the Communications Act?  

You may also follow up by performing the necessary automated and manual accessibility evaluations enabling you to review the results of the evaluation reports and correct anything before going live. Since all accessibility evaluation reports you received were positive you felt comfortable everything was addressed to help insure your product was as accessible as possible. To help assure all users would be able to read your documentation you followed procedures on how to make your user documentation accessible such as the procedures in Make Your Word Documents Accessible - Office Support and Create and Verify PDF Accessibility - Adobe.

Since software may have many options and screens to interact with it and operate all controls, a clear, concise and accurate user documentation is required to learn the product. Also it may have a user interface that is not intuitive to a new user.  Because of this complexity without clear and correct user documentation a new user may not be able to teach themselves all aspects of the product, preventing them from using the software.

After all of the careful planning and your software product went live you received some feedback from a customer stating they could not use the software with a screen reader (assistive technology).  Receiving such a comment made you wonder what you may have missed in your vigilant plan to launch an accessible software product. Could it be the user documentation?  

Although I talk a little bit about usability for software this blog post focuses on documentation.

A Few Tips to Assist in Developing More Usable User Documentation:

• Follow all vendors’ procedures that describe how to develop accessible documents using the application used to develop the document.
• Insure the user documentation uses the exact words that are in the software user interface.
• Use the correct terminology for each user interface element contained in the software so it matches the documentation since some assistive technology like screen readers read these controls. A few examples are drop down menu, hyperlink, and button and...
• Do not use orientation words in the documentation such as “refer to the upper left-hand corner of the screen”. Screen reader users who are blind cannot easily reference within an application using spatial references with no text or user control element landmarks.
• Do not rely on color alone when providing guidance. Describe the text user interface controls in detail. A poor example is “Click on the red image”.
• After every software modification update the user documentation if the update changes the user interface or landmark words you used in the past versions.
• Not all users use a mouse therefore include all equivalent short cut keystrokes to perform all mouse tasks.  
• If alt attributes (alternative text) were used to specify an alternate text for images in the software, be sure the text that was used for the alt attribute matches the user documentation. This is especially important if an alt attribute happens to be on a user control.  
• Perform automated accessibility evaluations and manual evaluations following well designed scripts by people with disabilities who use a wide range of assistive technology.
• Get feedback from people with disabilities who use a wide range of assistive technology.
• Lastly, it is possible the software is accessible. However, without accurate and complete user documentation a user who uses assistive technology could get lost attempting to learn a new non-intuitive software product without accurate documentation designed for all users.

Although my short list is not inclusive, if one thinks about these tips they may assist in developing more usable and accessible user documentation. This will help users who use assistive technology to use the software effectively.

Since I am completely blind, use a screen reader plus have many years of experience in accessibility, often people ask my opinion on accessibility.  When a person asks me if a certain software application I have used is accessible sometimes I'm reluctant to answer because I do not have enough information to tell if it is accessible. This may be because I do not know how to use the software well enough since the user interface is complicated and not intuitive allowing me to learn without accurate user documentation. In these instances the user documentation may be the problem and not the software unless I immediately find obvious accessibility issues which even excellent user documentation cannot overcome.

When developing software it is extremely beneficial to incorporate accessibility in the design and developmental phase due to the expense of going back and retrofitting accessibility after it is developed and launched to the public. Plus, if it is launched with accessibility issues a developer may receive negative customer feedback which impacts customer relations. Developing accurate, accessible and usable user documentation is critical in completing the accessibility experience.

If you develop accurate and accessible documentation it may also help you from receiving comments regarding users stating they cannot use the software due to accessibility issues when the issue could be with the user documentation and not with the software. As I stated in my introduction to this topic this could have been the case why a screen reader user reported an accessibility issue preventing them from using the software just after the product went live.

Do you have any tips to help develop more accurate and usable user documentation? Would you like to share any success stories? Any other thoughts that come to mind that may help our conversation after reading this?

We all look forward to hearing your valuable thoughts and comments.

Bill Tipton

Contributing Author,

Global Dialogue Center

http://www.globaldialoguecenter.com/

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/wdtipton

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bill.tipton.39

Twitter: http://twitter.com/wdtipton

Increase and Promote Accessibility: Global Accessibility Awareness Day

 

May 17 was Global Accessibility Awareness Day. To celebrate the importance of accessibility I am humbled to share a blog post my employer wrote and published “Celebrating Global Accessibility Awareness Day” (Hewlett Packard Enterprise). This blog post contains a tip I provided to assist in increasing one component of accessibility. This also describes some of the work I do for my employer and the importance of accessibility.

