Re: Draft Silver Response

Hello,

Based on responses and a few continuing conversations, this is the final
version to go to Silver from COGA.  If anyone has any concerns, please let
me know today. We will also discuss this briefly on the call.

Regards,

Rachael

***DRAFT BEGINS HERE***

To: Silver Taskforce
From: COGA Taskforce
Re: Silver Conformance Models

Hello,

Thank you for the opportunity to review and comment on the proposed
conformance models. We recognize they are in an early phase at this point
and hope that we can continue to talk with you as they progress. Our
comments at this time are as follows:

   - The documents state "Doesn’t advantage one disability over another."
   This concept is really important and could be expanded and made clearer.
   For example you could clarify that this includes individuals with
   disabilities such as autism and not just large groups such as coga
    disabilities.
   - Usability testing with individuals with disabilities is a very helpful
   for to support COGA but there are risks such as difficulty in gaining
   legislative adoption and the possibility teams will intentionally create
   less usable systems to ensure "good" usability test results. In
addition, lack
   of funding available in many government programs and small organizations
   may make usability testing difficult. Any model should work to reduce
   these risks while still including usability as an important component.
   - There is a risk for COGA  in weighting issues by severity as small
   issues can lead to fatigue but individually would not be "severe."  There
   is also a risk in measuring by groups as COGA represents a very diverse
   set of users with overlapping but sometimes distinct user needs. If, for
   example, visual disabilities are broken out into subgroups such as blind,
   low vision, and color blind then COGA should also be broken out into
   distinct such groups such as Dyslexia, Aphasia, Non-verbal - Severe Speech
   and Language impairments, Aging and Dementia, Intellectual
   Disability, Autism, Dyscalculia, Anxiety, and Depression.
   - We also believe that any conformance model should begin with and map
   to user needs.  Please a proposed scoring approach attached.
   - Finally, we believe that a short plain language explanation of the
   approach, scoring system, alogrythm, etc should be included when these go
   out for review to ensure the maximum participation in feedback and use.

Thank you again,

On Thu, Sep 12, 2019 at 9:41 AM lisa.seeman <lisa.seeman@zoho.com> wrote:

