Transcript Can you read this? Accessibility and Public Library websites

Can you read this?
Accessibility and Public
Library websites
Penny Garrod
UKOLN
University of Bath
Bath, BA2 7AY
Email
[email protected]
URL
http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/
UKOLN is supported by:
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Contents
brief introduction to UKOLN
the Public library agenda
- Lifelong Learning; ICT skills; social
inclusion; UKonline centres; digitisation
projects
accessibility and usability: why they matter
compliance with standards:
- tools to gauge web site accessibility
survey findings
conclusions
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UKOLN
• national focus of expertise in digital
information management
• based at the University of Bath
• funded by JISC (HE and FE sector) and
Resource: The Council for Museums,
Archives and Libraries, together with
project funding (e.g. EU and JISC)
• around 27 staff
• carries out applied research (e.g. in
metadata), software development and
provides policy and advisory services
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Public Library Networking
Focus
My role:
“to contribute to strategic, policy-making,
awareness-raising and development
activities in the area of public library
networking and lifelong learning”.
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Background - connecting up
Public Libraries
CALL- Community Access to Lifelong
Learning Programme
NOF funding - £230 million
People’s Network Programme
ICT infrastructure- managed by Resource
NOF funding - £100 million
NOF staff training
Programme
NOF Digitise
Programme
Bill & Melissa
Gates donation
£20 million
£50 million
£4 million
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Why Public Libraries
2005 - Government’s commitment to get all UK
citizens online
 People’s Network: all public libraries to have
Internet & ICT learning facilities by end of
2002 [70% now online]
Social inclusion and learning agendas:
 PLs now ‘street corner universities’: UKonline
and Learndirect centres;access to national
resources; Community Grids for Learning
e-Citizenship & e-local government:
 empower local populations (ICT skills=jobs)
 engagement in local/national politics
www.peoplesnetwork.gov.uk
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Web accessibility: a brief
overview
 the Web was designed as a visual medium
 the Web is a democratising medium –
 the web is about content and accessing that
content using technology - therefore:
1. the technology must be accessible:
e.g. hardware; Operating Systems; descriptive URIs
Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs, aka URLs);
browsers; adaptive technologies; connection
speeds (uploading and downloading) etc.
2. the content must be accessible:
e.g. easy to navigate; well-structured; concise; easy
to understand; easy to locate using search
engines; Universal Design; adhere to standards
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The case for Universal Design
RNIB – states that accessibility should be
incorporated into design brief (as requirement)
when tendering for website development
Georgia State University, USA
“We are currently building a new economy, a
new government, a new society that is based
around the Internet. How ironic it would be if
the foundation stones don't include
accessibility, and then when we need it in our
old age -- we can't access it? The access you
ensure today may be your own, tomorrow!”
http://www.gsu.edu/~wwwdls/show_case/Presentations/unive
rsal_design.html
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APLAWS initiative
Accessible & Personalised Local
Authority Websites
• London-based consortium of councils
• To develop a content management system to
standardise the way content is laid out and
navigated on council web sites
• Pathfinder project – working towards all
services online by 2005
http://www.aplaws.org.uk
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Accessibility: standards and
guidelines. Is there a consensus?
 Use W3C WAI (Web Accessibility Initiative) Guidelines
http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT/
Use HTML validation service: http://validator.w3.org/
Aim for Universal Design or “design for all”
Aim for W3C Double A conformance – aim to meet
Priority One and Two guidelines for accessibility
Use Bobby for automated checking of pages
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Best Practice manual: www.nlbuk.org
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Web-based tools: the WAVE
Pennsylvania’s Initiative on Assistive Technology
from:
http://www.temple.edu/inst_disabilities/piat/wave
• cannot tell you if page is accessible - no tool
can
• adds icons and text to help you judge if page is
accessible; provides information to help you
exercise judgment
• downloadable tutorial
• Incorporates browser check e.g.
– “I'm using a recent browser” (Internet Explorer 5,
Navigator 6, Opera 4 or higher)
– Analyze No-Frame Version
• Downloadable ‘Wave’ button (like Google)
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Web-based tools: Bobby
from: http://www.cast.org/bobby/
Offers choice of guidelines:
• Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
from the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)
World Wide Web Consortium ( W3C)
• Section 508 guidelines developed by the
U.S. Federal Government.
Select the WAI/W3C guidelines
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www.ukonline.gov.uk
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www.ukonline.gov.uk - normal view
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Easy access version of UKonline
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Results of recent UKOLN
benchmarking survey
Bobby (accessibility compliance)
•undertaken on 23 April 2002 by Brian Kelly,
UKOLN Web Focus
•sample taken from SPIN SOCITM Website
awards, 2001
•18 Local Authority entry level pages analysed for
accessibility (5 x England; 5 x Scotland; 4 x Wales; 4 x N.
Ireland)
• Priority 1 (P1) errors: one site had NONE; two
sites had 5 P1 errors; one had 6 P1 errors
•Priority 2 (P2) errors: ranged from 1 - 4 errors;
average P2 errors = 2.4
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Guidelines and resources
•Techdis: http://www.techdis.ac.uk/ for HE community
but useful stuff e.g.
•How People with disabilities use the web
http://www.w3.org/WAI/EO/Drafts/PWD-UseWeb/Overview.html
•RNIB: guidelines + ‘See it right campaign’
•NLB website: http://www.nlbuk.org/
• Best practice manual
•Jakob Nielsen (2000) Designing Web usability :
the practice of simplicity. Indianapolis, Ind. : New
Riders.
•Lynx view: www.delorie.com/web/lynxview.html
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IDeA website viewed through Lynxviewer
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Any questions?
'image: www.freeimages.co.uk'
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