• What did you learn from the blog post?
• If you recognize  Global Accessibility Awareness Day, how do you plan to celebrate this in 2019?
• How do you plan to increase accessibility in the work place to help employees who use assistive technology to be as productive as they can be and overcome barriers that in most cases can easily be resolved?
• Any suggestions for on-line course developers to assist them in developing courses everyone can complete without assistance, even people with disabilities?
• Do you have any tips for web developers to help them increase accessibility and usability to enable equal access for all?
• Can you suggest some ideas to increase usability and accessibility in services and products to help   increase customer satisfaction and loyalty?

We all look forward to hearing your valuable thoughts and comments.

Bill Tipton

Contributing Author,

Global Dialogue Center

http://www.globaldialoguecenter.com/

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/wdtipton

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bill.tipton.39

Twitter: http://twitter.com/wdtipton

 

 

Attending the American Foundation for the Blind Leadership Conference and Helen Keller Achievement Awards Ceremony

My wife Kathy and I had an enjoyable time attending the American Foundation for the Blind Leadership Conference and Helen Keller Achievement Award ceremony and Gala in Oakland California this April.

 

You can read about the last time we attended the Helen Keller Achievement Awards ceremony in New York City in my blog post I did “Helen Keller Achievement Awards & Exploring NYC without Eyesight”.

I enjoyed attending the sessions and due to my accessibility experience having the opportunity to talk with others in person I otherwise know virtually and seldom get to meet in person. One example is having the opportunity to talk in person with Jennison Asuncion, Engineering Manager, Accessibility at LinkedIn. Attending this event also gave me the opportunity to meet people I have never met before who are as passionate as I am about accessibility for products and services. These people also share the same enthusiasm as I for increasing accessibility in the work place. These shared goals include sponsoring inclusion for people with disabilities also with hiring, retaining and promotional opportunities. It was refreshing to be around people who understand the technical and business reasons for insuring people with disabilities are included in the work place to enhance the diverse conversations that lead to better project outcomes.

I especially enjoyed the General Sessions” How Leading Tech Companies Are Raising the Bar for Blind and Visually Impaired Users” on Thursday and “Empowering a Future of No Limits: Employment panel” on Friday. In Fridays’ general session some speakers discussed why leading companies value the unique skillsets people with disabilities have to offer. I also definitely enjoyed listening to some of the speakers explain how their companies have established partnerships between product accessibility, HR, Diversity & Inclusion to promote internal accessibility goals to assist current employees with disabilities along with the goals of attracting new talented employees.

After the Helen Keller Achievement Award ceremony I was very excited and fortunate to meet a longtime, mostly virtual friend Jenny Lay-Flurrie , Chief Accessibility Officer from Microsoft. She was honored and awarded one of the three Helen Keller Achievement Awards for Microsoft’s significant strides in developing inclusive technologies to empower people with disabilities.

Read about this prestigious award and the other 2018 Helen Keller Achievement Award Winners that include Facebook and Haben Girma who I was also fortunate enough to meet and congratulate virtually after the event.

You can read some of the highlights from The 2018 American Foundation for the Blind Leadership Conference in the April 2018 AccessWorld®. Also you can find some of the pictures of this event at American Foundation for the Blind Leadership Conference and Helen Keller Achievement Awards (Facebook) Photos.

Has anyone else attended events where you learned the value of accessibility and the benefits of demonstrating inclusion of all people equally?  If yes, what did you learn? Do you plan to incorporate anything you learned?  If yes, what do you think might be your largest obstacle you may have to overcome in order to promote any change if needed?

We all look forward to hearing your valuable comments.

Bill Tipton

Contributing Author,

Global Dialogue Center

http://www.globaldialoguecenter.com/

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/wdtipton

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bill.tipton.39

Twitter: http://twitter.com/wdtipton 

 

How People Who Are Blind Can Orientate Themselves Using a Screen Reader

Most of you who have read my blog posts or know me are aware I am completely blind. From my electronic communications you have read from me you also may understand that I use computers and mobile devices. Some probably do not know how I use these tools therefor I will explain some.  

I use a form of assistive technology called a screen reader which is software on my devices.  The screen reader reads aloud in synthesized speech the application components including the user interface controlling elements for the application enabling me to use these. My screen reader also reads web pages, web applications and the user interface elements to perform the system administration tasks for my devices. 

