Iridium Interactive Web Accessibility Initiative

NFB Suits For Web Accessibility

NFB National Federation of the Blind Files Complaint with United States Department of Education

Inaccessible Web Site U.S.A. Learns Discriminates Against the Blind
BALTIMORE, Oct. 27 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The National Federation of the Blind (NFB), the nation’s oldest and largest organization of blind people and the leading advocate for equal access by the blind to information technology, and Carlos Mora, a blind resident of Baltimore, Maryland, filed an administrative complaint today with the United States Department of Education.

The complaint asserts that one of the United States Department of Education’s Web sites, U.S.A. Learns, violates Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act because it is inaccessible to blind people who use text-to-speech screen access technology or Braille displays to access information on the Internet.
Because of the inaccessibility of the U.S.A. Learns Web site, blind people cannot access or navigate through the content of the English vocabulary, spelling, and pronunciation lessons that are offered through the site.

Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind, said: “In an age where the Internet is a part of everyday life, blind people must have equal access to the information and resources provided on the World Wide Web. In particular, the United States government has a legal and moral obligation to ensure that the information it provides on the Internet is equally accessible to all in America, including the blind. It is especially ironic that the Department of Education, which is commissioned to provide educational opportunities for all, would deny blind people access to a Web site that provides instructive tools for those who speak English as a second language.
This is unacceptable and we demand equal access for all blind people.”

Carlos Mora, a blind individual from Baltimore, Maryland, said: “I work full time and have been accepted to a master’s degree program at Johns Hopkins University, and English is my second language. I attempted to use the U.S.A. Learns Web site to prepare for my everyday life and my future studies by practicing English vocabulary, spelling, and pronunciation, but the Web site was not accessible to me. It is frustrating to be denied access to any Web site, but it is especially so when I am being denied access to a Web site with educational tools that would help me to become a more active and productive member of American society.”

This is the third complaint filed by the National Federation of the Blind on behalf of blind people in America regarding the inaccessibility of a federal government Web site. The NFB plans to file complaints about other inaccessible federal government Web sites as the organization continues to receive multiple reports from blind people of barriers they have faced while trying to access government information, programs, and services on the Internet.

Thankyou
Rakesh Paladugula

Ebook Accessibility Issues Trouble OverDrive and Adobe

Los Angeles PL has suspended buying OverDrive ebooks because they are inaccessible to users with print disabilities
Josh Hadro — Library Journal, 10/14/2009
Software update from Adobe disables text-to-speech functionality
Print disability advocacy group prompts LAPL to suspend purchasing
Audiobooks seen as partial solution
OverDrive puts pressure on Adobe while exploring other avenues

Some 30 million Americans potentially rely on software accessibility features to access library materials, according to the Reading Rights Coalition (RRC). So last spring, when text-to-speech (TTS) stopped working on OverDrive ebooks because of a software change from Adobe, millions of print-disabled patrons found themselves with fewer options for accessing digital library materials.

In response, the RRC—a group of 32 organizations representing those with print disabilities—asked the Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL) in July to take action. In the letter, the RRC cited the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, saying that “[b]oth of these laws require libraries to ensure that their communications with people with disabilities are as effective as their communications with nondisabled people.”

Los Angeles City Librarian Martín Gómez responded that LAPL would suspend “all purchasing of Adobe Digital Editions e-books until the TTS option is restored,” though he noted that any action taken on the library’s existing collection of 773 non-compliant ebooks would be a “hardship to our patrons.” (Other ebooks, such as those purchased from netLibrary, do not use the Adobe Digital Editions platform and remain accessible.)

In a statement to LJ, LAPL suggested a format switch as an alternative, noting that it “is continuing to purchase e-audiobooks that are accessible to the print-impaired patrons.”

Eve Hill, Senior VP of the Burton Blatt Institute and a lawyer for the RRC, said that LAPL was chosen as the site for the group’s initial protest because she had worked with the library previously, and because the library had been an early adopter of ebooks.

Supporting accessibility

The situation puts OverDrive in a difficult position, caught between its reliance on Adobe software and library customers.

Anticipating just such an issue, OverDrive CEO Steve Potash sent a letter to its customers nearly two months before LAPL suspended its purchases. The memo explains how the removal of the TTS feature and highlights the company’s dedication to accessibility for all of its digital materials, including the hosting and operation of the National Instructional Materials Access Center (NIMAC) in partnership with the American Printing House for the Blind.

