Just wanted to let you know I'm having a bad case of the flu. It's one of those flu's that manage to disable your brain in such a way nothing productive comes from it anymore. But I'm feeling a little bit better already (hooray for self-medication). It could be it also has an influence on my English, if so, I apologize in advance.
I hope to continue my work soon, I've had enough of this flu.
Until next time!
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Update
It's about time I gave an update on the things I've been working on. I haven't got much exciting things to write about, I'm still busy with writing the literature review. But I'll do my best to extract some interesting information for you.
Statistics
I started with a section on facts and statistics about blind and visually impaired people. One of the key facts I discovered was the following (from the now defunct page http://www.uniteforsight.org/eye_stats.php (maybe a 404 page is a good idea, (Google Cache still works) ):
And this is why I think it's interesting: people that are getting older now are used to using the computer and Internet. The group of people that will have to change the way they use computers and Internet will be growing, and accessibility-problems will become even more apparent. This underlines the need to raise the overall awareness of the accessibility-issue, and every step taken today doesn't have to be taken later. With my graduation, my research and this blog I hope to contribute to the overall awareness of this issue, and hopefully propose solutions to improve the accessibility of Flash powered embedded musicplayers.
Some other interesting facts about blind and visually impaired people can be found on this World Health Organization Fact-sheet.
Assistive Technologies
Next up I did some research about assistive technologies that are used by blind and visually impaired people to access computers. Screen readers are the mostly used assistive technology by this group. A screen reader conveys the information that is shown on the screen by applications to audio, or if it's supported and wished for, braille (using a refreshable braille display). Screen readers rely heavily on Microsoft Active Accessibility, an Application Programming Interface (API) that was created specifically to help assistive technology interact/access/modify user interfaces on the computer.
Screen readers are very expensive products, because most programs use different ways of presenting the user interface and handle user interaction differently. This creates the need for tailor-made solutions and support. Also, screen readers cover a relative small market, also contributing to the high price. To illustrate this, the standard edition of the most popular screen reader used, JAWS, is priced at $895.00 USD. Not exactly a cheap purchase if you'd ask me.
JAWS is regularly updated and the last version, 11, was released in October 2009. Out of curiosity, I checked the "Whats New in JAWS 11" page, and to my amazement I found the following information in the "Enhancements"-list for Internet Explorer (I left out all the other enhancements not relevant for my statement following this list):
- JAWS no longer reads the wrong page at www.dominos.ca.
- INSERT+F7 on www.liveatc.net now shows all links found on the page.
- JAWS now correctly reads Web page content at the Motley Fool Web site.
- You can now select the preview songs buttons on CDBaby.com
This points out that screen readers have to implement specific solutions for specific pages, for specific browsers, to greaten the accessibility of these pages. These particular enhancements prove that a world wherein the majority of webpages are accessible by default is still a distant dream. It also points out that accessibility of webpages in general is a threeway story:
- The developers of pages have to be aware of accessibility issues
- Browser-developers have to support MSAA during the development of the browser
- Screenreaders have to know what to expect, and handle accordingly
Concluding
Well, I've got to wrap things up. I'm currently writing a section that explains accessibility-problems online in relation to the screen reader (technology). That's for the next time though, this post has gotten pretty long!
Statistics
I started with a section on facts and statistics about blind and visually impaired people. One of the key facts I discovered was the following (from the now defunct page http://www.uniteforsight.org/eye_stats.php (maybe a 404 page is a good idea, (Google Cache still works) ):
In developed countries, for each decade after the age of 40 there is a threefold increase in the prevalence of blindness and vision loss.
And this is why I think it's interesting: people that are getting older now are used to using the computer and Internet. The group of people that will have to change the way they use computers and Internet will be growing, and accessibility-problems will become even more apparent. This underlines the need to raise the overall awareness of the accessibility-issue, and every step taken today doesn't have to be taken later. With my graduation, my research and this blog I hope to contribute to the overall awareness of this issue, and hopefully propose solutions to improve the accessibility of Flash powered embedded musicplayers.
