Re: Text email newsletter standard

Hi,

I have been following the stream of emails on plain text email newsletters
with interest.  You see I send one out every month (see below), and a few
months ago I included a reference to the 'TEN Standard'.  However I have not
implemented it, simply because I find the 'standard' I have come up with
(which is consistent across my newsletters) is easier for me - using plain
text - to read.  I would be interested to know if others find the TEN
Standard more or less useful than my own (I don't intend to release mine as
a 'standard' anytime in the near future - if WCAG can get away with not
being a standard, imagine what I can do with my consistent plain text
newsletter!).  And yes, I provide an HTML Email and online version
(http://www.purpletop.com.au/newsletter/current) of the newsletter too.

<begin example>
ACCESSIBILITY INTEREST GROUP
NOVEMBER 2004
BY PURPLETOP

In this Issue:
1. Welcome
2. Accessible Flash: 3 items
3. Sites of Interest: 2 items
4. Guidelines & Policy: 4 items
5. Tools & Downloads: 3 items
6. Resources & Information: 11 items
7. Research: 4 items
8. Conferences & Workshops: 4 items
9. Thanks
 
 
1. WELCOME

It's only a few weeks until the annual Australian accessibility conference:
OzeWAI (http://www.ozewai.org/2004/index.html).  I'll be there - so make
sure you come up and introduce yourself (I'll be wearing a purple top!).
OzeWAI is three days of tutorials, workshops, presentations, papers and even
a formal dinner.  And to prove that accessibility isn't such a dry topic
I've even found a cartoon: http://ars.userfriendly.org/cartoons/?id=20041025
. 

This month PurpleTop will be featuring Accessible Flash.  

1.1 Subscribe
You can subscribe by emailing accessibility@purpletop.com.au with the
Subject "Subscribe AIG".  A text version of the newsletter is also provided
on request - if you would like to subscribe to the text version email
accessibility@purpletop.com.au with the Subject "Subscribe AIG text".
 

2. ACCESSIBLE FLASH

2.1 Flash MX Accessibility
Macromedia's official site on Flash MX and accessibility, see:
http://www.macromedia.com/macromedia/accessibility/features/flash/ 

2.2 Accessible Flash Content
For information on how to make Flash available to search engines, see:
http://www.sitepoint.com/article/accessible-flash-parts-1-2.  For
instructions on how to make accessible Flash content, see:
http://www.webaim.org/techniques/flash/ 

2.3 DHTML Menus and Flash
Information on how to ensure drop down menus do not interfere with a Flash
presentation, or vice versa.  See:
http://www.communitymx.com/content/article.cfm?cid=E5141 


3. SITES OF INTEREST

3.1 Vote for the Best or the Worst Accessible Sites:
http://www.drc-gb.org/open4all/newsroom/sppoll.asp
The Disability Rights Commission in the UK is running a poll on the best and
worst accessible sites.

3.2 Pictures in Less than a Thousand Words:
http://www.profwebsite.com/imagine/bloodbottler.html
Just because a site is dedicated to visual art, doesn't mean it avoids the
accessibility guidelines.  This site gives concrete examples of alternative
text for art that is abstract.


4. GUIDELINES AND POLICY

4.1 Access to All Europe's Web Sites
European Union websites must be accessible to all, including the 37 million
European citizens with a disability. This was an e-Europe Action Plan 2002
goal, which called for public websites to adopt the international Web
Accessibility Initiative (WAI) Guidelines by the end of December 2001. All
Member States have adopted these Guidelines, however, policies
implementation on Web accessibility vary from country to country.  See:
http://istresults.cordis.lu/index.cfm/section/news/tpl/article/BrowsingType/
Features/ID/70211 

4.2 US Department of Homeland Security Creates 508 Compliance Office 
The US Homeland Security Department plans to create an office to promote IT
accessibility for employees and consumers with disabilities. See:
http://www.at508.com/articles/jw_021.cfm 

4.3 Changes to the Law on Employment of People with Disabilities in the UK
>From October 1st 2004, it is against the law for any employer (apart 
>from
the armed forces) of any size to discriminate against a person with a
disability because of their disability. Until now the law has only applied
to employers with 15 or more employees. See:
http://www.drc-gb.org/newsroom/newsdetails.asp?id=725&section=4 

4.4 Making Educational Software and Web Sites Accessible 
Design Guidelines Including Math and Science Solutions
As students with disabilities are increasingly joining their able-bodied
peers in one, all-inclusive classroom, it is becoming important that
instructional materials be accessible.  These guidelines aim to assist in
this process.  See: http://ncam.wgbh.org/cdrom/guideline/  


5. TOOLS AND DOWNLOADS

5.1 Microsoft's Accessible Web Publishing Wizard
Microsoft's Web Publishing Wizard is purported to create accessible code,
such as properly marked up tables and images.  See:
http://cita.rehab.uiuc.edu/software/office/ 