I think you will find the blog post A Tale of Two Rooms written by an employee I know from The Paciello Group beneficial to help you understand how a screen reader user navigates and orientates themselves on a web page or within an application. 

Does anyone have any questions to clarify anything? Do you have any other examples of how accessibility design can assist in navigation and orientation? Does anyone have an example of similar navigational and orientation techniques for people with other disabilities? 

We all look forward to hearing your valuable comments. 

Bill Tipton

Contributing Author,

Global Dialogue Center

http://www.globaldialoguecenter.com/

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/wdtipton

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bill.tipton.39

Twitter: http://twitter.com/wdtipton 

Home Maintenance: Disassembling Wooden Frames Without Eyesight

Have you ever wondered how a completely blind person is able to accomplish home maintenance projects; for example disassembling somewhat large wooden frames around raised vegetable garden beds by touch and sound only?  I would not think most of you have thought about such things therefore I will explain for those interested in learning one person’s technique and strategy.

Why: Over 25 years ago before I went completely blind I built three redwood raised vegetable garden beds in the house we rented.  Over each of the beds I built large redwood frames where I placed weather resistant sun filtering cloth that allows air through but blocked out direct sunlight. I could then manually roll out  the sun filtering  cloth over the frame as needed to protect the plants from the intense direct sun. Since I lost my eyesight in May of 1999 the two remaining garden beds and the frames covering them had developed a desperate need of repair. To start the needed transformation   and the required repair of my vegetable garden area I planned to remove the two frames around each bed that were  left to allow the vegetables to  grow in natural unfiltered sun.  My plan is to recycle and reuse the wood from the frames for plant stakes as well as other uses for the wood around our yard thus preventing the waste of valuable wood and trees.

Strategy: I figured out all the tools I would need ahead of time to complete this project. Since I walk with two canes, one support cane and one long white cane for navigation, I have no extra hands to carry anything when I walk which makes planning crucial. After I located  one philips screwdriver, one flat blade  screwdriver, needle nose plyers, regular plyers, hammer, a plastic bottle of water  and my trusty  Huntsman version of a Swiss Army knife (my go to knife when I used to backpack) I was prepared. My loving wife Kathy set up a chair where I could sit as I worked on my project. Kathy also brought me all the tools I listed including an empty coffee can. This can was used so I could place any hardware in it during the disassembly process. I carefully placed my tools and coffee can near the right side of my chair so I could find everything more easily. Once Kathy had dragged each frame with some difficulty over to me one at a time I was ready to begin my fun.

Fun: As I sat in the chair with  the frame resting  across my legs with it’s four legs pointing in unknown directions I explored all sides of the frame with my fingers and hands to determine the layout  in my minds-eye and as to how I assembled it many years ago. After I had the image of how the frame looked I then determined the best approach to disassemble it. Then I felt around at each joint to determine if I used screws or nails as fasteners.    From feeling small indentations at the center of each fastener with my finger tip I determined they must be screws that held down each metal bracket.  These L-brackets attached each leg to the top square frame I had assembled with the same style brackets. I then selected my Swiss Army knife’s small screw driver and started to remove each screw. Some screws were extremely tight which required me to position myself in my chair in a way to maximize leverage.  This tactic allowed me to keep the required pressure on the screw as I removed each one. After removing a leg of the frame I found a short piece of wood that was connected to it. By feeling no indentation in the top of the fastener on this short piece of wood I determined I had put in nails which held the short piece of wood to the leg.  These short pieces of wood connected each leg on two sides to the top of the frame at 45 degree angles reinforcing each leg. After removing the short pieces of wood by pulling them off by hand or prying them off with the claw end of the hammer I used my plyers or hammer to pull out each nail. To keep my work space organized as I disassembled each section I stacked the shorter pieces of wood to the left of my chair, the longer leg pieces to my right in the corner resting up against the fence and placed all screws, nails and brackets in the coffee can.