“We’ve been a little frustrated,” said Potash, adding that the company has “been persistent in urging Adobe to make [accessibility] a high priority.” And though it hopes TTS and other accessbility features will soon be restored to the Digital Editions software, Potash also said that OverDrive is “working on other avenues should there be no movement from Adobe.”

Third-party support

To complete the circle of mutual dissatisfaction, Adobe’s general manager for ePublishing Business Bill McCoy similarly expressed dismay.

In a frank blog post, McCoy said that he considered it “a regrettable situation” and “a black eye for me personally that Adobe’s solution does not presently provide accessibility support.”

“I expect we will be able to make some specific announcements around this very shortly, but the bottom line is that there will soon be multiple means for visually-impaired end users to consume Adobe eBooks,” he added.

Nick Bogaty, Adobe Senior Business Development Manager, said that the company was engaged in two different strategies. First, the company is working on restoring TTS to its Digital Editions software, along with a number of other accessibility enhancements, though these won’t be available to end users until sometime in 2010.

More immediately, however, Adobe is working toward a number of partnerships with vendors of accessibility support products. These developers will be given access to the Digital Editions software developer’s kit (SDK) on “very favorable terms,” which should allow them to jumpstart the print-disabled users access to ebooks.

Bogaty acknowledged that this temporary solution would require library patrons to purchase products made by these companies, but said that it was the most expedient solution for the time being, given that “they can release hardware and software faster than we can build support into Adobe Digital Editions,” he said.

RRC remains concerned

The RRC’s Hill, however, remains frustrated. Responding to McCoy’s blog post, she said, “it’s sort of as if they’re treating the print disability as a charity,” something to be addressed “only after the real market.”

“This has been Adobe’s position all along,” she added, noting that it would be easier for all parties involved—Adobe, LAPL, OverDrive, and the RRC—if software platform companies like Adobe would hew to accessibility standards from their first forays into development.

Hill said the RRC will soon be working with other libraries in the coming months to increase awareness of digital accessibility issues, just as it had worked with the American Library Association (ALA) earlier this year to influence a resolution on compliance with accessibility guidelines.

While careful to say there were no plans for legal action from the RRC, Hill pointed out that libraries have an obligation to provide equal access to materials, and could potentially face legal challenges if they don’t adhere to that obligation and require their vendors to do the same.

Thankyou
Rakesh Paladugula

NVDA 2009.1beta1 Released

We’re pleased to announce that NVDA 2009.1beta1 has just been released. It is intended for those who are interested in testing and evaluating the upcoming NVDA 2009.1 release, but is not recommended for production use. Testers are encouraged to report any bugs found while using this beta.

Note that some translations may not yet be updated. They will be updated by the time of the final 2009.1 release.

Major highlights of NVDA 2009.1 include support for 64 bit editions of Windows; greatly improved support for Microsoft Internet Explorer and Adobe Reader documents; support for Windows 7; reading of the Windows logon, control+alt+delete and User Account Control (UAC) screens; and the ability to interact with Adobe Flash and Sun Java content on web pages. There have also been several significant stability fixes and improvements to the general user experience.

Development in Detail

What’s New in NVDA: 2009.1

New Features

• Official support for 64 bit editions of Windows! (#309)
• Added a synthesizer driver for the Newfon synthesizer. Note that this requires a special version of Newfon. (#206)
• In virtual buffers, focus mode and browse mode can now be reported using sounds instead of speech. This is enabled by default. It can be configured from the Virtual buffers dialog. (#244)
• NVDA no longer cancels speech when volume control keys are pressed on the keyboard, allowing the user to change the volume and listen to actual results immediately. (#287)
• Completely rewritten support for Microsoft Internet Explorer and Adobe Reader documents. This support has been unified with the core support used for Mozilla Gecko, so features such as fast page rendering, extensive quick navigation, links list, text selection, auto focus mode and braille support are now available with these documents.
• Improved support for the date selection control found in the Windows Vista Date / Time properties dialog.
• improved support for the Modern XP/Vista start menu (specifically the all programs, and places menus). Appropriate level information is now announced.
• The amount of text that is announced when moving the mouse is now configurable from the Mouse settings dialog. A choice of paragraph, line, word or character can be made.
• announce spelling errors under the cursor in Microsoft Word.
• support for the Microsoft Word 2007 spell checker. Partial support may be available for prior Microsoft Word versions.
• Better support for Windows Live Mail. Plain text messages can now be read and both the plain text and HTML message composers are useable.
• In Windows Vista, if the user moves to the secure desktop (either because a UAC control dialog appeared, or because control+alt+delete was pressed), NVDA will announce the fact that the user is now on the secure desktop.

