- From: lisa.seeman <lisa.seeman@zoho.com>
- Date: Mon, 05 May 2014 18:36:45 +0300
- To: "public-cognitive-a11y-tf" <public-cognitive-a11y-tf@w3.org>
- Message-Id: <145cd077ae3.4173014608625661795.8262604530681959150@zoho.com>
From Tim Boland - Note : it’s early draft subject to change..
---- On Mon, 05 May 2014 17:44:44 +0300 Boland Jr<frederick.boland@nist.gov> wrote ---
Some initial draft input on my action items (from CSUN) on CSS review and PTSD feasibility is following.
First comes CSS, and then PTSD. Just to let you know I’m working on it..
Just started this –
have a lot more work to do – should I put this in a wiki somewhere? If so, how do I do this?
Thanks and best wishes
Tim Boland NIST
CSS--------------------------------------------------------CSS
Initial Notes/Thoughts on CSS Use for Persons With Cognitive Disabilities
Date: 03 May 2014 - adapted from WCAG 2.0 CSS Techniques
NOTE: There is a wide range/diversity of cognitive issues and impacts, so these
statements may or may not apply..
Visual appearance may be enhanced via style sheets while still maintaining a
meaningful presentation when style sheets are not applied. Using the positioning
properties of CSS2, content may be displayed at any position on the user's viewport.
Depending on the position, this use may help or confuse those with cognitive disabilities.
Using structural elements ensures that the meaning of the content can still be
determined when styling is not available. Persons with cognitive disabilities may have
difficulties determining such meaning without the use of CSS.
Using CSS, it is possible to supplement the link text by adding additional
text that describes the unique function of the link but styling the additional text
so that it is not rendered on the screen by user agents that support CSS. If available
and accessible to those with cognitive issues, this additional text may provide
additional context to the link purpose.
Using CSS, the visual appearance of spacing in text may be enhanced via style sheets
while still maintaining meaningful text sequencing. The CSS letter-spacing property
helps developers control the amount of white space between characters. This is
recommended over adding blank characters to control the spacing, since the blank
characters can change the meaning and pronunciation of the word. This may help
those with cognitive disabilities by making it easier to read the text while still
preserving the order of the text.
CSS supports a mechanism to add purely decorative
images and images used for visual formatting to Web content without requiring
additional markup within the content. This makes it possible for assistive
technologies to ignore the non-text content. Some user agents can ignore or turn
off CSS at the user's request, so that background images included with CSS
simply "disappear" and do not interfere with display settings such as enlarged
fonts or high contrast settings. This may present a problem for users with
cognitive disabilities, because of unnecessary clutter which distracts.
CSS supports specifying text font size proportionally so that user agents can
scale content effectively. If a font-size is specified for the body element,
all other elements inherit that value, unless overridden by a more specific
selector. This may help those with cognitive disabilities to properly interpret
the meaning and semantics of the text, without the unwelcome influence of different
font sizes for no reason.
CSS can specify a named font size that expresses the relative font size desired.
These values provide hints so that the user agent can choose a font-size relative
to the inherited font-size. This may help those with cognitive disabilities by
preserving the meaning of the content without distortion by incorrectly-computed
font sizes.
CSS can specify text font size in em units so that user agents can scale content
effectively. Since the em is a property of the font, it scales as the font
changes size. If a font-size is specified for the body element, all other
elements inherit that value, unless overridden by a more specific selector.
This may help those with cognitive disabilities by preserving understanding and
perception of scaled content.
The objective of this technique is to demonstrate how visual appearance may be
enhanced via style sheets to provide visual feedback when an interactive
element has focus or when a user hovers over it using a pointing device.
Highlighting the element that has focus or is hovered over can provide
information such as the fact that the element is interactive or the scope of
the interactive element. This may help those with cognitive disabilities by
providing clues to properly understand and use interactive elements.
CSS can be used to ensure that text-based form controls resize when text size
is changed in the user agent. This will allow users to enter text and read
what they have entered in input boxes because the text is displayed at the
size required by the user. This may promote readability and legibility when
interacting with forms.
