Technology Barriers and Solutions

Accommodation and Accessibility

Technology Barriers and Solutions

Bruce Bailey, US Access Board
first TEITAC meeting
28 September 2006
NSF, Arlington, VA

The real barrier…

is Attitude!

Accommodation & Accessibility

504 vs 508
Individual vs System
Assistive Technology as tool, vs compatibility with Assistive Technology

Assistive Technology Device

any item, piece of equipment, or product system, whether acquired commercially or off the shelf, modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities.

Keyboard Keyguard

Photograph of square plexiglass keyguard. This transparent keyguard is obviously the wrong shape for most keyboards. Photograph of keyguard being held by hand over IBM PS/2 keyboard. The keyguard is tightly designed for this specific model of keyboard. Photograph of Cherry brand keyboard customized with fitted metal keyguard and wristrest.

§ 1194.23 Telecommunications products

(k) Products which have mechanically operated controls or keys, shall comply with the following:

Controls and keys shall be tactilely discernible without activating the controls or keys.
Controls and keys shall be operable with one hand and shall not require tight grasping, pinching, or twisting of the wrist. The force required to activate controls and keys shall be 5 lbs. (22.2 N) maximum.
If key repeat is supported, the delay before repeat shall be adjustable to at least 2 seconds. Key repeat rate shall be adjustable to 2 seconds per character.
The status of all locking or toggle controls or keys shall be visually discernible, and discernible either through touch or sound.

§508 Cross References to 1194.23(k)

§ 1194.25, Self contained, closed products

(c) Where a product utilizes touchscreens or contact-sensitive controls, an input method shall be provided that complies with §1194.23 (k) (1) through (4).

§ 1194.26 Desktop and portable computers.

(a) All mechanically operated controls and keys shall comply with §1194.23 (k) (1) through (4).

§ 1194.23 (k) (2)

Controls and keys shall be operable with one hand and shall not require tight grasping, pinching, or twisting of the wrist.
The force required to activate controls and keys shall be 5 lbs. (22.2 N) maximum.

Alternative Keyboards

Photograph of five keyboards. Three are large format, two with membrane keyboards (Intellikeys, Key Largo, Big Keys); one is erogonomic (Microsoft Natural), one has built in trackball (brand unknown). Photograph of Goldtouch split adjustable keyboard. Photograph of Tash mini membrane keyboard. Photograph of Data Hand keyboard. Each hand rests inside a contoured surface with five microswitches for each finger tip.

One-Handed Keyboards

Photograph of Matia Half Qwerty keyboard. Appears like a frameless verison of the left half of a qwerty keyboard. Each key has three or four characters printed on it. Photograph of Infogrip BAT one handed choreded keyboard. There is one key for each finger and three for the thumb. Photograph of Twiddler keyboard being held in hand. Key layout has twelve keys like telephone but labled with letters. It is gripped from the back with fingers and thumbs wrapping around to press keys. Photograph of Maltron keyboard for the right hand. One hundred or more keys arranged mostly in a convex shape.

§ 1194.26 Desktop and portable computers

(d) Where provided, at least one of each type of expansion slots, ports and connectors shall comply with publicly available industry standards.

Alternatives to the Keyboard

Voice Recognition
On-Screen Keyboards
- head pointing
- Joystick
- switches

Keyboard Alternatives

Screen shot of on-screen keyboard with word prediction. Photograph of woman using Head Mouse with on-screen keyboard. Photograph of man with quadraplegia using lip operated joy stick to operate a portable computer. Photograph of a wide variety of switch input devices.

§ 1194.21 Software applications and operating systems

(a) When software is designed to run on a system that has a keyboard, product functions shall be executable from a keyboard where the function itself or the result of performing a function can be discerned textually.

§ 1194.21 Software applications and operating systems

“(a) When software is designed to run on a system that has a keyboard, product functions shall be executable from a keyboard where the function itself or the result of performing a function can be discerned textually.”
Accessible software can be used with either a keyboard or mouse (No Mouse)
- AccessIT, University of Washington

§ 1194.22 Web-based intranet and internet information and applications

“(p) When a timed response is required, the user shall be alerted and given sufficient time to indicate more time is required.”
Accessible software allows users to adjust timed features
- AccessIT, University of Washington

§ 1194.21 Software applications and operating systems (c)

A well-defined on-screen indication of the current focus shall be provided that moves among interactive interface elements as the input focus changes.

§ 1194.21 Software applications and operating systems (c)

A well-defined on-screen indication of the current focus shall be provided that moves among interactive interface elements as the input focus changes.
The focus shall be programmatically exposed so that assistive technology can track focus and focus changes.

§ 1194.21 Software applications and operating systems (d)

Sufficient information about a user interface element including the identity, operation and state of the element shall be available to assistive technology.

§ 1194.21 Software applications and operating systems (d)

Sufficient information about a user interface element including the identity, operation and state of the element shall be available to assistive technology.
When an image represents a program element, the information conveyed by the image must also be available in text.

§ 1194.21 Software applications and operating systems (c)

The focus shall be programmatically exposed so that assistive technology can track focus and focus changes.

§ 1194.21 Software applications and operating systems (d)

Sufficient information about a user interface element including the identity, operation and state of the element shall be available to assistive technology.

§ 1194.21 Software applications and operating systems (c) & (d)

Audio recording of screen reader moving through File menu to Print… and then to printer icon in tool bar.

§ 1194.22 Web-based intranet and internet information and applications

(l) When pages utilize scripting languages to display content, or to create interface elements, the information provided by the script shall be identified with functional text that can be read by assistive technology.

§ 1194.22 Web-based intranet and internet information and applications

(m) When a web page requires that an applet, plug-in or other application be present on the client system to interpret page content, the page must provide a link to a plug-in or applet that complies with §1194.21 (a) through (l).

Introduction to the Screen Reader

Neal Ewers of the Trace Research Center in a short six minute video demonstrating how screen readers assist people who are blind navigate the web, access the electronic page, and more.
Division of Information Technology, University of Wisconsin at Madison