5.2 VoiceOver - Spoken Interface for Macintosh
VoiceOver is a fully integrated, built-in enhancement of the Mac OS X Aqua
user interface and reads aloud the contents of documents like Web pages,
Mail messages, and word processing files. See:
http://www.apple.com/accessibility/voiceover/ 

5.3 Accessibility Features of Dreamweaver MX and MX 2004
The latest version of Dreamweaver has a number of additional accessibility
features, including the option to attach long descriptions to images or use
an empty alt attribute.  See: http://webaim.org/techniques/dreamweaver/index



6. RESOURCES AND INFORMATION

6.1 Australian Government Warned on use of PDF as Sole Access to Information
Bruce Maguire, who successfully sued SOCOG for an inaccessible web site in
2000 discussed the rising number of complaints about the use of PDFs in
sites as the sole way to access information.  See:
http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php?id=973165449&eid=-180 and for
information on why PDFs are still not accessible, see:
http://www.usability.com.au/resources/pdf.cfm 

6.2 Creating Accessible Javascript
This article explains how javascript can be used without compromising
accessibility compliance.  Issues covered include redirections, pop-up
windows and device-independent handlers instead of using the more common
onmouseout, onfocus and onblur.  See:
http://www.webaim.org/techniques/javascript/

6.3 Overview on Assistive Technologies
Everything you ever needed to know about what types of assistive
technologies people use to access a computer:
+ Keyboards and other input devices:
http://www.gawds.org/show.php?contentid=96 
+ Braille and Low Vision aids: 
+ http://www.gawds.org/show.php?contentid=97
+ Alternative pointing devices: http://www.gawds.org/show.php?contentid=98
+ Other aids: http://www.gawds.org/show.php?contentid=99

6.4 Accessibility is Just Another Language
This article argues that accessibility can greatly assist the globalization
of a site.  By delivering equivalent information to different audiences,
localisation could be defined as a type of accessibility in its own right.
See:
http://www.multilingual.com/FMPro?-db=archives&-format=ourpublication%2ffeat
uredarticlesdetail.htm&-lay=cgi&-sortfield=magazine%20number&-sortorder=desc
end&-op=eq&Ad%20Type=reprint&-recid=33575&-find 

6.5 The Four Essentials of Web Design
. and one of them is accessibility.  Taken from the Web Essentials 04
Conference held in Sydney recently, this article discusses the importance of
valid code, accessible code, semantically correct code and the separation of
content and presentation.  See:
http://www.sitepoint.com/article/essentials-modern-web-design 

6.6 Thirty days to an Accessible Web Site
This is a step-by-step approach to making a web site accessible, and
discusses accessibility in terms of how it affects four people with
different impairments.  Originally published in book format over two years
ago, this is a tribute to the versatility of the web, as now you can see
tips according to disability, design principle, web browser and publishing
tool.  See: http://diveintoaccessibility.org/table_of_contents.html 

6.7 Thinking of a Text-Only site?
Well, think again.  This article explains all the reasons why you can't rely
solely on a text-only version to solve your accessibility problems.  See:
http://www.autisticcuckoo.net/archive.php?id=2004/08/17/text-only

6.8 The Future of Accessible Technology
Current research and development projects at Microsoft and other software
companies reveal two key themes of future technology: flexibility and
customization.  Does this mean technology will be easier or harder for
people with disabilities to use?  See:
http://www.microsoft.com/enable/business/future.aspx 

6.9 Implementing Workplace Accessibility
As the design of ICT applications has often disenfranchised remote and
disabled workers from conventional desktop-based work, a team led by Tony
Mee, CIO at the Department of Family and Community Services, began studying
the issue of supporting workers with special accessibility requirements.
See: http://www.cio.com.au/index.php?id=1996247499 

6.10 Federal Internship Program Enables Students with Disabilities to Build
Careers and Community Unemployment is exceptionally high among people with
disabilities; a Harris poll released in June 2004 estimates the rate at 65
percent. One goal of the Microsoft-AAPD federal internship for students with
disabilities is to address that problem.  See:
http://www.microsoft.com/enable/news/intern.aspx


6.11 Electronic Voting in the USA
Although this article was released before the USA election it is still
relevant - if not more so, as the deciding state was one that used the
electronic Diebold machines.  See:
http://www.voiceofthenationsblind.org/articles/12/electronic-voting 


7. RESEARCH

7.1 Australian Bureau of Statistics Releases Data on People with
Disabilities The 2003 Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers estimates that
one in five Australians (3,951,000 or 20%) had a disability. This rate was
the same for males and females. The rate increased with age, reaching 81%
for those aged 85 years and over.  See:
http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/b06660592430724fca2568b5007b8619/768
ee722e31f6315ca256e8b007f3055!OpenDocument 