When I was working on the second frame I noticed for some reason the screws did not turn, therefore did not loosen. This difficulty made me wonder if these were nails preventing my Swiss Army knife screwdriver from biting in the head of the screw as I attempted to twist it out. I then cheated and asked my wife Kathy if the screws were philips or straight blade types since I could not determent what they were by touching them with my fingertips. After Kathy looked she found some were phillips and others were corroded therefor I switched to my longer handled screw drivers to get more leverage. When I made this minor adjustment I was again well on my way to completion of this project. After removing many screws, nails, and all brackets I was pleasantly surprised when I reached down towards my feet and in front of me where I would keep the frame pieces that still needed work and found nothing but air as I grasped around with outreached hands. I also double checked by kicking out my feet keeping them low to the ground searching by touch and sound for them to connect with something solid  just in case a piece of frame landed out of hands reach during   the disassembly process. I was happy to discover that this test failed to locate any stray pieces, therefore I called Kathy over (she was working in some other area of the yard) to confirm I did not miss any. After verifying with Kathy that the first frame was completely disassembled she dragged the second one over for me to disassemble. When I had completed the second frame and had Kathy confirm that I had, she told me I did not miss disassembling a single piece of wood, removing a screw or any nail. This made me smile with joy.   When I had completed this project I then organized my longer pieces of wood that I placed to my right against the fence to later saw off the damaged parts to prepare each piece for a new life.

What I learned from this simple project:

• Overcoming the thought of completing a project like I describe and doing something that requires more exertion than one is accustomed to or have ever attempted before may be the most difficult part. Because of these challenges it is best to just plan and get started.
• Despite any challenge or disability if one plans thoroughly it is possible to participate in or complete many projects on your own.
• Although disassembling a large wooden frame like I described may be difficult or awkward with challenges such as being blind which is the equivalent of wearing a blindfold or walking around using canes, the satisfaction of completing a project is worth the challenges.
• If assistance is not available and you are forced to improvise and utilize work-arounds, it is still possible to complete projects.
• Being prepared with everything you may need before you start will help reduce the stress of having to stop in the middle of your project to locate something you may need or even worse find out you may be missing something required to complete the project.
• Keep a positive attitude and if you are outside, take advantage of relaxing in the sun, listening to the birds, the wind rustling through tree leaves, breathing fresh air and the joyful sounds of neighbors experiencing life. Pace yourself and enjoy the option to be outdoors.

Does anyone have any stories to share that explain projects you have attempted or completed where you overcame any challenge you may have? Do you have any tips for me and others to help us overcome what some people perceive as challenges to fully participate in projects and life? Any ideas to increase the probability of completing projects when help is limited or not readily available?  Any other experiences you want to share to help us take the required steps to experience all aspects of life, including the uncomfortable, unfamiliar or challenging aspects of enjoying life?

We all look forward to hearing from you.

Bill Tipton

Contributing Author,

Global Dialogue Center

http://www.globaldialoguecenter.com/

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/wdtipton

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bill.tipton.39

Twitter: http://twitter.com/wdtipton

Ripple Effect of Inaccessible Tools and Potential Dollars Lost

Some of you may understand the direct relationship accessibility has on the effectiveness of people using assistive technology with the tools you develop or deploy from practicing techniques or objectives in "Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0", "Mandate 376 (301 549)" and "Section 508 Refresh" or other guidelines and requirements.  It is less likely some of you may understand the ripple effect of inaccessible tools, (software, hardware, web pages, services and processes) have on potential dollars lost or time wasted. Others who use assistive technology and experience accessibility barriers first hand can understand the negative impact inaccessible tools have on their productivity.

I am grateful several developers and some individuals who procure tools understand the benefits of incorporating accessibility into the developmental processes or tools they deploy.  This minimal amount of attention to quality goes a long way to assist in reducing barriers resulting in increased customer base, customer satisfaction and effectiveness.

If you are unfamiliar with assistive technology or how a person who is completely blind uses a PC and experiences some of the accessibility barriers I will be describing later in web application number one and two the short scenario below may assist you in understanding the concepts. As a screen reader (one type of assistive technology) user I attempt to do some on-line shopping for groceries in a very simple web application. Once I start to process my order I quickly find the drop down list to select the method of delivery cannot be activated by keyboard commands (screen reader users generally do not use a mouse) or the results are not read to me as I scroll through my possible choices. Therefore I cannot choose how I want my order to be delivered. I also find when I tab to three different form fields I am not able to determine what I am to enter into these unlabeled form fields or even if these fields are required since they are not properly labeled with a description of what I am to enter. As I had to skip these unlabeled form fields since I was not sure what they are used for I wondered if one of them was for me to type in what I wanted to order, although I did not want to guess and pay for something I did not want therefore I continued. I did find a form field which was labeled for a telephone number, although the form field element did not specify the format I was to use (e.g. use dashes in between area code and.. or leave out dashes or include the country code). Due to these accessibility issues I was prevented from proceeding to place my order because I was not able to fill out all of the required fields or enter the telephone number using the correct format, therefore, I was not able to receive the groceries I needed.