Some other interesting facts about blind and visually impaired people can be found on this World Health Organization Fact-sheet.
Assistive Technologies
Next up I did some research about assistive technologies that are used by blind and visually impaired people to access computers. Screen readers are the mostly used assistive technology by this group. A screen reader conveys the information that is shown on the screen by applications to audio, or if it's supported and wished for, braille (using a refreshable braille display). Screen readers rely heavily on Microsoft Active Accessibility, an Application Programming Interface (API) that was created specifically to help assistive technology interact/access/modify user interfaces on the computer.
Screen readers are very expensive products, because most programs use different ways of presenting the user interface and handle user interaction differently. This creates the need for tailor-made solutions and support. Also, screen readers cover a relative small market, also contributing to the high price. To illustrate this, the standard edition of the most popular screen reader used, JAWS, is priced at $895.00 USD. Not exactly a cheap purchase if you'd ask me.
JAWS is regularly updated and the last version, 11, was released in October 2009. Out of curiosity, I checked the "Whats New in JAWS 11" page, and to my amazement I found the following information in the "Enhancements"-list for Internet Explorer (I left out all the other enhancements not relevant for my statement following this list):
- JAWS no longer reads the wrong page at www.dominos.ca.
- INSERT+F7 on www.liveatc.net now shows all links found on the page.
- JAWS now correctly reads Web page content at the Motley Fool Web site.
- You can now select the preview songs buttons on CDBaby.com
This points out that screen readers have to implement specific solutions for specific pages, for specific browsers, to greaten the accessibility of these pages. These particular enhancements prove that a world wherein the majority of webpages are accessible by default is still a distant dream. It also points out that accessibility of webpages in general is a threeway story:
- The developers of pages have to be aware of accessibility issues
- Browser-developers have to support MSAA during the development of the browser
- Screenreaders have to know what to expect, and handle accordingly
Concluding
Well, I've got to wrap things up. I'm currently writing a section that explains accessibility-problems online in relation to the screen reader (technology). That's for the next time though, this post has gotten pretty long!
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Literature Review
I spent the last days setting up my literature review. Now that that's been done, it's time to get to the meat of the review. After the first impressions by doing some searches on Google Scholar, I'm confident enough all the data I need will be found on the Internet.
I'm will now start to systematically work through the results, looking which papers cite which (one of the very handy features of Scholar), and so will work my way to the most recent online accessibility papers.
The literature review consists of two main parts:
- First I need to explain some facts about blind and visually impaired people and the issues they face with online accessibility.
- Secondly, I'm going to create an overview of studies, solutions and initiatives that have been created to improve accessibility of Flash.
Looks easy enough, but it will take enough time to keep me occupied for at least two weeks. Interesting papers and findings will be shared on this blog.
Oh, and I have to correct some mis-information in my last post: the overview of programs I talked about (programs and tools that have been created to improve accessibility in Flash (music players), like speaking browsers, screenreaders, etc.), is part of the preparation for the quantitative research, and not the literature review. My bad!
I'm will now start to systematically work through the results, looking which papers cite which (one of the very handy features of Scholar), and so will work my way to the most recent online accessibility papers.
The literature review consists of two main parts:
- First I need to explain some facts about blind and visually impaired people and the issues they face with online accessibility.
- Secondly, I'm going to create an overview of studies, solutions and initiatives that have been created to improve accessibility of Flash.
Looks easy enough, but it will take enough time to keep me occupied for at least two weeks. Interesting papers and findings will be shared on this blog.
Oh, and I have to correct some mis-information in my last post: the overview of programs I talked about (programs and tools that have been created to improve accessibility in Flash (music players), like speaking browsers, screenreaders, etc.), is part of the preparation for the quantitative research, and not the literature review. My bad!
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