RE: a question of scripts (this time completed)

Thanks Harry
 
Yes we are also conscious of the problems relating to use of JAVA. We have been
comparing the functionality we can achieve through Flash with what is possible
using JAVA but we are encountering the problem that no one solution meets all
of our requirements and will certainly not meet the needs of every user. We may
end up having to create several alternative interactive modules of the same
models/simulations from which users can choose. That approach will accommodate
a broad range of individual needs but will also end up becoming a labour
intensive task.
 
Ay suggestions for ways of overcoming the problem will be very welcome!

Denise 

Dr Denise L Wood 
Lecturer: Professional Development (online teaching and learning) 
University of South Australia 
CE Campus, North Terrace, Adelaide SA 5000 
Ph:    (61 8) 8302 2172 / (61 8) 8302 4472 (Tuesdays & Thursdays) 
Fax:  (61 8) 8302 2363 / (61 8) 8302 4390 
Mob: (0413 648 260) 

Email:  Denise.Wood@unisa.edu.au 
WWW:    http://www.unisanet.unisa.edu.au/staff/homepage.asp?Name=Denise.Wood
<http://www.unisanet.unisa.edu.au/staff/homepage.asp?Name=Denise.Wood>  

-----Original Message-----
From: Harry Woodrow [mailto:harrry@email.com]
Sent: Thursday, 25 October 2001 1:51 AM
To: Denise Wood; 'David Woolley'; w3c-wai-ig@w3.org
Subject: RE: a question of scripts (this time completed)


Java of course presents its own problems of Accessibility.  There are a set of
Accessibility Classes which expose the objects to Adaptive Technology but I do
not know of them being used by any developers.  In addition to this these only
help if the required Adaptive Technology is used., they do not help users with
moderate levels of disability who are confronted with pictorial display of text
in a fixed size in the wrong colour on the wrong background.  
 
Java is available for a variety of machines however it is still an extra
download which may or may not be permitted and involves large volume downloads
which can be a problem for many.
 
At least applications such as Flash and Real do provide closed captioning but
still of course present compatibility problems.
 
 
Harry Woodrow

-----Original Message-----
From: w3c-wai-ig-request@w3.org [mailto:w3c-wai-ig-request@w3.org]On Behalf Of
Denise Wood
Sent: Wednesday, October 24, 2001 11:16 PM
To: 'David Woolley'; w3c-wai-ig@w3.org
Subject: RE: a question of scripts (this time completed)



Thanks for this info David. I will discuss further with our programmers and we
will investigate some of the tools you have mentioned. Some of the requests we
have received appear to be very specific and we will probably end up resorting
back to JAVA. The real challenge though is how to translate what is happening
on screen into textual information.

Steven - thanks for your suggestion to refer to the NBA Tape Recording Manual
for some general principles about providing text alternatives to visual
material.

Some useful leads for me to now follow through on. Much obliged to everyone who
responded to my plea for guidance :-) 

Denise 

Dr Denise L Wood 
Lecturer: Professional Development (online teaching and learning) 
University of South Australia 
CE Campus, North Terrace, Adelaide SA 5000 
Ph:    (61 8) 8302 2172 / (61 8) 8302 4472 (Tuesdays & Thursdays) 
Fax:  (61 8) 8302 2363 / (61 8) 8302 4390 
Mob: (0413 648 260) 

Email:  Denise.Wood@unisa.edu.au 
WWW:    http://www.unisanet.unisa.edu.au/staff/homepage.asp?Name=Denise.Wood
<http://www.unisanet.unisa.edu.au/staff/homepage.asp?Name=Denise.Wood>  



-----Original Message----- 
From: David Woolley [ mailto:david@djwhome.demon.co.uk
<mailto:david@djwhome.demon.co.uk> ] 
Sent: Wednesday, 24 October 2001 4:36 AM 
To: w3c-wai-ig@w3.org 
Subject: Re: a question of scripts (this time completed) 


> JAVA or other scripting (could be Flash etc) that are designed to either test

> students' understanding of the impact that changes in variables have on what
is 
> essentially graphic information, or that allow them to explore these concepts

> by changing variables themselves and viewing the results. We have many
requests 
> like these - particularly in the engineering, satellite communications and 

If the models can be expressed as closed form equations, I'd suggest 
that a general equation plotting tool, like gnuplot, rather than any web 
based approach, would be best.  That way the students learn some of the 
maths and general principles, and can solve their own problems without having 
general programming skills. 

If you cannot get simple closed form equations, you need a general 
programming language, and I'd say that Java was the most portable 
current choice.  In my view, it introduces less security problems than 
the common scripting languages.  (There are tools that may be able 
to graph non-closed form equations.) 

SVG might be a better way of providing the visual interface in the near 
future, but, for cases that aren't suitable for gnuplot, I think you should 
wait for Java language bindings to be implemented.  (You can probably do it 
now using plugins for the SVG and JavaScript. 

To maximise browser coverage, you should have an alternative of generating 
a bitmapped image on the server side. 

There are certainly specialised tools, like SPICE, for dealing with 
specialised modelling areas, and I think you should consider using 
the established tools, rather than trying to create your own subsets, 
unless you can greatly enhance the accessibility, which seems unlikely. 

I'd also note that "data visualisation" is a highly commercial area 
and lots of companies would claim that their high priced products 
significantly aid people in understanding complex mathematical models. 

All of these require that it is possible to learn the same information from 
a textual equivalent that is provided, if you are going to comply with the 
various accessibilty guidelines; the animations should be considered 
comprehension aids for those with good eyesight and easy interaction with 
the computer. 

I don't know how you cater for those with "learning difficulties".