Some developers, businesses and corporations might think it is too costly to develop tools that are accessible or usable. However, developing accessible tools can go beyond helping the employees or customers to be more productive, self-supportive and effective. Accessible tools can also potentially save money if one considers the ripple effect of inaccessible tools.

Below is just one of many possible examples:

Web Application Number 1:

• A person using assistive technology attempts to enter time critical data into a simple web application with just a few user interface elements (e.g. form fields, drop down menus, user notifications and a submit button) and found the application had accessibility barriers preventing them from accomplishing the task themselves.
• The affected person then locates anyone they can find who can help enter the data into the web application on their behalf.
• Although they did find assistance, the person they found was unfamiliar with the application. Therefore they did not notice an issue with entering the data and thought all was submitted without issues since the web application submitted the data without errors or alert messages.
• After the data was processed the result did not get processed as expected resulting in a missed deadline.
• Subsequently the person who had assisted went back to verify that the data they entered was correct, entered on time and was not processed as expected.
• The next step was that the affected person now was required to submit a help ticket to attempt to correct or explain the issue generated by web application number one.

Web Application Number 2:

• The affected person who uses assistive technology then attempted to enter a help ticket into a very simple web application with a few user interface elements to request help and found this help system also had accessibility issues preventing them from entering the case effectively.
• Then the affected person who uses assistive technology found another person who was unfamiliar with application number two to request help on their behalf to enter the help ticket regarding web application number one.
• Since the process for receiving an answer to the submitted help ticket using the fictitious accessibility work-around was becoming very time consuming the affected person contacted the person waiting for the information generated by web application number one and others affected by the delay in a resolution.
• After the help ticket generated by web application number two was received by an agent they found the request was unclear. This required a few back and forth conversations by email to attempt to resolve the issues since the help desk person could not be contacted by telephone to quickly explain the issue verbally to help overcome any language differences or barriers.
• This lack of resolution resulted in yet another group getting involved to help resolve the issue generated by web application number one.

Although what I describe above should have been a quick task of entering very little data into a simple web application with just a few user interface elements that could have possibly been resolved by the developer utilizing resources like "Labeling Controls- Forms WAI Web Accessibility Tutorials” it had become a long process.  By the time the issue was resolved at least six people over several days were involved. This could have been avoided if the people who procure tools insured they procure accessible tools or if one web application developer or their team incorporated accessibility into their web application.

If end users, businesses or corporations could capture the potential dollars and time lost for every one of these individual ripple accessibility obstacles affecting many people I describe above by incorporating accessibility into the applications, services and processes, individuals, businesses or corporations could save many dollars to reinvest into the businesses or people. Incorporating accessibility will also empower end users enabling them to be more effective allowing them to flourish and prosper without the false ceilings of inaccessible tools.

Even though my example of how many people might be involved to provide a work around to accessibility issues with tools is hypothetical, I am sure some of you might have real examples to share.

Does anyone have examples of how tool developers and procurement individuals can increase accessibility and get the required sponsorship to make positive changes?

Any thoughts to help advance the enabling of all to flourish and prosper without the false ceilings of inaccessible tools?

Does anyone have additional information or input to contribute to this conversation?

I look forward to hearing your valuable comments to help us continue this important accessibility discussion.

Bill Tipton

Contributing Author,

Global Dialogue Center

http://www.globaldialoguecenter.com/

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/wdtipton

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bill.tipton.39

Twitter: http://twitter.com/wdtipton 

Leverage Your Abilities to Demonstrate and Act on Your Transferable Skills

I am humbled and honored to have my employer, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) publish an article “Prepare for any challenges - discover your unique transferable skills and talents”. The article describes what can be accomplished if one focuses on abilities and not disabilities. This article was written by leveraging some text from two of my blogs entitled “Employee of the Year” and “Discovering Your Unique Transferable Skills”. Also an internal HPE page for my bio added pictures and then edited the article to develop this new publication.  

I hope my “HPE Careers” article gives you some ideas that will enable you to leverage your abilities and transferable skills. 

Does anyone have any additional suggestions on how to leverage your abilities and transferable skills to help your employer, your family or your community? Do you have any other examples of the value of meaningful employment like I described in the beginning of my “HPE Careers” article? Lastly does anyone have anything else to contribute to this conversation? 

