The fact is that accessibility isn’t ‘a matter of opinion’. There is a
technical definition of accessibility, as used by the W3C, and it is accepted
by the WWWAI and other competent authorities including agencies of many
governments.(Looking up accessibility on Wikipedia tells us much.)
Accessibility should be ‘built in’ to the app, from the ground up, not ‘bolted
on’ afterwards. If this was a Blog post, it would be nice to know who its
author is within your posting of it, Dominique.
From: Dominique Farrell
Sent: Saturday, July 16, 2016 6:23 PM
To: vip_students@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [vip_students] What AccessibilityMeans To Me!
You say potato and I say potato, and yes, I know VoiceOver read
both of those the same way, so you will have to imagine the commonly used
expression. Being a VoiceOver user on the iPhone and Mac since 2009, I have
become very familiar with the word accessibility and the hash tag #A11Y. The
interesting thing about both of these terms, is that they mean something
different to everyone.
If you are like me and follow people in the blind tech community on Twitter, or
subscribe to a blind tech email list, and frequently check AppleVis, you will
come across the word accessibility on a daily basis. One thing I find
interesting is that people use the word differently. For example, lets say that
an app has a few unlabeled buttons. One person might call it inaccessible due
to the unlabeled buttons, while another might say the app is very accessible
but takes a little work to use. Neither one of these statements is incorrect.
It all depends on how you view the meaning of the word accessibility.
Lets take a closer look as we look at the Facebook iPhone App review on
AppleVis. Under the heading accessibility comments it says, the app is getting
better in terms of accessibility. This statement is very true. If you have been
a long time Facebook user like me, the app has come a long way in compatibility
with VoiceOver. I would call the app about 90% accessible, as I still always
have a little difficulty using things like events when wanting to create one
and add people to invite to it. I also still haven’t fully grasped how the
timeline works, as sometimes I can get everyone’s posts, and other times I have
major time gaps between postings. By no means would I call Facebook
inaccessible, but some people still do. Under VoiceOver performance, it says
VoiceOver reads most page elements. If you only feel apps are accessible is if
you can use a hundred percent of the app, than you might still say Facebook is
inaccessible. Do I view somebody who would say this as wrong? Absolutely not,
we just have a difference of opinion on what accessibility means to us. Under
the heading Usability the review says, there are some minor accessibility
issues with this app but they are easy to deal with. I agree with this
statement, but someone that is new to VoiceOver might not have the same level
of comfort using VoiceOver therefore they might say what in the world are you
talking about? I can’t do a thing with the app. Again, are they wrong? No.
Accessibility can almost be viewed as a skill level, and length of use will
make apps that don’t work fully with VoiceOver more accessible to more
experienced users.
Comparatively lets think about a sighted person who has never used a Mac, and
has used a PC their entire life. If you sit them in front of a Mac and expect
them to use it as quickly as they accomplish tasks on a PC, it isn’t going to
happen. They are going to not know how to do certain tasks. sMy point is,
accessibility can be viewed as experience and knowledge of how to use an
operating system.