The CSS properties for margins and padding can be used on their own or in
combination to control the layout. The margin properties ('margin-top',
'margin-right', 'margin-bottom', 'margin-left', and the shorthand 'margin')
can be used on any element that is displayed as a block; they add space at
the outside of an element. The padding properties ('padding-top',
'padding-right', 'padding-bottom', 'padding-left', and the shorthand 'padding')
can be used on any element; they add space inside the element. This may
help or hurt those with cognitive disabilities, depending on the use of these
properties (can highlight the intended meaning or distort it).
CSS can be used to align blocks of text either left or right by setting the
CSS text-align property. Individuals with cognitive disabilities want consistency
as intended by the author, so if the blocks of text are always to the left that is
probably good. If the blocks are always to the right that may be less good becuase
the user needs to read more to get to the blocks of text (depending on the
language used). If the blocks of text are sometimes left and sometimes right
that may be disorienting, unless there is a specific purpose to this that is
given clearly.
CSS can allow users to view content in such a way that line length can average 80
characters or less. This makes it possible for users with certain reading
or vision disabilities that have trouble keeping their place when reading
long lines of text to view and interact with the content more efficiently.
This technique also allows for column width to grow wider as font sizes
increase, which will reduce the possibility of clipping as the text size
increases. This preserves the entire content as much as possible to aid in
understanding.
Many people with cognitive disabilities have trouble tracking lines of text
when a block of text is single spaced. Providing spacing between 1.5 to 2
allows them to start a new line more easily once they have finished the
previous one. This can be accomplished via CSS.
Using CSS, users can modify, via the user agent, the visual characteristics of the text
(such as size, color, font family and relative placement) to meet their requirements.
Text within images has several accessibility problems. It is better to use
real text for the text portion of these elements, and a combination of
semantic markup and style sheets to create the appropriate visual presentation,
to help those with cognitive disabilities.
Some Web pages use colors to identify different groupings. The objective
is to allow users to select specific color combinations for
the text and background of the main content while retaining visual clues
to the groupings and organization of the web page. When a user overrides
the foreground and background colors of all the text on a page, visual clues
to the grouping and organization of the Web page may be lost, making it
much more difficult to understand and use. This may present problems for
those with cognitive issues.
When an author does not specify
the colors of the text and background of the main content, it is possible
to change the colors of those regions in the browser without the need to
override the colors with a user style sheet. Specifying the text and
background colors of secondary content means that the browser will not
override those colors. With CSS,the author uses the default text color
and background color of the main area. As a result the colors are
completely determined by the user agent via the user's color preferences.
The user can ensure that the color selection best meets his needs and
provides the best reading experience.
Using CSS, users can increase the size of text without having to scroll
horizontally to read that text. To do this, an author specifies
the width of text containers using percent values. This may
help those with cognitive disabilities by not requiring them to scroll
left to right to read the text.
It is possible to specify borders and layout using CSS and leave text and
background colors to render according to the user's browser and/or
operating system settings. This allows users to view the text in the colors
they require while maintaining other aspects of the layout and page design
such as columns of text, borders around sections or vertical lines between
a menu and main content area. It will also prevent some display issues in
some browsers when pages contain Javascript pop-up boxes or drop-down menus
and have the colors overridden. Borders and layout indicators help many people
with cognitive disabilities, as does flexibility over the text and background colors.
Sometimes these
two needs are in conflict when the user has to over-ride the author's color
selection of text and background in the browser and the browser also
removes the borders and the intended layout. This can mean the page is
displayed in a single column with one block of content below the other,
which can result in unnecessary whitespace and long lines of text. It can
also mean that pop-up boxes gain a transparent background, superimposing
the text of the box on the text of the page, and drop-down menus either
become transparent or gain a dark-grey background. When a Web author
does not specify the colors of any text and background, while specifying
border colors and layout, it is possible, in most popular browsers, to
change the text and background colors without affecting the other
(author-specified) CSS declarations.
There may be situations where an author needs to use a layout that requires
horizontal scrolling. In that case, it is sufficient to provide options
within the content that switch to a layout that does not require the
user to scroll horizontally to read a line of text. This may be achieved
via CSS by using standard style switching technology. This may
help those with cognitive disabilities as indicated previously.
With CSS, it can be ensured that the order of content
in the source code is the same as the visual presentation of the content.