<li.NVDA can announce text under the mouse within dos console windows.

• Support for UI Automation via the UI Automation client API available in Windows 7, as well as fixes to improve the experience of NVDA in Windows 7.
• NVDA can be configured to start automatically after you log on to Windows. The option is in the General Settings dialog.
• NVDA can read secure Windows screens such as the Windows logon, control+alt+delete and User Account Control (UAC) screens in Windows XP and above. Reading of the Windows logon screen can be configured from the General Settings dialog. (#97)
• Added a driver for the Optelec ALVA BC6 series braille displays.
• When browsing web documents, you can now press n and shift+n to skip forward and backward past blocks of links, respectively.
• When browsing web documents, ARIA landmarks are now reported, and you can move forward and backward through them using d and shift+d, respectively. (#192)
• The Links List dialog available when browsing web documents has now become an Elements List dialog which can list links, headings and landmarks. Headings and landmarks are presented hierarchically. (#363)
• The new Elements List dialog contains a “Filter by” field which allows you to filter the list to contain only those items including the text that was typed. (#173)
• Portable versions of NVDA now look in the ‘userConfig’ directory inside the NVDA directory, for the user’s configuration. Like for the installer version, this keeps the user’s configuration separate from NVDA itself.
• Custom app modules, braille display drivers and synth drivers can now be stored in the user’s configuration directory. (#337)
• Virtual buffers are now rendered in the background, allowing the user to interact with the system to some extent during the rendering process. The user will be notified that the document is being rendered if it takes longer than a second.
• If NVDA detects that it has frozen for some reason, it will automatically pass all keystrokes through so that the user has a better chance of recovering the system.
• Support for ARIA drag and drop in Mozilla Gecko. (#239)
• The document title and current line or selection is now spoken when you move focus inside a virtual buffer. This makes the behaviour when moving focus into virtual buffers consistent with that for normal document objects. (#210)
• In virtual buffers, you can now interact with embedded objects (such as Adobe Flash and Sun Java content) by pressing enter on the object. If it is accessible, you can then tab around it like any other application. To return focus to the document, press NVDA+space. (#431)
• In virtual buffers, o and shift+o move to the next and previous embedded object, respectively.

Changes

• NVDA no longer announces “NVDA started” when it starts.
• The startup and exit sounds are now played using NVDA’s configured audio output device instead of the Windows default audio output device. (#164)
• Progress bar reporting has been improved. Most notably you can now configure NVDA to announce via both speech and beeps at the same time.
• Some generic roles, such as pane, application and frame, are no longer reported on focus unless the control is unnamed.
• The review copy command (NVDA+f10) copies the text from the start marker up to and including the current review position, rather than excluding the current position. This allows the last character of a line to be copied, which was not previously possible. (#430)
• the navigatorObject_where script (ctrl+NVDA+numpad5) has been removed. This key combination did not work on some keyboards, nore was the script found to be that useful.
• the navigatorObject_currentDimentions script has been remapped to NVDA+numpadDelete. The old key combination did not work on some keyboards. This script also now reports the width and height of the object instead of the right/bottom coordinates.
• Improved performance (especially on netbooks) when many beeps occur in quick succession; e.g. fast mouse movement with audio coordinates enabled. (#396)