> Hi
>
> My main points are in the email on silver scoring
> I think it is a great direction
>
> "Doesn’t advantage one disability over another" - this is really important
> but maybe could be clearer , such as clarifying that this includes
> individuals, disabilities such as autism, and not just large groups such as
> coga disabilities.
>
> I also suggest they o define accessibility and give examples - so they
> know what they are working toward IE - someone who could use the content
> can not because of design or coding choices - then it is not accessible to
> that person.
>
> Then the extent that this is addressed as part of the grade. Hence my
> proposal for user testing /user inclusion focus
>
> i do not think that A very complex scoring system may make it difficult
> for people with cognitive disabilities to use is key issue.  The key issue
> is that we get content we can use , not that we have jobs in accessibility
> evaluation.
>
> Usability testing is important - but it can be done via your friend with
> ADD/dyslexia, your aunt who forgets things, and your friend's brother who
> has ASD. It is not hard. You just have to look. Also after you have tested
> a site or two you know what people will find hard, and following the design
> guided will work as well.  We need to give people the confidence to do this
> type of testing and see the people around them.
>
> Also please review my proposal at
> https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kD1zq1CSvrIB154R9WzdZX-T9YD5Ydct1Yky2wppeyI/edit?usp=drive_web&ouid=110409080524773921565
>
>
> All the best  ..Lisa Seeman
>
> ***DRAFT BEGINS HERE***
>
> To: Silver Taskforce
> From: COGA Taskforce
> Re: Silver Conformance Models
>
> Hello,
>
> Thank you for the opportunity to review and comment on the proposed
> conformance models. We recognize they are in an early phase at this point
> and hope that we can continue to talk with you as they progress. Our
> comments at this time are as follows:
>
>    - "Doesn’t advantage one disability over another" - this is really
>    important but maybe could be clearer , such as clarifying that this
>    includes individuals, disabilities such as autism, and not just large
>    groups such as coga disabilities.
>    - Usability testing with individuals with disabilities is a very
>    helpful for to support COGA but there are risks such as difficulty in
>    gaining legislative adoption and the possibility teams will intentionally
>    create less usable systems to ensure "good" usability test results. In
>    addition, lack of funding available in many government programs and
>    small organizations may make usability testing difficult. Any model
>    should work to reduce these risks while still including usability as an
>    important component.
>    - There is a risk for COGA  in weighting issues by severity as small
>    issues can lead to fatigue but individually would not be "severe."  There
>    is also a risk in measuring by groups as COGA represents a very diverse set
>    of users with overlapping but sometimes distinct user needs. If, for
>    example, visual disabilities are broken out into subgroups such as blind,
>    low vision, and color blind then COGA should also be broken out into
>    distinct such groups such as Dyslexia, Aphasia, Non-verbal - Severe Speech
>    and Language impairments, Aging and Dementia, Intellectual
>    Disability, Autism, Dyscalculia, Anxiety, and Depression.
>    - We also believe that any conformance model should begin with and map
>    to user needs.
>
> Thank you again,
>
> Cognitive and Learning Disabilities Accessibility Task Force
>
> On Wed, Sep 4, 2019 at 1:12 PM Rachael Bradley Montgomery <
> rachael@accessiblecommunity.org> wrote:
>
>
>
> --
> Rachael Montgomery, PhD
> Director, Accessible Community
> rachael@accessiblecommunity.org
>
>
>
> Hello,
>
> Based the discussions we had, I've drafted a strawman response to send to
> Silver.  I tried to draw from the minutes and emails I've seen but I've
> likely missed or misstated something. I would appreciate your feedback. We
> will disucss this briefly at tomorrow's meeting but please send edits to
> the group.
>
> Thank you,
>
> Rachael
>
> ***DRAFT BEGINS HERE***
>
> To: Silver Taskforce
> From: COGA Taskforce
> Re: Silver Conformance Models
>
> Hello,
>
> Thank you for the opportunity to review and comment on the proposed
> conformance models. We recognize they are in an early phase at this point
> and hope that we can continue to talk with you as they progress. Our
> comments at this time are as follows:
>
>    - A very complex scoring system may make it difficult for people with
>    cognitive disabilities to use.  These drafts are so complex right now that
>    it is difficult to review and provide feedback. Whatever solution is
>    suggested, it needs to include plain text alternatives to the formulas and
>    complexity to allow for inclusive review and comment.
>    - Usability testing with individuals with disabilities is a key need
>    to support COGA but there are risks such as difficulty in gaining
>    legislative adoption and the possibility teams will intentionally create
>    less usable systems to ensure "good" usability test results.  Any model
>    should work to reduce these risks while still including usability as an
>    important component.
>    - There is a risk for COGA  in weighting issues by severity as small
>    issues can lead to fatigue but individually would not be "severe."  There
>    is also a risk in measuring by groups as COGA represents a very diverse set
>    of users with overlapping but sometimes distinct user needs. If, for
>    example, visual disabilities are broken out into subgroups such as blind,
>    low vision, and color blind then COGA should also be broken out into
>    distinct such groups such as Dyslexia, Aphasia, Non-verbal - Severe Speech
>    and Language impairments, Aging and Dementia,  Down Syndrome, Autism,
>    Dyscalculia, Anxiety, and Depression.
>    - We also believe that any conformance model should begin with nad map
>    to user needs.
>
> Thank you again,
>
> Cognitive and Learning Disabilities Accessibility Task Force
>
>
>
>

-- 
Rachael Montgomery, PhD
Director, Accessible Community
rachael@accessiblecommunity.org
- Each heart's purpose is deep water but understanding draws it out.