http://accessites.org/site The Art of Accessibility Wed, 24 Feb 2010 19:39:15 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.5 en http://accessites.org/site/2010/02/web-perfectionist/ http://accessites.org/site/2010/02/web-perfectionist/#comments Wed, 24 Feb 2010 19:15:28 +0000 Phil Smears The Showcase Notable Awards http://accessites.org/site/2010/02/web-perfectionist/ The Web Perfectionist site was designed by Irina Ponomareva to be clean, elegant, easy to use and accessible to all. We found it to be a very solid, well coded, accessible site.]]> http://accessites.org/site/2010/02/web-perfectionist/feed/ http://accessites.org/site/2010/01/well-miss-you-jack/ http://accessites.org/site/2010/01/well-miss-you-jack/#comments Mon, 18 Jan 2010 14:05:40 +0000 Mel Pedley Site News Headline News http://accessites.org/site/2010/01/well-miss-you-jack/ We were both shocked and saddened to learn of the sudden death of Jack Pickard at the weekend. Jack was a part of Accessites.org from its earliest days and, although he had taken a back seat from active Team Access duty more recently, he was still there, in the background, ready to lend a hand if needed. We've lost a great colleague with a wicked sense of humour and the Web has lost a talented developer. Our thoughts and sympathies go out to his family.]]> http://accessites.org/site/2010/01/well-miss-you-jack/feed/ http://accessites.org/site/2009/11/law-office-of-lainey-feingold/ http://accessites.org/site/2009/11/law-office-of-lainey-feingold/#comments Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:45:41 +0000 Blair Millen The Showcase Quality Awards http://accessites.org/site/2009/11/law-office-of-lainey-feingold/ Law Office of Lainey Feingold, the business site of disability rights lawyer Lainey Feingold, was designed by Mike Cherim specifically to conform to the level of AAA under the WCAG 2.0. And having already officially achieved this status, there was hope we might have our first Timeless Universal Design Award on our hands!]]> http://accessites.org/site/2009/11/law-office-of-lainey-feingold/feed/ http://accessites.org/site/2009/09/online-video-captioning/ http://accessites.org/site/2009/09/online-video-captioning/#comments Mon, 07 Sep 2009 10:53:43 +0000 Jen Rohrig Our Articles http://accessites.org/site/2009/09/online-video-captioning/ Guest author, Jen Rohrig, looks at online video captioning on US TV networks. Although I am hard of hearing myself, there was a time when I didn't consider captions for online videos to be of great importance, since I rarely watched videos online. More recently, I've been watching some new online shows and would have been disappointed if captions hadn't been available. In addition I've become more annoyed that interviews with favorite actors are being put online without captions as are clips and previews from TV shows or movies. Interviews can be especially troublesome because some actors either have strong accents or talk very fast -- either of which can make it nearly impossible for me to understand them, even with the volume turned up on both the computer and my hearing aid.]]> http://accessites.org/site/2009/09/online-video-captioning/feed/ http://accessites.org/site/2009/08/le-web-accessible/ http://accessites.org/site/2009/08/le-web-accessible/#comments Wed, 26 Aug 2009 14:44:09 +0000 Joe Dolson The Showcase Notable Awards http://accessites.org/site/2009/08/le-web-accessible/ Le Web Accessible, the web site of web accessibility consultant Jean-François Naud, offers numerous touches which demonstrate a solid accessible web site. The site exhibits conscientious application of semantic HTML and headings, links are clearly evident on mouse-activated hover, and the layout is streamlined and simple, keeping distractions or potentially confusing content sequences to a minimum.]]> http://accessites.org/site/2009/08/le-web-accessible/feed/ http://accessites.org/site/2009/07/dont-just-tick-boxes/ http://accessites.org/site/2009/07/dont-just-tick-boxes/#comments Mon, 06 Jul 2009 16:10:09 +0000 Mel Pedley Our Articles http://accessites.org/site/2009/07/dont-just-tick-boxes/ Meeting the diverse needs of your site's visitors is likely to mean a great deal more than ticking off individual accessibility checkpoints. You cannot just rely on an automated accessibility parser. As Grant Broome explained, whilst automated testing is useful, it cannot replace a manual review or direct user testing. At Accessites, every site that meets our entry criteria is subjected to a manual review by a panel of Team Access members. At no point do we rely on automated testing alone. Why? ]]> http://accessites.org/site/2009/07/dont-just-tick-boxes/feed/ http://accessites.org/site/2009/06/refreshable-braille/ http://accessites.org/site/2009/06/refreshable-braille/#comments Tue, 09 Jun 2009 