Bug Fixes

• When NVDA is run from an 8.3 dos path, but it is installed in the related long path (e.g. progra~1 verses program files) NVDA will correctly identify that it is an installed copy and properly load the user’s settings.
• speaking the title of the current foreground window with nvda+t now works correctly when in menus.
• braille no longer shows useless information in its focus context such as unlabeled panes.
• stop announcing some useless information when the focus changes such as root panes, layered panes and scroll panes in Java or Lotus applications.
• Make the keyword search field in Windows Help (CHM) viewer much more usable. Due to buggyness in that control, the current keyword could not be read as it would be continually changing.
• report correct page numbers in Microsoft Word if the page numbering has been specifically offset in the document.
• Better support for edit fields found in Microsoft Word dialogs (e.g. the Font dialog). It is now possible to navigate these controls with the arrow keys.
• better support for Dos consoles. specifically: NVDA can now read the content of particular consoles it always used to think were blank. Pressing control+break no longer terminates NVDA.
• On Windows Vista and above, the NVDA installer now starts NVDA with normal user privileges when requested to run NVDA on the finish screen.
• Backspace is now handled correctly when speaking typed words. (#306)
• Don’t incorrectly report “Start menu” for certain context menus in Windows Explorer/the Windows shell. (#257)
• NVDA now correctly handles ARIA labels in Mozilla Gecko when there is no other useful content. (#156)
• NVDA no longer incorrectly enables focus mode automatically for editable text fields which update their value when the focus changes; e.g. http://tigerdirect.com/. (#220)
• NVDA will now attempt to recover from some situations which would previously cause it to freeze completely. It may take up to 10 seconds for NVDA to detect and recover from such a freeze.
• When the NVDA language is set to “User default”, use the user’s Windows display language setting instead of the Windows locale setting. (#353)
• NVDA now recognises the existence of controls in AIM 7.
• The pass key through command no longer gets stuck if a key is held down. Previously, NVDA stopped accepting commands if this occurred and had to be restarted. (#413)
• The taskbar is no longer ignored when it receives focus, which often occurs when exiting an application. Previously, NVDA behaved as if the focus had not changed at all.
• When reading text fields in applications which use the Java Access Bridge (including OpenOffice.org), NVDA now functions correctly when reporting of line numbers is enabled.
• The review copy command (NVDA+f10) gracefully handles the case where it is used on a position before the start marker. Previously, this could cause problems such as crashes in Notepad++.

Since this are from beta version let us wait for a standard version and hope NVDA brings atmost computing experience for a visually challenged person.

Thankyou
Rakesh Paladugula

Captioning Solutions for Handheld Media and Mobile Devices

Millions of Americans of all ages use cell phones, PDAs or dedicated portable media players to access content related to almost every aspect of daily life. Video content on portable devices ranges from streamed television programs and “Webisodes” to elementary school science experiments, from university lectures to health and behavior management information for heart attack survivors. Companies increasingly use video podcasts as cost-effective methods for delivering product and training materials to their employees or customers. Emergency management agencies are developing alert and information systems that send content sent directly to portable devices.

However, the 22 million Americans who are deaf or hard-of-hearing cannot benefit from this content because mobile-video technologies do not address the technical requirements for packaging and delivering captions. Even video-enabled mobile devices that have the technical capability of downloading captioned content from the Web do not provide user interfaces to allow caption display, NCAM will research these barriers and develop captioning solutions that will serve as models for the mobile media and technology industries and for public-policy developers. The project team will identify the problems that currently exist in the creation and delivery of captions to mobile devices, then will test and prototype required accessibility changes in production tools, formats, delivery methods and display technologies. Prototypes will model technical solutions for compression, packaging, identification, retrieval, downloading and processing of captioned video to portable devices. Prototypes will also model caption display options and explore customization capabilities. Testing with consumers who are deaf or hard-of-hearing will evaluate the usability of project solutions.

Project activities include:

• creation of demonstration models that show multiple methods of creating, distributing, downloading and displaying captioned content on handheld devices;
• publication of usability research on accessible interface and caption-display options;
• distributing information for content creators, service providers, and third-party tool developers to create and transcode captions;
• detailing the requirements necessary for non-proprietary as well as proprietary text and video formats to render captions.

For more information, contact:

Geoff Freed
Project Manager
Carl and Ruth Shapiro Family National Center for Accessible Media
WGBH Educational Foundation
1 Guest Street
Boston, MA 02135
617 300-4223

Thankyou
Rakesh Paladugula

AJAX ACCESSIBILITY

AJAX or Asynchronous JavaScript and XML, is an innovative way of using existing technologies to create highly interactive web applications. AJAX allows
portions of the page to be updated without having to refresh and reload the entire page. It can increase site performance significantly and provide cutting
edge user interfaces. Unfortunately it can also be a source of concern for delivering fully accessible web sites.

What is AJAX?

AJAX is not a new technology but a combination of technologies like

• JavaScript
• XML
• HTML / XHTML
• CSS

Why AJAX?

AJAX is used to change the content of the page without refreshing or reloading the entire page. It means only the portion of the page changes and the portion only reloads but not the entire web page. Infact the page automatically refreshes and does not disturb the user from his actual task. Even the page loading time also significantly increases.

