Disability Dialogue with Bill

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 

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

Audio Description: Assists the Visually Impaired to Visualize Information, Increasing Safety and Convenience

Have you ever attempted to watch a movie/video on a screen that was so small you could not see it and in addition to that the audio track did not provide enough description which prevented the ability to follow the plot?  Have you attended a play, movie or other event in which your seats had an obstacle impeding your view which prohibited seeing the action performed which left you wondering what happened when only action was occurring and there was no verbal dialog? Have you ever attended a webinar where the video portion had technical difficulties and you could only listen to the audio and missed the essential non- verbal content preventing you from completely understanding the concept? Ever listened to a video on your mobile device and due to safety reasons could not look at the screen and therefor missed understanding the complete concept because not everything was described sufficiently? 

If you experienced any of the above accessibility obstacles how do you think this would make you feel? Would you feel excluded and truly left in the dark? This is how some blind or visually impaired people feel if they cannot fully participate in such activities.

Fortunately with today’s technology the blind, visually impaired and others without disabilities who may have the temporary obstacles described at the start of this blog post can participate and understand the content if the developer/producer/publisher incorporates Audio Description.

What is Audio Description?

Audio Description is an additional audio track that describes and gives context for essential visual information. Audio Description makes videos, multimedia, plays and museum exhibitions, as well as a large variety of other events and activities more accessible to people who are blind or visually impaired. It also helps others who are not disabled but may have temporary obstacles by capturing essential visual information into audible descriptions that are played during natural pauses in the primary audio track.

A few of several examples of where Audio Description can be added are shown below to assist the targeted audience understand the media being presented are:

• A scene in a movie, video or play where there is only action and no verbal dialog describing the action when the action is critical to understanding the movie or video - Describe the action

• An amusement park ride where the visual experience is critical to fully participate in the ride experience - Describe the visual setting

• When the speaker’s facial expressions, body language, clothing and colors add context to the meaning of what is being presented - Describe the facial expressions, body language, clothing and colors

• If the environment adds additional information to aide in setting the mood for the audience - Describe the environment  

• A webinar where the instructor is taking an action which they do not describe what is crucial to understand the concept - Describe the action

• If presenting a training video of a software application and reaction within the application caused by a mouse click or keystroke is critical in performing the task being verbally described - Describe the reaction

• When multiple people are talking and the audience can benefit from associating the voice of the person speaking with what they are talking about - Sparingly introduce the speakers

• A conference call where anyone in the call is sharing information and they do not describe that which is crucial to understand the concept - Describe the information being shared

My last four bullet points are good candidates to leverage the Low Tech solution borrowed from WebAIM: Captions, Transcripts, and Audio Descriptions.

Producing audio descriptions can be expensive and time-consuming. When producing a video for the web, the need for audio descriptions can often be avoided. If the video were displaying a list of five important items, the narrator might say, "As you can see, there are five important points." In this case, audio descriptions would be necessary to provide the visual content to those with visual disabilities who cannot 'see' what the important points are. However, if the narrator says, "There are five important points. They are..." and then reads or describes each of the points, then the visual content is being conveyed through audio and there is no additional need for audio descriptions.

To learn more about the value and begin to learn how to incorporate audio description into your products to increase audience satisfaction read...
"Creating Opportunities with Accessibility: Movie Theaters”
and ...
“Audio Description for Media and Live Performance Chicago Web Accessibility & Inclusive Design Meetup”.

Has anyone experienced Audio Description and can provide comments to help others learn? If you have never heard of Audio Description did you learn anything from this blog post? Can you think of other activities that can utilize Audio Description to increase accessibility and therefore inclusion? Does anyone have suggestions to leverage Audio Description for people without visual disabilities to help justify it being incorporated into products for universal design? Does anyone have any other comments on the subject of audio description?

I 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: http://profile.to/wdtipton

Twitter: http://twitter.com/wdtipton

 

Inclusion Paves the Way for Success: Accessibility & Usability

I listened to an excellent interview with Yves Veulliet by Jonathan Hassell I believe you will enjoy and find valuable in your personal and professional life. You can listen to that interview at “Do you have to be 'superhuman' to be an inspiration” - Hassell Inclusion.

I am sure you have your own opinions on what specific points of the interview uncovered some feelings or ideas to assist you in your life. Below is just a short list of the many interesting topics discussed in the interview I found could assist me in my personal and professional life:

• When working with people who are disabled or elderly focus on their capabilities and not their disabilities.

• Becoming disabled suddenly, requiring training to learn to use a wheel chair and adapting to accessibility barriers like Yves demonstrates, should not deter you from pursuing your dreams.

• How Yves copes, interacts and lives in a world with accessibility barriers in his new world can be an example for all who experience obstacles.

