RE: User Contexts: identifying assistive technologies

Hi Andy and all,

I agree with Jason, tell the system to the user in a given context using
determines technical support does not imply that the user has a disability.
It would be different if he had to declare a specific impairment or
disability.

Best regards,
Emmanuelle

Emmanuelle Gutiérrez y Restrepo
Investigadora Experta en Accesibilidad
Grupo de Investigación aDeNu
Depto. De Inteligencia Artificial
UNED
Email: emmanuelle@sidar.org
Web: adenu.ia.uned.es



-----Mensaje original-----
De: Jason White [mailto:jason@jasonjgw.net] 
Enviado el: martes, 04 de junio de 2013 12:40
Para: public-indie-ui@w3.org
Asunto: Re: User Contexts: identifying assistive technologies

Andy Heath <andyheath@axelrod.plus.com> wrote:
 
> Well yes, I agree!
> 
> >
> >Nevertheless, if we are going to disclose assistive technologies, as 
> >was pointed out to me off-list in response to my 
> >requirements-gathering proposal, the current requirements and spec 
> >are inadequate: they cover only screen readers and allow only one 
> >name and version to be retrieved, whereas there could be several 
> >independent assistive technologies (screen reader, screen magnifier,
etc.) active on a user's system simultaneously.
> 
> I think we should *worry* about the privacy implications of this and 
> give serious consideration as to if/what/how.

I agree, naturally, although it isn't clear that the privacy implications of
this proposed item (i.e., identification of assistive technologies) are much
different from those of combinations of some of the other proposed items.
For example, if a user declares a need for, say, auditory descriptions of
video, descriptions of images, etc., then this is most likely because eyes
are occupied or the user has a vision-related disability, with the latter
being more probable. If the user logs into a Web-based account from
different user agents and different IP addresses while retaining these
preferences then we can infer with an even greater level of assurance that
there's a disability in play.

Thus for practical purposes, outright declaring the presence of a screen
reader in this scenario isn't going to tell the Web site operator much that
wasn't already known. While I agree that there are privacy implications, the
same applies for many of the other items which is why the user needs to be
able to exercise control with respect to disclosure of most of the profile.

Received on Tuesday, 4 June 2013 11:53:24 UTC