Accessibility benefits of AJAX

• Auto-suggest dropdowns can help both users with reading difficulties and motor impairments
• Drag & drop sliders can help users with reading difficulties due to their illustrative nature

Accessibility issues caused by AJAX

AJAX and JavaScript are usually used to update page content. When this happens screen readers respond in a variety of different ways, depending on both
the screen reader and the browser:

• Screen readers aren’t aware of the changes so will read out the unmodified version of the page. This means screen reader users don’t get the updated content of the page.
• Screen readers are aware of the changes but will only read the modified content when they naturally reach it. This is fine unless the modified content precedes users’ current location. If this happens, they’re unlikely to hear this content.
• Screen readers start reading the modified page but from the very top. This means that users have to essentially listen to all of the page content again. It can be difficult for these users to know which content has been updated and where in the page this content is.
• Screen readers are automatically taken to the modified content so users instantly know that page content has been updated – this can however severely disorientate users.

Screen magnifier users might not notice changes that have occurred outside the areas they’re interacting with. They can therefore miss out on important information especially if the changed content takes place above their current location on the page.
Finally, AJAX requires JavaScript to be enabled. Although assistive technologies can now handle many uses of JavaScript they don’t all provide complete support.

Do this if you use AJAX in your webpage!!

• Inform users early in the page that dynamic updates will occur
• Not all users are familiar with AJAX interfaces. Let them know that changes may take place so they can expect and look for these changes. This is particularly important for screen reader and magnifier users as they may be unaware that changes have taken place.
• Inform the user whenever the update occurs with simple sound or a quick info which the screen reader recognises but dont skip the focus to the updated content.
• Highlight the areas that have been updated
• Provide a simple action to quickly jump to the updated content and inform about the action to the user in clear text with the information about the occurance of dynamic updates.
• Using subtle changes to highlight areas that have changed, for just a short period of time, can be most helpful. It will inform users, in particular those with reading difficulties that updates have taken place.
• Don’t change the focus
• Do not move the focus of the page to where the change has taken place. Changing the focus can be disrupting for screen reader and magnifier users especially if there are no mechanisms to return to the previous position.
• Offer the option to disable automatic updates
• Allow users to manually request page updates, for example by providing links and/or form buttons to refresh the page on-demand. Screen reader and magnifier users may be unaware of on-the-page changes. It can also be difficult for users with reading difficulties to keep up with automatic updates. If possible, store users’ preferences for requesting page updates for future visits to the site.
• Ensure the site works if JavaScript isn’t enabled
• Build a standard application then overlay it with AJAX to improve its functionality. If JavaScript is disabled or not available then users will still be able to use the site.

If you are using an advanced AJAX and is not accessible at all provide an accessible HTML page.

Thankyou
Rakesh Paladugula

UK University leading the way in web accessibility

October 12 2009

Nottingham Trent University in the United Kingdom is leading the way in web accessibility with its current case study, Accessibility – A Learning Imperative, that examines ways to model best practice for accessibility in web design. Originally restricted to the field of correspondence courses, virtual learning environments have now become a key feature of education programs across primary, secondary and university sectors and planning for accessibility remains a key concern.

Far too often, it has been found that lecturers and course administrators in universities are responding to accessibility needs only after a complaint has been received. The most recent study of Australian University websites, How Accessible are Australian Websites?, found that 98% failed to comply with accessibility standards. This reflects the need for institutional change in planning for web accessibility in education. The UK study highlights the need to consider three main aspects in tandem: the general e-environment,access needs of students as users and staff as authors of accessible material. Hence, it shows how sharing responsibility for access through a collaborative approach can lead to positive results. These findings also present benefits to primary and secondary schools as wikis, blogs and websites are rapidly becoming major components of class activities. Essentially, it highlights the need for teachers and educators to be aware of web accessibility issues in order to model best practice in program planning and delivery.

Web guidelines for education are currently being refined in the W3C’s Open Web Education Alliance (OWEA), a forum in which MAA’S Education Manager, Anne McGrath, is a contributing member.