The order of content in the source code can be changed by the author to
any number of visual presentations with CSS. Each order may be meaningful
to users with certain cognitive issues but may cause confusion for many
other users with different cognitive limitations. If
such a user, who reads the page following the
source order, is working with another user who reads the page in
visual order, they may be confused when they encounter information in
different orders.
Certain users may have
trouble predicting where focus will go next when the source order
does not match the visual order. There may also be situations where
the visually presented order is necessary to the overall understanding
of the page, and if the source order is presented differently, it may
be much more difficult to understand. When the source order matches
the visual order, everyone will read the content and interact with it
in the same (correct) order. This may
help those with cognitive disabilities.
Using CSS, it is possible to specify the width and/or height of containers,
that contain text or that will accept text input, in em units. This will
allow user agents that support text resizing to resize the text containers
in line with changes in text size settings. The width and/or height of text
containers that have been specified using other units risk text cropping
because it falls outside the container boundaries when the text size has
been increased. The containers generally control the placement of text
within the Web page and can include layout elements, structural elements
and form controls. This may help those with cognitive disabilities by
preserving the meaning and readability of the text.
PTSD--------------------------------------------------------------------PTSD
PTSD Description (from http://www.ptsd.va.gov and
http://www.webmd.com/anxiety-panic/guide/post-traumatic-stress-disorder)
Posttaumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), once called shell shock or battle
fatigue syndrome, is a serious condition that can develop after a person
has experienced or witnessed a traumatic or terrifying event in which
serious physical harm occurred or was threatened. PTSD is a lasting
consequence of traumatic ordeals that cause intense fear, helplessness,
or horror, such as a sexual or physical assault, the unexpected death
of a loved one, an accident, war, or natural disaster. Families of
victims can also develop PTSD, as can emergency personnel and rescue workers.
Symptoms of PTSD most often begin within three months of the event. In some
cases, however, they do not begin until years later. The severity and
duration of the illness vary. Some people recover within six months,
while others suffer much longer.
Symptoms of PTSD often are grouped into three main categories, including:
Reliving: People with PTSD repeatedly relive the ordeal through thoughts
and memories of the trauma. These may include flashbacks, hallucinations,
and nightmares. They also may feel great distress when certain things
remind them of the trauma, such as the anniversary date of the event.
Avoiding: The person may avoid people, places, thoughts, or situations
that may remind him or her of the trauma. This can lead to feelings of
detachment and isolation from family and friends, as well as a loss of
interest in activities that the person once enjoyed.
Increased arousal: These include excessive emotions; problems relating
to others, including feeling or showing affection; difficulty falling
or staying asleep; irritability; outbursts of anger; difficulty
concentrating; and being "jumpy" or easily startled. The person may
also suffer physical symptoms, such as increased blood pressure and
heart rate, rapid breathing, muscle tension, nausea, and diarrhea.
Young children with PTSD may suffer from delayed development in areas
such as toilet training, motor skills, and language.
Most people who experience a traumatic event will have reactions that
may include shock, anger, nervousness, fear, and even guilt. These
reactions are common; and for most people, they go away over time. For
a person with PTSD, however, these feelings continue and even increase,
becoming so strong that they keep the person from living a normal life.
People with PTSD have symptoms for longer than one month and cannot
function as well as before the event occurred.
Posttraumatic stress disorder is classified as an anxiety disorder
in the DSM iV; the characteristic symptoms are not present before
exposure to the violently traumatic event. In the typical case, the
individual with PTSD persistently avoids all thoughts and emotions,
and discussion of the stressor event and may experience amnesia for
it. However, the event is commonly relived by the individual through
intrusive, recurrent recollections, flashbacks, and nightmares. The
characteristic symptoms are considered acute if lasting less than
three months, and chronic if persisting three months or more, and
with delayed onset if the symptoms first occur after six months or
some years later. PTSD is distinct from the briefer acute stress
disorder, and can cause clinical impairment in significant areas
of functioning.
PTSD is a psychiatric disorder, and may have heredity implications.
Some of the most common symptoms of PTSD include recurring memories
or nightmares of the event(s), sleeplessness, loss of interest, or
feeling numb, anger, and irritability, but there are many ways
PTSD can impact your everyday life.
