Web Axe: web accessibility podcast and blog

Podcast and blog on practical web design accessibility tips.

What is web accessibility? | Email: web axe [at gmail] NOSPAM! dot com

Current Posts

Podcast #74: Awards, Events & Back to Basics

Monday, September 28, 2009

A super special podcast:

• First time face-to-face recording between Dennis and Ross.
  
• In Santa Cruz, California.
• 4-Year Anniversary for Web Axe.
  

Download Web Axe Episode 74 (Awards, Events & Back to Basics)

Chatter

• Affordable niche advertising!
• Web Axe Nominated in 2009 .net Awards (twice!)
• Accessible Twitter winner of the the ACCESS-IT 2009 awards.
  

Articles

• Are PDFs More Important Than Web Accessibility?
• Interview with Jamie Knight: autism and accessible web design
• HTML5 Canvas element and Accessibility
• Google Chrome Frame - accessibility black hole

If a page is viewed through Google Chrome Frame in Internet Explorer no content is available to the user of assistive technology (AT). This can be illustrated using the Microsofts accexplorer tool.

Events/Conferences

• Attended OpenWebCamp at Stanford
• Fall Web Accessibility Events
• Two Free Events in October
• An Event Apart, San Francisco 2009
• Future of Web Design 2009 NYC

Main Segment

WCAG 2: Remember P.O.U.R.: Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, Robust

• Perceivable - Interface elements can not be invisible to users.
• Operable - Users must be able to interact with the interface.
• Understandable - Users must be able to understand with information and the interface (cognitive).
• Robust - Must be usable by a wide range of user agents and assisstive technologies.
  

Use P.O.S.H.: Plain Ol' Semantic HTML

• Use headings and properly.
• P is for paragraph.
• blockquotes for quotes (not indentation).
• Use lists for lists, menus, etcetera.
• Definition Lists.
• Use strong and em tags versus b and i.

Other topics:

• Alt text for non-textual elements.
• Tables
• Forms
• JavaScript
• Device-Independence
• Visual impairments
• Audio

Labels: awards, conference, event, html5, pdf, podcast, standards, twitter, wcag2

0 comments

Accessible Twitter Wins Award, Slidedeck

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Congratulations to Accessible Twitter which was honored with the ACCESS-IT@Web 2.0 2009 award! Here is the link to the acceptance presentation on SlideShare which was given by Meera Tank at the event in London:

Accessible Twitter presentation for ACCESS-IT@Web 2.0

Slideshare provides a text version towards the bottom of the page, but here's a better version in HTML.

Cool tidbit: The presentation made the Featured Presentations & Documents section of the SlideShare home page the day after it was posted, and it made it (briefly) to the Hot on Twitter section!

Addendum:

• Read about the award on Dennis' personal blog.
• New page for winners of the ACCESS-IT 2009 Awards
  

Labels: awards, presentation, twitter

1 comments

Two Free Events in October

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Here's the info on two free web accessibility events in Washington D.C. this October. Thanks to Jennison Asuncion.

Interagency Disability Educational Awareness Showcase (IDEAS) - IDEAS 2009
October 5-6 Marvin Center, George Washington University.
For anyone who wants to learn more about and network with folks who
need to meet Section 508 requirements.

Accessibility Camp D.C.
October 10 at the Martin Luther King Library.
Day-long barcamp for folks who work or have an interest in IT accessibility.

Labels: event

0 comments

4-Year Anniversary

Monday, September 21, 2009

Web Axe has been blogging and podcasting for over four years now! Since September 2005, Dennis Lembree has been contributing to the web accessibility community with blogs and podcasts about techniques, news, and events around development of accessible web sites. Dennis started Web Axe as a member of the Detroit Podcasters Network. Co-host Ross Johnson of 3.7 Designs joined the following year. Dennis and Ross are also the co-founders of Refresh Detroit. The site continues to grow in popularity, and the number of RSS subscribers has doubled over the last year. Thank you readers and listeners!

PS:
Coming soon, a great interview podcast!

Labels: administrative, podcast

0 comments

Web Accessibility Day

Friday, September 11, 2009

Web Accessibility Day is Tuesday, September 22 in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A. It's a a one-day event teaching how to create web accessible content including PDFs and graphics, and how to use evaluation tools.

The keynote speaker is Shawn Lawton Henry, Outreach Coordinator for the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI). Exhibitors include: Oracle, Knowbility, Nuance Communications, and Browse Aloud.

Web Accessibility Day is presented by The National Federation of the Blind and the Maryland Technology Assistance Program. Support for the Web Accessibility Training Day is provided by the State of Maryland Deparment of Information Technology.

Labels: nfb, w3c

1 comments

ACCESS-IT Workshops and Awards

Tuesday, September 08, 2009

ACCESS-IT 2009 is a two-day event on Accessibility and Assistive Technology to be held September 22 and 23 at Microsoft (UK), Victoria, London. The event includes two workshops and an awards ceremony. It is hosted by Microsoft and will be located at its Cardinal Place location in Central London. You may register for ACCESS-IT 2009 at any time.

The ACCESS-IT 2009 Awards program honors accessible technologies from a project, product or service in the following four categories: Home, Work, Living, Web 2.0. About 100 nominations have been submitted from 24 countries; there are 19 finalists and 44 have received a good practice label.

Accessible Twitter has been named a finalist! All finalists will be rewarded at the ACCESS-IT 2009 event ceremony September 23.

Labels: awards, conference, event

1 comments

Evaluating Cognitive Web Accessibility

Wednesday, September 02, 2009

In WebAIM's article Evaluating Cognitive Web Accessibility, the most varied and complex area of accessibility is addressed. Cognitive accessibility is more prevalent than all physical and sensory disabilities combined, but seems to be dealt with the least, probably because it's most difficult to pinpoint as well as to solve. Much needed general principles and specific guidelines (referred to as a checklist in article) are provided in the article.

Here are the principles listed for cognitive accessibility:

• Simple
• Consistent
• Clear
• Multi-modal
• Error-tolerant
• Attention-focusing
• Improving web accessibility for this audience will improve access for everyone

The guidelines are categorized under:

• Assistive Technology Compatibility
• Consistency
• Transformability
• Multi-modality
• Focus and Structure
• Readability and Language
• Orientation and Error Prevention/Recovery

Labels: cognitive, webaim

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Previous Posts

• Web Accessibility Conferences in 2010
• 2009 in Review
• Involving Users Early in Web Projects
• Roundup 2: Accessibility Links on Twitter
• Podcast #76: Web Accessibility Disasters
• Roundup: Accessibility Links on Twitter
• Accessible YouTube Sites
• Free Browsers for Visual Impairment
• Colorblind, Law, and Lightboxes
• Podcast #75: Jeremy Keith Interview, Google Wave

Archives

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Related Sites

• Web Overhauls - tune-up your web site!
• Accessible Twitter - superior alternative to Twitter.com.
• 3.7crea.tv - web design and marketing blog.
• Refresh Detroit - regional group for web professionals.
• Detroit Podcasters Network.
• Website Design - seo friendly web design company.

About the Hosts

 

Footer

Web Axe was nominated for "Podcast of the Year" in .net magazine's 2008 and 2009 Best of the Web awards.

To learn more about Dennis Lembree, the founder and main host of Web Axe, visit his web site at www.DennisLembree.com.