University of Washington (also a PDF file): Project Sidewalk: A Web-based Crowdsourcing Tool for Collecting Sidewalk Accessibility Data at Scale. “We introduce Project Sidewalk, a new web-based tool that enables online crowd workers to remotely label pedestrian related accessibility problems by virtually walking through city streets in Google Street View. To train, engage, and sustain users, we apply basic game design principles such as interactive onboarding, mission-based tasks, and progress dashboards. In an 18-month deployment study, 797 online users contributed 205,385 labels and audited 2,941 miles of Washington DC streets. “
Access for Disabilities
BBC: Domino’s Pizza app must be accessible to blind people
BBC: Domino’s Pizza app must be accessible to blind people. “Domino’s Pizza has been told its website and app must be made fully accessible to blind people, after losing a legal case in the US. It follows a complaint from a blind customer who said he first struggled to change toppings and then was unable to complete a pizza’s purchase using the company’s iPhone app.”
Website Accessibility & the Law: Why Your Website Must Be Compliant (Search Engine Journal)
Search Engine Journal: Website Accessibility & the Law: Why Your Website Must Be Compliant. “Most countries provide laws protecting the civil rights of disabled persons for homes, parks, businesses, and educational facilities. What is not universal is website accessibility. The internet provides global access to information, stores, education, financial institutions, audio, and video, but often remains restricted or dependent on assistive devices for millions of people to gain unhindered access. Fortunately, there are standards in place that unifies development and allows the world to use web-based solutions with universally accepted protocols. We know these standards as the World Wide Web Consortium, or W3C.”
CogDogBlog: Does Adding Accessibility Features Make the Good Ship Instagram Accessible?
CogDogBlog: Does Adding Accessibility Features Make the Good Ship Instagram Accessible?. “Even before a tl;dr (as if I do them anyhow), I am about as far from a web accessibility expert as my dog. But I’ve taken a curious interest since summer 2018 when Twitter made a big deal of announcing the addition of options to add alternative text to tweeted images. Fire of a few PR statements, get the stories echoed to the pious outlets of EngadgetWiredTechCrunchETC, and call it done. Never mind that adding this to your images means turning ON an option 15th in a list of preferences.”
Seeing in the Dark: Debunking digital inclusion (Bay Area Reporter)
Bay Area Reporter: Seeing in the Dark: Debunking digital inclusion. “As a blind man, I often get asked by strangers, “Do blind people enjoy videos?” And my answer is always, ‘Hell yes!’ Whether it’s listening to stand up on YouTube, or binging on my latest guilty pleasure on Netflix, TV shows and movies are a big part of my life. Of course, before I can even enjoy a show, the digital platform needs to be accessible to my software, and videos need to offer descriptive audio for the blind — a feature that narrates the non-spoken parts of a video. Then, and only then, can I enjoy TV shows and films.”
Smashing Magazine: I Used The Web For A Day Using A Screen Reader
Smashing Magazine: I Used The Web For A Day Using A Screen Reader. “A sighted user puts himself in the shoes of a non-sighted user. Chris Ashton experiences first-hand difficulties that visually impaired users face and describes what we can do as web developers to help.”
Genealogy’s Star: FamilyTreeWebinars add Closed Captioning to Webinars
Genealogy’s Star: FamilyTreeWebinars add Closed Captioning to Webinars. “In what well may be the first time the larger genealogical community has provided closed captioning, FamilyTreeWebinars.com in conjunction with MyHeritage.com, who acquired the company last year, have developed and provided closed captioning for 207 past webinars.”