It’s not just the symptoms of PTSD but also how you may react to them
that can disrupt your life. You may:
Frequently avoid places or things that remind you of what happened
Consistent drinking or use of drugs to numb your feelings
Consider harming yourself or others
Start working all the time to occupy your mind
Pull away from other people and become isolated
Sometimes these symptoms don’t surface for months or years after the
event or returning from deployment. They may also come and go. If
these problems won’t go away or are getting worse—or you feel like
they are disrupting your daily life—you may have PTSD.
From: lisa.seeman [mailto:lisa.seeman@zoho.com]
Sent: Sunday, May 04, 2014 7:24 AM
To: public-cognitive-a11y-tf; Steve Lee
Cc: Jim Allan; steve.jacobs; Joseph K O'Connor; Liddy Nevile; Emmanuelle Gutiérrez y Restrepo; Elle Waters; Cynthia Jimes; jfeng@towson.edu; Avi Golden; Chuck Hitchcock; Lewis, Clayton (Contractor); easeofuse@ca.rr.com; Steve Lee; Boland Jr, Frederick E.; Jonathan Lazar; Laura Carlson; Rossi Setchi
Subject: Agenda and call information for the Cognitive Accessibility Task Force Teleconference - Monday, April 28, 2014
Agenda and call information for the Cognitive Accessibility Task Force Teleconference
When: UTC (GMT/Zulu)-time: Monday, April 28, 2014 at 16:00
11am Austin time
12pm Boston and New York
5pm London
7 pm IST Israel
2 am Tues AEST Melbourne
Please verify the correct time of this meeting in your time zone using the Fixed Time Clock at:http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?msg=The+Cognitive+Accessibility+Task+Force+%28Weekly+Call%29&iso=20140505T12&p1=43&ah=1
Call Details
Dial the W3C Zakim bridge at: +1.617.761.6200 (This is a U.S. number).
Pass-code: 2642 (coga)
SIP
If you have SIP you can call sip: zakim@voip.w3.org
Pass-code: 2642 (coga)
IRC access
An IRC (Internet Relay Chat) channel will be available during the call.
You can access the channel via the Web at http://irc.w3.org/?channels=coga
The server is irc.w3.org,
The port number is 6665 (Note this is not the normal default)
The channel is #coga
You can write any name as a nickname
Preliminary Agenda
Meeting:The Cognitive Accessibility Task Force Teleconference
Chair:Lisa_Seeman
agenda: this
agenda+ preview agenda
agenda+ set scribe
agenda+ user groups, finding good practice and identifying bad practice
agenda+ housekeeping : User group research, technology reviews, mixing up groups, setting and reviewing actions
agenda+ CSS review questions, how to do a technology review.
agenda+ functional approach to inclusion
agenda+ user group findings: dyslexia, other
agenda+ be done
Other Information (less important)
Resource: For Reference
Home Page: http://www.w3.org/WAI/PF/cognitive-a11y-tf/
Work Statement: http://www.w3.org/WAI/PF/cognitive-a11y-tf/work-statement
Email Archive: http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-cognitive-a11y-tf/
Wiki Main Page: http://www.w3.org/WAI/PF/cognitive-a11y-tf/wiki/Main_Page
Wiki Gap Analysis: http://www.w3.org/WAI/PF/cognitive-a11y-tf/wiki/Gap_Analysis
* Some helpful Scribing and Participation Tips
http://www.w3.org/WAI/PF/wiki/Teleconference_cheat_sheet
- For more on W3C use of IRC see:
http://www.w3.org/Project/IRC/
Instructions for connecting using SIP:
http://www.w3.org/2006/tools/wiki/Zakim-SIP
Place for users to contribute additional VoIP tips.
http://www.w3.org/2006/tools/wiki/Zakim-SIP-tips
During the conference you can manage your participation with Zakim
commands as follows:
61# to mute yourself
60# to unMute yourself
41# to raise your hand (enter speaking queue)
40# to lower your hand (exit speaking queue)
The system acknowledges these commands with a rapid, three-tone
confirmation. Mobile phone users especially should use the mute
function
if they don't have a mute function in their phone. But the hand-raising
function is a good idea for anyone not using IRC.
All the best
Lisa Seeman
Received on Monday, 5 May 2014 15:39:18 UTC