• Enabling inclusion by designing accessibility/usability into products and services which increases revenue by including the approximately twenty percent of the population who are elderly or disabled and reduces unintentional exclusion.

• When developing products including accessibility features it should be as natural for the designer and developer as including a keyboard with a computer.

When I listened to the interview I could not help to think about some similarities between myself and Yves. We both became disabled instantly, spent many months in the hospital, and required many months of rehabilitation. We also share the passion to overcome obstacles to do the best we can despite the accessibility/usability barriers we face, all while keeping a positive attitude and an overall goal to be happy. 

What did you learn from Yves Veulliet’s interview? Will Yves Veulliet’s attitude cause you to act or think differently? Does the conversation regarding inclusion and the relationship between accessibility/ usability in products and services   cause you to think and act differently? If you are a developer or designer did the conversation assist you in providing new ideas to capture the customers you are unintentionally excluding by not incorporating accessibility/usability into your products and services? 

I 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: http://profile.to/wdtipton

Twitter: http://twitter.com/wdtipton 

 

Creating Opportunities with Accessibility: Movie Theaters

Have you had life changing events in which you thought you might not be able to participate in activities you once enjoyed? Maybe you know of others who have had life altering events which as a result these people feel they now have barriers that prevent them from enjoying all of life’s opportunities. 

After I awoke from a coma which lasted three months I realized all I could see was complete darkness. Shortly thereafter my ophthalmologist came into the hospital and verified I had lost all vision and was now completely blind. This life altering event occurred suddenly without warning one uneventful evening. From that point in 1999 my life changed forever.

One of many thoughts that raced through my mind just after being told I would most likely never be able to see anything ever again was how I would participate in activities I used to do which might require eyesight. Since being blind was new to me I was not yet aware of how I would be able to participate in many of life’s joyful opportunities.

After attending meetings at local blindness related organizations and completing extensive training in blindness related skills and assistive technologies, I became aware that with the advancements in technology I would have options to participate in many of the activities I had previously enjoyed. This new education along with my past experience in software development, system administration and computer networking I learned that with the technology available today, full inclusion of all people can be a reality. All that is required to facilitate inclusion, regardless of disability or age related challenges, is the incorporation of accessibility into products.

One of many examples of incorporating accessibility into products is how the AMC Theaters in my area leverage accessibility. With the technology used at my local theater I was able to enjoy the movie experience with the aid of descriptive audio. With this technology I could fully see what was on the screen in my minds-eye as the second audio track described the images on the screen.  This audio description track played through wireless headphones that were provided by the theater. The audio description that was playing in my headset flowed seamlessly with the primary audio track everyone else was listening to. The audio description never seemed to overlap with the voices that were in the movie. This allowed me to listen to both sound tracks with ease. The added description immensely enhanced my movie experience.  I could now tell what was being displayed in the movie such as action, scenery or other non-verbal content which is essential to understanding the complete meaning. 

My friend who I attended the movie with is deaf/hard of hearing and he leveraged the closed captioning devices that were provided by the theater. He was very impressed with the technology used to increase his movie experience. He was able to read the verbal words spoken as they scrolled across the small display. The words that scrolled across the display were perfectly timed with the movie. The small display for closed captioning rested on a small flexible stand that is placed in the cup holder in the arm rest of the seat. This device was easily adjustable to allow for easy viewing of the display while not obstructing the movie screen.

Additional technologies/recreational activities that can take advantage of closed captioning and audio description are:

• On-Line Videos

• Training Classes/Courses

• Desktop Sharing Software

• Conferences - Both Online and Face-to-Face

• Television Programming

• DVD Movies

• Plays, Concerts and Operas

• Museums, Theme Parks and Hiking Trails

The movie experience I described is just one example of how products can leverage accessibility to produce superior products. The incorporation of accessibility will also broaden the number of people who can use the products therefore creating the potential for additional revenue for the developer/provider. Also if the product is used in a business environment there is potential cost savings due to the fact the affected employee will not need another person to help them overcome the accessibility/usability barriers. Plus, best of all, more people who thought they had no hope of ever participating in activities they once enjoyed because of barriers can now participate in life’s experiences and contribute to their full potential.

Learn more about accessibility at World Wide Web Consortium - Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0, Section 508 and the other hyperlinks I have included in this blog post.

Do you have any examples of how accessibility has opened up opportunities or made a difference in your life? Can you provide any tips to developers about the benefits of incorporating usability and accessibility into products? Any other thoughts you would like to share on this topic?

We all look forward to hearing your valuable comments.

Bill Tipton

Contributing Author,

Global Dialogue Center

http://www.globaldialoguecenter.com/

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