I look forward to hearing your valuable comments to help us continue this important discussion. 

Bill Tipton

Contributing Author,

Global Dialogue Center

http://www.globaldialoguecenter.com/

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/wdtipton

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bill.tipton.39

Twitter: http://twitter.com/wdtipton 

 

Year End: Celebrating the Way We Were Emphasizing Gratitude in the Present

As each year closes and a new one arises I take time out of my busy schedule to reflect on past activities, accomplishments, obstacles and develop new goals for the upcoming year. This year is no different although a reoccurring thought is how my life has changed dramatically since losing my eyesight without warning. Because of this I now require one long white cane and one support cane to walk which tests my creativity to find methods to carry objects with no free hands among other challenges that comes with living life with no eyesight. The busy holiday season and year end causes me to reflect on the way Kathy and I had planned to live our life achieving our dreams and goals prior to this life altering event. We anticipated and expected the need to overcome standard challenges most people experience, although we never thought our love and devotion would be tested so dramatically including gratefully surviving a three month coma and a seven month hospitalization stay when I lost my eyesight.

Although this obstacle of living life only seeing blackness does have its daily challenges it is not too difficult to do well in my profession. After getting out of the hospital I immediately prepared by completing training to obtain the standard blindness related skills including assistive technology as I relentlessly re-skilled myself to successfully perform my daily work for my employer. I also am continuously increasing my   education by completing many professional and technical courses each year.

My greatest sense of loss is for my loving wife Kathy since we live alone and I can no longer assist her like I used to when I could see and walk with no limitations. My parents and other family members are also affected by my obstacles. Like others who are fortunate to be devoted to their career and providing for their family I am also working many hours a week. The main burden is all on Kathy to run the household including all home and car maintenance, driving, finances, all chores, taking care of our pets among many other tasks that keeps her extremely busy from sunrise to far beyond sunset. To assist in completing some non work related tasks I can’t complete without eyesight that Kathy usually helps me with I occasionally receive help from a caring volunteer from a local nonprofit agency which frees up some time in Kathy’s busy schedule. As I perform my job I can listen to Kathy (when I am not in conference calls) relentlessly keeping on top of all tasks, including squeezing in time to decorate for the holidays late into the evenings.

Some might wonder why Kathy goes to the trouble to decorate for the holidays and keeps the house we rent very clean and organized throughout the year since I can’t see anything but blackness. I sense she does all of her work beyond the tasks that are critical because it brings her pleasure and satisfaction. Kathy like myself also enjoys bringing joy into others lives’ and decorating assists with this mutual goal. Even though I cannot see the decorations with my physical eyes I see the beauty in my mind’s eye and can feel the joy of the holiday spirit. I can also sense the joy in others when we are blessed with the occasional company and our guests admire the home my wife and I have created with love and caring despite my inability to help Kathy with many tasks. The sound of joy and happiness is very gratifying and far better than any pharmaceutical medicine in my opinion to help overcome some ailments and attitudes. The atmosphere Kathy and I have created helps to ease the difficulties and obstacles we attempt to overcome daily. Although we seldom have time to relax since we are incredibly busy keeping up on all of the tasks we need to accomplish together I would not trade in my life with Kathy for anything. Holding gratitude in one’s heart and believing that one can overcome most any difficulty keeps my faith that Kathy and I will endure. Our mutual goal is to also leave time to help our family, friends, neighbors and others that are less fortunate.

If I was given the choice between if I want to see and walk with no assistive devices again or have Kathy as my wife, I will always choose Kathy to celebrate my life with!

Although I try not to allow my new obstacles to discourage me one song that always makes me consider what could have been and how much easier life would have been if I never experienced my challenges is the song “The Way We Were”.

For those of you who are hard of hearing or deaf and could not listen to the audio in the above hyperlink you can read “The Way We Were” lyrics.

Does anyone have stories to encourage others that may be experiencing challenges or have had life altering events that caused you to change your path in life? Do you have any messages of joy and gratitude you want to share? Lastly I want to wish everyone a happy, safe, healthy and blessed holiday season and a very enjoyable new year.

I look forward to hearing your valuable thoughts and comments to propel us into the new year with happiness and gratitude.

Bill Tipton

Contributing Author,

Global Dialogue Center

http://www.globaldialoguecenter.com/

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/wdtipton

Facebook: http://profile.to/wdtipton

Twitter: http://twitter.com/wdtipton