Re: link in new window debate

[Excuse my abrupt entry into this discussion. Who is this guy you ask? 
He's been at this accessiblity thing for too long.]

Please learn about transformable content. That is where web 
accessibility is going. 

Pay more attention to the needs of people with cognitive disabilities in 
your studies of web accesibility.  There is rarely consideration of the 
needs of those with learning disabilities in accessibility discussions. 
Transformable content can be accessible to these people, as well as to 
the blind, or any other person with a  disability where  barriers affect 
their use of electronic information (not just the assistive technology 
users).

When the new windows issue arises now and again, the needs of a person 
with a short term memory disability always seem to be secondary to the 
needs of those with sensory disabilities, if their needs arise at all.  
A second window can be quite useful for a person who has difficulty 
remembering what they've just read. The dynamic help as suggested by ... 
could work for these users, but this could present other accessibility 
issues (Though php etc. would do this handely along with a dynamically 
generated anchor. But for the less skilled a second window is usually 
the alternative.). Consistent use of a single popup window, though 
perhaps not optimal for some screen reader users, can make content 
accessible to a person with a learning disability.

If you haven't seen how we are dealing with accessibility through 
transformation, see how ATutor does it (yes it does open new windows in 
places, but never more than one window at a time). There is a fully 
functional working demo to play with. The next step in this project's 
development is connecting to a respository of transformable learning 
objects (The TILE Project).  The transformable learning environment and 
the transformable learning content are accessible to many more than just 
AT users.

ATutor
http://www.atutor.ca

greg

[Joe and Chris, this is not a plug, it is a sharing of knowledge] ;-)

Phill Jenkins wrote:

>
>
>
>Info at ATutor.ca said:
>
>...  If I know you are
>using a screen reader for example, I can strip away all the redundant
>navigation links, remove the images, or present columns of text in a
>single column. I'll transform the content ...
>
>Phill replies:
>
>that is what the browser+screen reader does, it present the information in
>a linear sequence, it renders the skip link, and all the other navigation
>links.  We don't need the authors doing the job of the Assistive
>technology.  We don't need the authors doing the job of the user
>configurations settings either.
>
>We as list members need to continually ask ourselves: Who's best
>responsible for solving the problem?  The author, the browser +AT, or the
>end user/operating system platform?
>
>
>  
>

Received on Tuesday, 18 November 2003 19:14:57 UTC