[Chapter-delegates] Once again: accessibility and ISOC's website [was: Happy new year!]
Klaus Birkenbihl
Klaus.Birkenbihl at Isoc.de
Mon Jan 12 01:21:29 PST 2015
Folks,
I'd like to refocus the discussion from "how do can we achieve
accessibility" for our own publications to "how can we achieve
quality" in general. In 2011 when th new Website was released with a
lot of buzz I did some research on issues. And since nobody was able
to tell me how to report the issues I decided to set-up a little page
on my own to document issues and state of resolution.
(http://klaus-birkenbihl.de/isoc-website-issues.html still worth to
review.) I informed Dan and Lia and we had a chat once and a while but
I never got any concrete response on the issues or even measures
applied. I polled the ISOC Website once and a while and was able to
close some of the issues, while others were not addressed at all. But
this is a cumbersome undertaking with no response from the other side.
(see issue 14). So I gave up. Of course the list was far from being
complete but something like this (or better: an issue tracker) could
be used to collect issues discovered by the community and document
their resolution. For those not familiar with the business: issue
trackers are a very common tool on the Web to collect input on issues
from the community. Vendors of all kind of Products (Software,
Websites, Hardware ...) use them to improve.
Seriously: Kathy's answer was the first I received since 2011 that
described the state of an issue, mentioned state of fixing and
measures applied. And that it was by Kathy who started this might
indeed trigger a change of culture. :-)
Klaus
Michael Burks schrieb am 12.01.2015 um 01:30:
> All,
>
> I could not agree more with Gunela. I will also mention that I have
> attended the M-enabling conference and it is excellent~!
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Michael Burks
> 919 349 6661
>
> On Sun, Jan 11, 2015 at 7:22 PM, Gunela Astbrink
> <g.astbrink at gsa.com.au <mailto:g.astbrink at gsa.com.au>> wrote:
>
> Thank you, Kathy for your positive response. The Australian
> Chapter joins with the Disability and Special Needs Chapter in
> welcoming this interaction and offering assistance.
>
> It's good to hear that Lia Kiessling will be the main point of
> contact. I had some good discussions with Lia a few years ago
> about making disability awareness videos. Maybe ISOC can develop
> some videos relevant for different regions?
>
> As we know, Internet accessibility goes beyond web
> accessibility. ISOC may also wish to consider setting up an
> Accessibility Action Plan with key focus areas, responsibilities
> and timeframes.
>
> Accessibility for people with disability has become a mainstream
> issue with companies such as Google
> (http://www.google.com/accessibility/index.html), Apple
> (http://www.apple.com/accessibility/resources/) and Microsoft
> (http://www.microsoft.com/enable/) to just name three that have
> dedicated resources on accessibility with most of them embedding
> accessibility into their products to a greater or lesser extent.
> There's still a way to go though.
>
> The UK-based Business Technology Taskforce also provides
> resources for business on accessibility:
> http://technologytaskforce.org/ Companies such as Cisco are
> members. There is an Accessibility Maturity Model for use as a
> self-assessment tool designed for business but it could also be
> a useful indicator for ISOC as well.
>
> Thanks to Christian for highlighting the annual eAccess
> conference in the UK.
>
> Another excellent conference close to one of ISOC's head offices
> is mEnabling held annually in Washington DC:
> http://www.m-enabling.com/ This year it's on 1-2 June.
> I suggested a few years that an ISOC staff member participate in
> this but unfortunately the timing wasn't right. Maybe this year...
>
> There is plenty of information and guidance out there. Now it's
> a matter of harnessing it in a way that will be suitable for
> ISOC moving forwards on the Internet is for Everyone.
>
> I remain hopeful...
>
> Gunela
> Director, Internet Society of Australia
>
>
> Christian de Larrinaga said the following on 10/01/15 02:52 :
>
> ditto -- Kathy's response is a welcome breath of fresh air.
>
> It may be worth pointing out that everybody has a challenge with
> accessibility. Even with the best will in the world and tons of
> experience it takes thought,effort and keeping all the many
> dependencies
> in a row.