Thankyou
Rakesh Paladugula

Microsoft SharePoint product team to co-present on latest release during the SharePoint Conference 2009 in Las Vegas

Nashua, NH – October 7, 2009 – HiSoftware Inc. (www.hisoftware.com), a leading provider of Microsoft SharePoint compliance and accessibility solutions and Microsoft ISV partner, announced that the company will host multiple Roundtable sessions to discuss the broadened accessibility feature sets for the upcoming release of Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 on October 21, 2009 during the SharePoint Conference 2009 in Las Vegas, NV, USA. Invited guests include key members of the Microsoft SharePoint product team, who will co-present the sessions with HiSoftware which will focus on overall accessibility within the SharePoint market, the role SharePoint 2010 will play in changing world-wide accessibility standards, and understanding accessibility challenges within a customized environment.

Chris Johnson, Microsoft SharePoint Senior Technical Product Manager said, “We are pleased to present with HiSoftware at the accessibility Roundtable to discuss the new accessibility features in SharePoint Server 2010 that will enable our valued customers to more easily achieve their accessibility goals.”

The session will provide an overview and demonstration of the new accessibility features which allow SharePoint 2010 to achieve a broader level of compliance on a world-wide basis. The session also incorporates tools and techniques to improve and achieve greater levels of end-to-end compliance in a customized environment. It will also give participants an opportunity to voice their feedback on the enhancements.

A distinguished group of Panel members has been assembled to facilitate and present the session. It will include: Chris Johnson, SharePoint Product Manager, Microsoft; Tim McConnell, SharePoint Program Manager, Microsoft; Thomas Logan, Vice President Product Solutions, HiSoftware; and Ken Nakata, Director Accessibility Consulting Practice, HiSoftware. The limited-seating Roundtables will take place on Wednesday, October 21, 2009 during the SharePoint Conference with multiple sessions for end-user organizations based on vertical and geographical territories. Additional sessions will be offered for world-wide partners.

HiSoftware Vice President of Product Solutions, Thomas Logan, said, “We are pleased to welcome Microsoft in co-presenting these sessions on creating a more accessible content management environment through SharePoint 2010. In addition to featuring the components within SharePoint 2010 accessibility, HiSoftware will discuss the end-to-end requirements for not only creating a customized accessible platform, but extending accessibility compliance to also include monitoring content and collaborative channels.”

Interested participants are requested to register at https://www.hisoftware.com/SP2010roundtable.htm for consideration.

About HiSoftware Inc.

Founded in 1998, HiSoftware Inc. (www.hisoftware.com) is a leading provider of software, services and On-demand solutions that test, repair, monitor and enforce Web content, quality and regulatory compliance. The company’s solutions empower content developers, Web site architects and executives to work collaboratively to create and manage corporate Web standards for accessibility, privacy, security, search engine optimization (SEO), site quality and performance, branding and application transaction testing.

Thankyou
Rakesh Paladugula

National Policy on Universal Electronic Accessibility

Minutes of the meeting on draft National Policy on Universal Electronic Accessibility

The following participated:

DIT

1. Shri N. Ravi Shanker, Joint Secretary, DIT
2. Dr. Govind, Sr. Director, DIT
3. Dr. S.K. Aggarwal, Director, DIT
4. Ms. Tulika Pandey, Addl. Director, DIT (Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment)
5. Shri T.D. Dhariyal, Dy. Chief Commisioner (M&C), Min. Of Social Justice & Empowerment

NGOs

6. Shri Javed Abidi, Director, NCPEDP
7. Ms. Muthamma B. Devaya, NCPEDP
8. Ms. Shilpa Sawant, NCPEDP
9. Ms. Dorodi Sharma, NCPEDP
10. Shri Sunil Abraham, Centre for Internet & Society
11. Ms. Nirmita, Centre for Internet & Society
12. . Shri Rahul Gonsalves, Web Accessibility Consultant

MNCs

13. . Shri Deepak Maheshwari, Microsoft Corporation (India) Pvt.Ltd.
14. Shri Ibrahim Ahmad, Cyber Media India Ltd.
15. Ms. Ritu Ghosh, Sun Microsystems
16. Ms. Vikas Goswami, Microsoft
17. Shri Vijay Kapur, Microsoft
18. Miss Gitanjali, UN Solution Exchange
19. Ms. Shilpi Kapoor, Barrier Break Technologies

ERNET

20. Shri B.B. Tiwari, ERNET India
21. Ms. Tejal Tiwari, ERNET India

NIC

22. Shri D.P. Misra, NIC
23. Shri Lokesh Joshi, NIC

CDAC

24. Shri Amit Srivastava, CDAC

Shri N. Ravi Shanker, Joint Secretary, DIT chaired the meeting and welcomed all the participants and requested Shri Javed Abidi, Honorary Director, National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP) to give an insight on how the draft policy got prepared. He also mentioned that the Department has nominated Dr. Govind, Sr. Director in a committee constituted by Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment for reviewing the work of development of Disabled Friendly websites.

