Sunday, March 30, 2003
UK accessibility investigation
Thanks to William Hudson (Syntagm) for the following:
The Disability Rights Commission has announced that it will begin testing Web sites across the private and public sectors over the next few weeks as part of a six-month investigation.
One thousand websites will be investigated for their ability to be accessed by Britain’s 8.5 million disabled people in the Disability Rights Commission’s (DRC) first Formal Investigation, it was announced today.
Technical assessments of around 1,000 sites will be carried out with this sample, then narrowed to between 50 and 100 for follow-up testing by a group of 50 disabled people.
The move represents the first serious attempt by a government body to tackle the matter of Web accessibility head on, and follows several years of campaigning from disability groups.
The DRC plans to publish its conclusions by the end of the year, which will then feed into further policy development. Michael Burton, DRC Commissioner, stressed that the investigation wasn't a naming-and-shaming exercise, and that the organisation would be seeking to work with site operators towards better standards of accessibility.
DRC press release: http://www.drc.org.uk/newsroom/newsdetails.asp?id=393§ion=1
3:51 PM|
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Monday, March 24, 2003
e-voting, UCL, Stanford and large furry animals
I caught up with Ian Brown of FIPR this morning, and we pored over the issue of e-voting accompanied by London sunshine and insipid coffee from the UCL graduate common room. As we sipped, students of the Slade rolled around enclosures on the grass in the main UCL quad, pretending to be large furry beasts. Title of piece: 'Enclosure'. Very amusing.
Anyway, e-voting stuff [proposals, events, research, funding applications and other ideas] to proceed apace, in the interdisciplinary context of UCL (computing, public policy etc.), provided we can spare the time. Is nobody doing research in this area in the UK? Prof. David Dill's Stanford petition to be pursued on this side of the Atlantic. And if anyone else would care to join us......drop me a line.
7:03 PM|
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Saturday, March 22, 2003
A mobius of Userati
Finally getting back to some events after a month of work-related absence. Although I took my dinky new digital camera along to the UK UPA's March event - a panel with usability clients as invited speakers -having promised Chris McEvoy that I would snap any group of Userati (known as a mobius of Userati, according to Chris) found in the wild, Nigel Bevan and William Hudson did a quick runner after the panel and before the pub, leaving me to snap away at Ann Light. I'll try harder next time, Chris....
4:57 PM|
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Disseminating research
The BBC is currently coming under fire again, accused of pandering to market share and commercial constraints rather than focusing on public service.
In my experience, the Beeb and its staff not only engage in the creation of knowledge concerning the organisation's spheres of interest, but also actively promote the dissemination of that knowledge - something that many private enterprises benefit from.
One example: BBC staff host free monthly meetings for online community developers, with an excellent roster of guest speakers. Quite a number of them have in their past lives woked at the BBC, or still do so. Which other media organisation is aiding professional development for this particular professional group?
Another example: the Beeb last autumn posted on its website Accessibility study of BBCi: Problems faced by users with disabilities, a report commissioned from a usability agency. Other website operators will find this kind of information invaluable, but how many private sector organisations have ever done the same? And how many of the organisations currently criticising the BBC?
Download the report from the website commissioning page (available as pdf or Word file)
10:06 AM|
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Friday, March 21, 2003
Pensioners for the high jump
"The changes being brought in by the government from April, in the way benefits are paid, are enormous. We recognise that we need to do more to improve the Pin pads that allow access to bank accounts at Post Office branches." "[...] we intend to fit a key guard over the buttons to help guide customers, and we will develop a secure alternative to the pads for those with disabilities." So says David Mills, chief executive of the Post Office, following criticsm of the new terminals being introduced to all post offices large and small.
I'll be out with my roving camera, capturing the pensioner Pin pad experience at the coal face.
7:59 PM|
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Oh boy!
Mark at Sussex Community Internet Project has just sent this link to the proposals for the King Alfred site on Hove (as in Brighton-and-Hove) seafront. It's not April 1, is it?
7:52 PM|
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Thursday, March 20, 2003
International conference on assistive technology
The BCS is running a conference on assistive technology 21-22 May, to take place at Pride Park Stadium in Derby. More details at their website at www.bcs.org/disability/icat
5:05 PM|
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Women and technology
Jane Austin of Recollective (and of the UK UPA) is chairing Untold: Bionic Women at the ICA in London next Friday (28 March). Untold addresses the relationship between technology and women, and the impact technology has upon their lives. In discussion are Nina Wakeford (Surrey University and director of INCITE), and Sarah Kember (Goldsmiths University). Nina Wakeford is a sociologist who has a particular interest in technology and innovative ethnographic techniques.
Jane, on the other hand, is a fellow real ale enthusiast ("So few of us left!" "Well, there were hardly any to start with!"), and there's not much real ale around the environs of the ICA as far as I recall, so we shall have to adjourn elsewhere....
ICA
4:47 PM|
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