09:30:18 +0000 Roger Hudson Our Articles http://accessites.org/site/2009/06/refreshable-braille/ When guest author Roger Hudson presents accessibility seminars or workshops, he usually asks those attending to indicate if they have seen a screen reader being used. Several years ago, it was not uncommon for only about 10 percent of the audience to indicate that they had. Recently, often more than three quarters of the people attending say they have seen a screen reader in use. However, nearly all assume a screen reader is an audio output device and when asked if they have seen a Braille device, the answer is usually no. So Roger and Braille user, Bruce Maguire, decided to create a video demonstrating a refreshable Braille device in use. They hope that this will provide viewers with both a basic understanding of how the device is operated and a feeling for what it might be like to access the web without relying on the senses of sight and hearing.]]> http://accessites.org/site/2009/06/refreshable-braille/feed/ http://accessites.org/site/2009/05/orion-house-bed-and-breakfast/ http://accessites.org/site/2009/05/orion-house-bed-and-breakfast/#comments Sat, 23 May 2009 21:38:25 +0000 Mel Pedley The Showcase Notable Awards http://accessites.org/site/2009/05/orion-house-bed-and-breakfast/ Compared to many other bed and breakfast (B&B) websites that we've seen, the Orion House Bed and Breakfast site is outstanding. We're convinced that evveryone's online search for B&B accomodation would be far easier and pleasanter if all such sites were of this standard.]]> http://accessites.org/site/2009/05/orion-house-bed-and-breakfast/feed/ http://accessites.org/site/2009/05/under-new-management/ http://accessites.org/site/2009/05/under-new-management/#comments Mon, 11 May 2009 13:02:05 +0000 Mike Cherim Site News http://accessites.org/site/2009/05/under-new-management/ Late in 2005 I had the notion that most people felt accessible web sites are boring and basically without merit offering only the most simplistic functionality and style. As long as that notion persisted, I thought, it would effectively hold back the masses from embracing the needs of all users, not just those they felt were important. I thought that I could perhaps alter that notion, dispelling the myth, by showcasing sites that are accessible yet still look and work great.]]> http://accessites.org/site/2009/05/under-new-management/feed/ http://accessites.org/site/2009/03/leveling-the-playing-field-were-all-differently-abled/ http://accessites.org/site/2009/03/leveling-the-playing-field-were-all-differently-abled/#comments Wed, 25 Mar 2009 14:30:16 +0000 Joe Dolson Our Articles http://accessites.org/site/2009/03/leveling-the-playing-field-were-all-differently-abled/ Accessibility and web accessibility are often highlighted as issues for people with disabilities. This is no surprise, all things considered, given the common definition of accessibility. "Disability" is, however, an almost meaninglessly broad term. Many of those who could be considered disabled would not choose to self-identify as disabled. "Disability" is a label, and like any label, the members of the labeled group are diverse and may exhibit the label in unexpected ways.]]> http://accessites.org/site/2009/03/leveling-the-playing-field-were-all-differently-abled/feed/ http://accessites.org/site/2009/02/keith-w-bell/ http://accessites.org/site/2009/02/keith-w-bell/#comments Wed, 11 Feb 2009 03:02:32 +0000 Mike Cherim The Showcase Quality Awards http://accessites.org/site/2009/02/keith-w-bell/ The Keith W. Bell site, at first glance, appeared clean and professional, albeit perhaps fittingly plain. Once we started exploring more deeply, kicking the site's tires and looking under the hood, so to speak, we quickly came to the conclusion that this is one top-notch piece of work. If you derive pleasure from looking at well-structured code and thoughtful features not overdone, you're going to love it. And if you need the Keith W. Bell site to be accessible: it's access granted.]]> http://accessites.org/site/2009/02/keith-w-bell/feed/ http://accessites.org/site/2009/01/wordpress-empty-searches/ http://accessites.org/site/2009/01/wordpress-empty-searches/#comments Fri, 09 Jan 2009 10:28:42 +0000 Mel Pedley Our Articles http://accessites.org/site/2009/01/wordpress-empty-searches/ WordPress' handling of empty site search inputs is far from satisfactory. Because the search form references the overall site address, submission of an empty search causes the site's home page to be displayed. No error report. Nothing to indicate what has happened. Nada. Zilch. Nothing! The solution, however, is blindingly simple and merely involves a few, fairly simple, changes to three WordPress theme files.]]> http://accessites.org/site/2009/01/wordpress-empty-searches/feed/