Shri Abidi thanked the Ministry officials for their co-operation. He elaborated on how India has seen a paradigm shift from charity and welfare to rights and development in the past one decade. This is reflected in the Disability Act, 1995, the United Nations Convention for the Rights of UNCRPD and the XIth Five Year Plan. In fact, India was the 7th and the first most prominent country, to have ratified UNCRPD. It truly reflects the commitment that the present Government has towards disability. The XIth Five Year Plan has a full chapter on disability which mandates accessibility to information and communication. The Plan has the approval of the Prime Minister and Planning Commission.

Ms. Shilpi Kapoor, Director, Barrier Break Technologies presented the draft policy. She began by saying that the basic premise on which the policy was drafted were:
a. The Constitution of India
b. United Nations Convention for the Rights of Persons with Disability (UNCRPD)
c. The Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995
She mentioned that the draft policy takes into consideration accessibility to hardware and accessibility to user interface (websites and software). As far as content is concerned, it considers only the delivery of the content and not the content itself.

Ms. Nirmita Narasimhan of Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) elaborated on the available policies on web and electronic accessibility in other countries. Countries like UK and Italy have made it mandatory for providers of public information and services to be accessible to persons with disabilities. Other countries such as US, Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan have made the policies mandatory for Government and advisory for the private sector.

Dr. S.K. Aggarwal, Director, DIT raised a query in respect of coverage of the following 3 issues:
(i) How could the policy be made mandatory for private sector?
(ii) Whether the policy making function in this regard is under the jurisdiction of the IT Ministry alone?
(iii) What is the kind of model envisaged for R&D funding under the proposed policy?
He also opined that the draft of the policy needs to be refined, properly worded, made more crisp and coherent, repetitions to be deleted and paragraphs to be numbered.

Shri Abidi responded by saying that all services available in the public domain should follow the policy and India should not look at the West anymore and should be a pioneer in this effort and policy should cover all sectors. As far as jurisdiction is concerned, the XIth Five Year Plan clearly mandates that all Departments / Ministries must formulate detailed rules and guidelines / policies in their respective domain areas and ensure that not less than 3% of their funds are reserved for disability issues which can take care of funds required for R&D also.

Shri Sunil Abraham of CIS said that maybe instead of saying ‘private companies’, we could say ‘essential service providers and utilities services’. He further suggested that in order to make the policy more acceptable to a broader set of stakeholders, the phrase ‘open source’ could be deleted since the accessibility policy endorsed specific open standards like WCAG which would level the playing ground for bother proprietary and Free/Open Source Software (FOSS) vendors. Alternatively, he suggested that both proprietary and Free/Open Source Software (FOSS) could be mentioned.

Members said that there is a need to define clearly the hardware, software and user interfaces covered under the policy. Ms. Shilpi Kapoor and Ms. Nirmita Narasimhan gave examples of ATMs, mobile phones and even Set Top Boxes which would fall under hardware. Ms. Shilpi Kapoor also emphasized on making the issue of Universal Electronic Accessibility mandatory in the procurement process by various Ministries. She stated that most of these service providers have products which are compliant to accessible norms which they sell in Europe or America.

Shri T.D. Dhariyal, Dy. Chief Commissioner, Dept. Of Disability, Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment expressed his concern about how to make the technology accessible to all, including the poor.

Shri Vijay Kapur of Microsoft said that in order to have a comprehensive policy covering entire range of hardware products, representation of the electronics industry would be appropriate. It was felf that representation from Industry Association such as MAIT, TEMA, NASSCOM etc. may be obtained. Further he mentioned about inviting industry associations such as CII, FICCI, Asocham etc.

As a next step towards finalising the policy, following committee was constituted:
1. Shri N. Ravi Shanker, Joint Secretary, DIT
2. Representative from Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment
3. Shri Javed Abidi, Director, NCPEDP
4. Ms. Shilpi Kapoor, Barrier Break Technologies
5. Smt. Neeta Verma, Sr. Technical Director, NIC
6. Shri Deepak Maheshwari, Director, Microsoft
7. Shri Sunil Abraham, Centre for Internet and Society
8. Representative from MAIT / NASSCOM / CII / FICCI / Asocham
9. Officer from E-Infrastructure Division, DIT – Convenor

It was proposed that the draft policy be finalised at the earliest for its approval by Government of India.