>
> A long time supporter of open web Dan Jellinek of Headstar
> coincidentally wrote to me today about another of his
> eAccess events
> coming up in February.
>
> " Are you excluding disabled people from websites, apps and
> other
> digital services?
>
> Could you improve your accessibility and usability?
>
> eAccess 15: UK’s top event on access to digital services by
> disabled people
>
> 24 February, Government Conference Centre, Westminster
> www.eaccess-event.com <http://www.eaccess-event.com>
>
> In the digital age all public, private and third sector
> bodies must
> ensure their websites, apps and other digital services are
> accessible to
> disabled and older people for cost, efficiency, ethical and
> legal
> reasons. eAccess 15 is the UK’s leading event on this topic.
>
> If there are any UK based contractors to ISOC web services
> this might be
> a useful and timely resource.
>
> best
>
>
> Christian
>
> Klaus Birkenbihl wrote:
>
> Kathy,
>
> thanks for your answer and for providing me with a
> surprise, and
> apologies for the sarcasm in my mail - which I know is
> annoying but
> also expresses frustration and annoyance over endless,
> fruitless
> discussions. The surprise is: as reply to a concrete
> complain about an
> issue the issue was addressed and a concrete action was
> taken
> immediately - instead of the usual "we have big plans
> that will solve
> everything. Go away with your tiny issue, come back next
> year."
> (Plans, that cost time and money - and mostly produced
> more issues
> than solved.)
>
> So I'm inclined share Gunela's hope for improvements. We
> have these
> technologies developed and standardized by IETF and W3C,
> there are the
> tools that the community developed on base of these
> standards for
> supporting communication and work on the net. While the
> world picks
> them up, we should not be shy and also make best use of
> them. Would be
> better than installing expensive products that violate
> the standards
> and hardly do the job.
>
> Thanks for triggering the change,
> Klaus
>
> .
> Kathy Brown schrieb am 09.01.2015 um 13:00:
>
> Klaus and all,
>
> We did, indeed, pick up your message --I meant to
> reply yesterday but the day got away from me. We
> take time, though, to talk through your very helpful
> intervention and to make some immediate improvements
> as per your recommendations.
>
> As you rightly point out, we need to bake
> accessibility into our design and initial planning
> for all communication. I agree that it is a quality
> issue. It is also a "principle" issue. If we say
> that the Internet is for everyone, we better mean
> everyone.
>
> We are about to begin an upgrade for the ISOC site.
> Now is the time to set the design and quality
> standards for all aspects of our communications. The
> BY THE NUMBERs piece was an attempt to make data
> alive--something I think that is very important.
> Help us think through and perfect how to make these
> type of design experiments work for everyone.
>
> Lia Kiessling will be point on this for Staff.
> Expert input is key to the process so I asked her to
> reach out to you. There's also the Disability and
> Special Needs Chapter that both you and Lia can
> coordinate with. I believe you have Lia's Skype
> details so I'll leave it with the two of you to
> start this needed process.
>
> Thank you, again, for your quick, thorough and
> helpful contribution. We all, together, need to
> continue to build the Internet and the Internet
> Society for everyone.
> Kathy Brown
>
>
> _______________________________________________
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>
>
>
> --
> Gunela Astbrink
> GSA InfoComm
> PO Box 600
> Ballina NSW 2478
> Australia
> Mobile: +61 417 715738 <tel:%2B61%20417%20715738>
> Email: g.astbrink at gsa.com.au <mailto:g.astbrink at gsa.com.au>
> www.gsa.com.au <http://www.gsa.com.au>
>
> _______________________________________________
> As an Internet Society Chapter Officer you are automatically
> subscribed
> to this list, which is regularly synchronized with the Internet
> Society
> Chapter Portal (AMS): https://portal.isoc.org
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> As an Internet Society Chapter Officer you are automatically subscribed
> to this list, which is regularly synchronized with the Internet Society
> Chapter Portal (AMS): https://portal.isoc.org
>
> --
> Klaus Birkenbihl
> Treasurer and Board member
> Internet Society German Chapter e.V. (ISOC.DE)
> c/o ict-Media GmbH
> http://www.isoc.de/
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