"Kobus Myburgh" wrote:

PS: Laura, I doubt Mohammed would mind me saying this - he is blind, so Views may be a bit daunting for him.

Not to mention the ironic naming of the module, in this case.

I have to take my hat off for Mohammed for trying so hard to make things work under his circumstances, and managing most of the stuff without contacting the help list. He has been using Drupal since 4.6.1 or something like that, and I have helped him a few times off-list to get some stuff done. Perhaps we should get a team together to focus specifically on usability for visually impaired users in the next version (> 5.0) of Drupal? Comments?

I have not commented on the recent threads related to usability/accessibility and specifically the use of Drupal by the visually impaired. However, this is an important issue to me, and to the community.

The suggestion to get a "team" together is a very good one. An Accessibility Working Group could be useful ... or it could be a disaster.

Firstly, any kind of AWG (for brevity) would need the support of those who are in a position to actually do something about "enforcement" in contributed and core code.

Secondly, the scope of any AWG would extend to both the underlying API and all theme-related functionality. No theme should _ever_ be distributed (especially as core) which does not validate XHTML and which does not pass some commonly accepted automated accessibility testing (Bobby certification, for example).

Some links are included at the end of this message for further reading on accessibility.

With the very common (in the U.S., anyway) use of Drupal by non-profits, election campaigns and others where there might be some overlap with Federal or State funds, there could be very serious legal exposure for _not_ complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The ADA extends to web sites, and when a web site excludes certain individuals because of a disability, then it may violate that person's rights under the ADA.

The _core Drupal theme_ should be 100% valid markup and should pass a 508 accessibility test.

The exact legal responsibility of your web site I will leave to you and your lawyer, but in general, when I work with any non-profit or quasi-public organization, I find it useful to outline accessibility issues very early, so that additional resources (planning, development, testing) can be included in the costs of building a web site.

(I am not a lawyer, and I am condensing and simplifying here, of course.)

In short: Yes, Kobus. We need an accessibility group. Even to "endorse" a theme as drawing "accessible" markup or not is a worthy goal.

As Drupal starts to include more rich application components (AJAX, for example) these issues become even more important than ever before. Now is the time for Drupal to get serious about being fully accessible, before core technologies get embedded in such a way that improving accessibility becomes increasingly complicated and time-consuming.

(2006-09-26)

Accessibility for Rich Internet Applications: WAI-ARIA Suite Debuts

W3C WAI's work on accessibility of AJAX, DHTML, and other rich Internet application technologies is published as First Public Working Drafts. WAI encourages review and comments. See:

• W3C Announces Roadmap for Accessible Rich Internet Applications (WAI-ARIA)

press release

http://www.w3.org/2006/09/aria-pressrelease.html

• Call for Review: Accessible Rich Internet Applications (WAI-ARIA) Working

Drafts

http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/w3c-wai-ig/2006JulSep/0246.html

For information on how Working Drafts are developed, see: How WAI Develops Accessibility Guidelines through the W3C Process.

http://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/w3c-process

From the W3C, I ordered 1,000 business-card size plastic cards with

guidelines for making accessible sites. [*] I use these at group speaking events and at initial client meetings. I ordered them in English and in Spanish, and the were free (I think they might still be available.) They are a very nice addition to group meetings, user group gatherings, consultations and presentations.

[*] Side note: I would like to say public thanks to the W3C. I ordered these cards online, and they were free. The U.S. postage on the package cost the W3C $3.85, yet still they were free to me.

I just thought it was a great gesture and commitment.

I find these cards to be a great help in just reminding people that there is even an issue to be considered. Most people who are not web developers will say "Hunh?" when you talk about web accessibility. Once you explain to them what you are talking about, they usually have a positive reaction but are still left wondering just what to do about it.

With the power of the Drupal CMS, the question about "what to do" about accessibility could be answered: Nothing, it's built in!

Drupal could very easily become a quality example of universal accessibility. The way to begin that process is to form some kind of official working group and to empower them to make _real_ recommendations with _real_ support for "enforcement" or "conformity".

From core API (where any markup is produced), to the Themes framework, to

the actual in-file code documentation should be examined through the lens of accessibility.

There are many _small and easy_ things one can do (or impose) which will make _big and important_ improvements. These should really be outlined and prepared for Drupal 6.0.

For more information about the W3C program which sent me the "Quick Tips for Making Accessible Web Sites" cards, you can visit the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative site pages at:

http://www.w3.org/WAI

For more information about the general Web Accessibility Guidelines, please visit:

http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG/

As an enticement, here is the opening paragraph of the Abstract for the WCAG 1.0 recommendation (made in 1999, by the way). It sounds like they are speaking directly to the Drupal community:

Abstract

These guidelines explain how to make Web content accessible to people with disabilities. The guidelines are intended for all Web content developers (page authors and site designers) and for developers of authoring tools. The primary goal of these guidelines is to promote accessibility. However, following them will also make Web content more available to all users, whatever user agent they are using (e.g., desktop browser, voice browser, mobile phone, automobile-based personal computer, etc.) or constraints they may be operating under (e.g., noisy surroundings, under- or over-illuminated rooms, in a hands-free environment, etc.). Following these guidelines will also help people find information on the Web more quickly. These guidelines do not discourage content developers from using images, video, etc., but rather explain how to make multimedia content more accessible to a wide audience.

Just by considering the guidelines, I believe Drupal 6.0 could become a solid "Accessibility Engine", further enhancing its stature among organizations and community groups.

Let's do this working group as suggested by Kobus.

I'm in.