RE: WCAG 2.0 Should Not Be Applied to Software and Mobile Apps

Hi Jon,

Thanks for the pointer...

re: Keyboard interface support, he says:
"But applying this success criteria to touch-based software on tablets or mobile devices does not make sense because the mobile operating systems may provide accessibility completely without a keyboard. For instance, applications on iOS (e.g. iPhone, iPad, etc.) can use VoiceOver built into the iOS operating system to make onscreen content very accessible to users with disabilities even if the application itself cannot use a keyboard."

So, basically he seems to assume that "users with disabilities" are only people who are blind but who have full use of their hands.

I think our Note section on keyboard control for touchscreen devices [1] does a reasonable job of explaining why this is insufficient.

[1] https://www.w3.org/WAI/GL/mobile-a11y-tf/wiki/Note:_WCAG_2.0_and_Mobile#B.1_Keyboard_Control_for_Touchscreen_Devices

Cheers,
Jan



(MR) JAN RICHARDS
PROJECT MANAGER
INCLUSIVE DESIGN RESEARCH CENTRE (IDRC)
OCAD UNIVERSITY

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________________________________
From: Jonathan Avila [jon.avila@ssbbartgroup.com]
Sent: January-16-15 9:50 AM
To: public-mobile-a11y-tf@w3.org
Subject: WCAG 2.0 Should Not Be Applied to Software and Mobile Apps

FYI – thought you all might be interested in this controversial article that indicates keyboard interface support may not be relevant for mobile apps.  Also says we shouldn’t look to UAAG as it will never come to fruition.

http://blog.hisoftware.com/2014/accessibility/wcag-2-0-should-not-be-applied-to-software-and-mobile-apps

Jonathan

--
Jonathan Avila
Chief Accessibility Officer
SSB BART Group
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