The meeting ended with vote of thanks to the Chair.

The information was taken from the website of Center for Internet and Society, to widely spread the information about the web accessibility (e-accessibility) in India.

Thankyou
Rakesh Paladugula

Web Accessibility Workshop at Trivendrum

Web accessibility workshop concludes
Submitted by space

Sept 26 2009: The two day Web Accessibility workshop hosted by SPACE and Centre for Internet and Society concluded at Christ Nagar International School today. 43 participants from various Government departments and private firms took part in the workshop. The aim of the workshop was to educate web developers of Government and non Government agencies on how to develop websites that are equally accessible to people with disabilities.

At the workshop the participants were introduced to various disabilities and how people with disabilities use computers. They were also introduced to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 , the world standard for web accessibility. The key accessibility guidelines require websites to be perceivable, operable, understandable and robust. Various well known websites tested for compatebility with the guidelines by the participants at the workshop were found to be not disabled-friendly. This was an eye-opener for the web developers. Demonstrations of accessibility features in GNU/Linux and NVDA screen reader were also held at the workshop.

Rahul Gonsalves, a promoter of web and accessibility standards and Srinivasu Chakravarthula, Accessibility Manager, Yahoo!India were the key speakers at the workshop. Arky, a few software advocate also spoke at the workshop.

Srinivasu brings his experience like this

On 24th September, 2009 afternoon, I headed to Bangaluru International Airport to fly to Trivendrum to speak at National Workshop on Web Accessibility.

It’s sad that still Bangaluru International Airport is not acessible. Contrast is pretty poor. Boarding staircase is too narrow and almost impossible for anyone to get in. I’m sure, no way that a wheel chair user can get in.

Reached Trivendrum around 7:30 PM; Rakesh Ambati (Arky) of Braille Without Boarders and Rahul Gonsalves of Gonsalves Design received me at the airport and we headed to Braille Without Borders – which is a great place and with wonderful people like Sabriya, Arky, Salia Mohammed who are enthusiastic to change the world!!

On 25th September, 2009; Rahul Gonsalves and I have addressed at National Workshop on Web Accessibility followed by a visit to SPACE Kerala; where they run wide range of initiatives.

While returning, I was pleased to see accessible toilet at Trivendrum although airport itself is small.

Conclusion

I am very impressed to see such a workshop in India. Franckly speaking I am not aware of such workshops in recent past. More over I am very happy to see the people I know infact with whom i share my views on accessibility like Srinivasu Chakravarthula and Rahul Gonsalves. Recently I am in touch with Narmeeda Narsimhan of Center for Internet and Society (CIS) who is responsible to make this event . Hope such events soon comes to Hyderabad and bring some boost to the people who are interested in accessibility related stuff.

This is the time every one should think about accessibility. So many efforts are being going on this front. Recently Yahoo started a accessibility lab in India, an exclusive discussion list has been started by Srinivasu Chakravarthula for accessibility interested professionals and a group has also been started in linkedin for discussing accessibility related issues. Seeing all this I am sure that disable friendly days are not very far.

Thank you
Rakesh paladugula

HARD COPY IS NOW ACCESSIBLE

Have you ever think how a visually challenged person read the information on a printed paper? It is a small thing for a sighted to observe information on a printed paper, but for a visually challenged person it will be a real challenge. A sighted person who never thinks in a visually impaired person point of view and goes on his way, he/she never will have such a thought.

Of course, a lot of information is provided now in the electronic form which is enabling the persons with visual impairments read using some assistive technology such as screen readers. But still some sort of information which cannot be provided in the electronic form everywhere is making the blind persons behind there sighted counterparts.

Say for example, if a blind person purchases some commodities in a super bazaar the bill will be available as a paper printout. If the same person visits a hotel the menu will not be in electronic form. What is his/her position.

Keep a full stop for all these doubts. Here is a solution for such a problem.

KNFB reader helps you to read the information on a paper. Do you wonder how it is?

The hand held device has a camera in it which allows to take a snap shot of the paper then the OCR software converts the picture into text. This text is again converted into synthesized voice and gives out put through the headsets within seconds. To know more about the product clicks the link below…
Know more about the hand held reader

For more details about the KNFB products and company visit
KNFB website

Thank you
Rakesh Paladugula