Web Axe – Page 39 – blog and podcast on web accessibility

Accessible YouTube & HTML5 Video

Post author By Dennis
Post date March 8, 2011
5 Comments on Accessible YouTube & HTML5 Video

YouTube is obviously a great site for video, but not for everyone as it contains various accessibility challenges, particularly keyboard access. The use of Flash itself to play the video can be problematic, not be mention requiring support of the Flash plugin. HTML5 is a pending solution (HTML5 video is available on YouTube as a “trial”), but in its infancy, HTML5 video has accessibility issues that still need to be resolved, as does HTML5 itself.

In the meantime, here are a few alternatives to the YouTube website which provide more accessible controls and a much cleaner interface.

Easy YouTube – by Chris Heilmann.
Your Tube – Accessible YouTube – by Dylan Neale, in joint venture with Povidi.com.
Accessible Interface to YouTube – by Tom at majestyc.net.

If you still don’t have what you need or want, why not build your own interface?! The following are tools and resources for building more accessible YouTube videos including captioning:

Fixing Alt – 6 Reasons Bacon Is Better Than True Love

Post author By Dennis
Post date February 25, 2011
No Comments on Fixing Alt – 6 Reasons Bacon Is Better Than True Love

This is the next blog in a series titled “Fixing Alt” where I supply alternative text to graphics on the web that badly need it (cartoons and infographics).

The Oatmeal has great comics, but badly needs alt text. One of their most successful comics is 6 Reasons Bacon Is Better Than True Love (you can even order a poster) and deserves to be enjoyed by everyone! So here is the text version:

6 Reasons Bacon Is Better Than True Love

Illustration: 3 strips of bacon, greater-than symbol, heart.

True love happens once in a lifetime. Bacon can happen seven times a day, if you want it to. Illustration: Man, drooling, with bacon in hand says “You are my everything”.
Bacon you can keep in the fridge. True love you cannot. Illustration: Woman trying to get out of fridge says “Oh God oh God, let me out of here! Man holds door back with heart in a thought cloud.
Love is fleeting, but bacon stays in your arteries for all eternity. Illustration: Man laying down with bacon strips falling in his open mouth.
It will always be there for you. Illustration: Man with tears in eyes says “nobody loves me except my bacon”.
Bacon won’t divorce you over a little misunderstanding. Illustration: Wife gasping; man in skimpy underwear with goat on leash and 2 nearly naked women says “This isn’t what it looks like. These aren’t hookers, they are my ‘consultants'”.
Bacon does not nag or complain. Illustration: Woman says “You’ve been sitting in that goddamn chair for 8 weeks, go mow the lawn! Soiled man in lounge chair says “Shut up, more bacon please”.

law

Disney & Other Recent Web Accessibility Lawsuits

Post author By Dennis
Post date February 18, 2011
1 Comment on Disney & Other Recent Web Accessibility Lawsuits

It’s unfortunate that soon after Disney Parks & Resorts receives an award for accessibility from the AFB, an announcement is made for a Class Action Lawsuit Against Disney Alleges Inaccessible Websites. The lawsuit cites Disney’s failure to accommodate blind persons in violation of ADA. Read more in this article by Nic Steenhout (@vavroom): Lawsuit Against Disney For Lack Of Accessibility.

Here are more headlines involving law and accessibility over the last few months, mostly web accessibility:

Delta hit with $2M DOT disabilities violations fine (February 2011)
Scarborough woman wins accessibility challenge against federal government (December 2010)
Accessibility Lawsuit Filed Against JetBlue Airways – Law Office of Lainey Feingold (October 2010)
Court orders Ottawa to make websites accessible to blind – The Globe and Mail (November 2010)
NFB files complaints against 9 law schools for inaccessible web site (May 2010)
Unfriendly Skies? Blind Passengers Sue United : NPR (October 2010)
NFB files complaint against Penn State University for accessibility problems (November 2010)
Blind MBA to have her day in court over inaccessible government websites (September 2010)
Blind Students Sue Law Schools Over Online Applications – Wired Campus – The Chronicle of Higher Education, Wired Campus – The Chronicle of Higher Education (June 2010)

awards twitter

Accessible Twitter Receives AFB 2011 Access Award

Post author By Dennis
Post date February 16, 2011
No Comments on Accessible Twitter Receives AFB 2011 Access Award

Congratulations to Accessible Twitter which has been honored with the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) 2011 Access Award. Other recipients are CBS, Lexmark, and Walt Disney Parks & Resorts.

An Access Awards Ceremony will be held Friday, March 11, at the 2011 Josephine L. Taylor Leadership Institute (JLTLI) conference in downtown Seattle, Washington.

Accessible Twitter is a web application which serves as an alternative to the Twitter.com website. It is designed to be easier to use and is optimized for disabled users. In addition to all modern desktop browsers (and IE 6), Accessible Twitter runs on virtually any user-agent such as Lynx (text browser), screen readers, the Kindle, Braille displays, and web-enabled mobile devices.

audio fun music

Music About Web Accessibility!

Post author By Dennis
Post date February 14, 2011
3 Comments on Music About Web Accessibility!

Here’s a great list of music about web accessibility! Includes the premiere of the full Web Axe theme song.

WCAG 2.0 Theme Song by David MacDonald (YouTube).
Assistive Technology Boogie – fun, and it’s accessible Flash! (direct Flash link)
“Man With Small F” (The Inaccessible PDF Song) by Terrill Thompson. Listen at end of Web Axe Podcast 77 (Interview with Terrill Thompson) or from Terrill’s album Flavors.
inaccessible song by Daniel Davis.
Listen to the Web Axe theme song! (MP3) composed by my good friend Jeff Ensign.

Anyone have a song to add?!