7.2 Disability in America - a Population Reference Bureau (USA) Publication
Nearly 50 million Americans, one of every five people ages 5 and older, have
a disability, according to the 2000 U.S. Census. See:
http://www.prb.org/Template.cfm?Section=PRB&template=/Content/ContentGroups/
04_Articles/An_Overview_of_Disability_in_America.htm the full PDF report
(540 KB) can be found at:
http://www.prb.org/pdf04/59.3DisabilityInAmerica.pdf 

7.3 Non-Visual Access to the Digital Library: the Use of Digital Library
Interfaces by Blind and Visually-Impaired People 
There is little work on how blind and visually impaired people navigate
interfaces - accessibility concentrates on transcribing text (or replacing
images etc. with text) when the problem may in fact be much deeper. Work on
information-seeking behaviour and the use of interfaces assumes visual
capabilities which blind and visually-impaired people may not possess.  A
sample of twenty sighted and twenty blind and visually impaired people was
used.  People who were visually impaired took more steps per task compared
to sighted users.  See: http://www.cerlim.ac.uk/projects/nova/index.php 

7.4 PEOPLE NEEDED FOR SURVEY: Accessibility Evaluation Techniques This
survey investigates the ways in which accessibility evaluation is being
conducted. If you have ever tested sites for accessibility compliance, using
tools, people or manually using the guidelines then please take the time to
complete this survey, which will close on November 14, 2004. See:
http://deyalexander.com/survey.html 


8. CONFERENCES AND WORKSHOPS

8.1 7th Annual Accessing Higher Ground Conference
Assistive Technology and Accessible Media in Higher Education
Dates: 9 - 12 November, 2004
Venue: University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, U.S.A. Accessing Higher
Ground focuses on the implementation and benefits of Assistive Technology in
the university and college setting for sensory, physical and learning
disabilities. See: http://www.colorado.edu/ATconference/ 
 
8.2 IPAA National Conference
Regeneration: New Challenges, New Capabilities
Dates: 11 - 12 November, 2004
Venue: National Convention Centre, Canberra, ACT, Australia
The Institute of Public Administration Australia (IPAA) is holding a
conference on public sector administration in November.  See:
http://www.act.ipaa.org.au/seminars/ipaanationalconference2004.cfm
 
8.3 OzCHI: Australian Computer Human Interaction Conference Supporting
Community Interaction Possibilities & Challenges
Dates: 20 - 24 November, 2004
Venue: University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia OZCHI attracts
an international community of researchers and practitioners with a wide
range of interests, including human factors and ergonomics, human-computer
interaction, information systems, software engineering, artificial
intelligence, design, social sciences and management.  See:
http://www.dsl.uow.edu.au/ozchi2004/ 
 
8.4 OZeWAI: Australian Web Accessibility Initiative
What Can We Do With What We Got?
Dates: 1 - 3 December, 2004
Venue: LaTrobe University, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia
OZeWAI is an annual conference on web accessibility. This year the focus is
on what can be done with the content and tools to maximise accessibility?
See: http://www.ozewai.org/2004/ 


9. THANKS
 
Thanks to the people who volunteer their time and effort to make sure this
accessibility newsletter is up-to-date and grammatically correct.  Thank-you
also to the subscribers who have suggested items to be included and to the
many people who have written articles that have been included.  I hope to
see you at OzeWAI!
 
Cheers,
Gian
 
PurpleTop : Online Accessibility
Design & Development
Seminars & Training
Action Plans
Consulting
Content
Testing
Managing Director: Gian Sampson-Wild
Member: W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines Working Group Victoria :
New South Wales : Queensland
Mobile: + 61 404 498 030
Email: gian@purpletop.com.au
 
 

The Accessibility Interest Group is distributed to people who are interested
in or may have an interest in Accessibility. No liability is taken for
information provided in or arising from this newsletter. 
 
Produced by PurpleTop, Australia.

 
SUBSCRIBE: To subscribe to this newsletter, please email:
accessibility@purpletop.com.au with "Subscribe AIG" in the subject field of
your email.
 
TEXT VERSION: For a text version of this newsletter, please email:
accessibility@purpletop.com.au with "Subscribe AIG Text" in the subject
field of your email.
 
UNSUBSCRIBE: If you wish to unsubscribe, please email:
accessibility@purpletop.com.au with "Unsubscribe AIG" in the subject field
of your email.
<End example>

Cheers,
Gian

PurpleTop : Online Accessibility
Design & Development  |  Seminars & Training  |  Action Plans  |  Consulting
|  Content  |  Testing
Managing Director: Gian Sampson-Wild
Victoria : New South Wales : Queensland
Address: 106 Canterbury Rd, Middle Park Victoria, 3206
Mobile: + 61 404 498 030
Email: purpletop@purpletop.com.au

Received on Thursday, 9 December 2004 05:31:59 UTC