Buzz Archives for June 2006
PAS78 available free of charge
The British Standards Institution's Publicly Available Specification "Guide to good practice in commissioning accessible websites" is now available free of charge and for nothing from the Disability Rights Commission. Yay!
By Bruce Lawson | Filed in Accessibility, Accessibility TF, General
- Crying Foul on Accessibility Claims
-
Or how not to waste tax-payers’ money on inaccessible sites or make grand claims on accessibility that you cannot fully back up.
By Ian Lloyd | Filed in Accessibility
- JavaScript beyond the browser
-
It's always interesting to see Web Standards used in a setting outside the browser. Did you know, for instance, that the chat client Adium can be skinned using CSS? JavaScript is showing up in more and more desktop apps. Apple's Dashboard and Yahoo's widgets (formerly Konfabulator) are the obvious examples. But ...
By Jeremy Keith | Filed in DOM, DOM Scripting TF, Emerging Technology, Web Standards (general)
- Promoting the responsible use of JavaScript: writing, teaching and presenting
-
The members of the DOM Scripting Task force have been busy writing and reviewing books, teaching and presenting at conferences and workshops, and preparing for upcoming events; focusing on the responsible use of JavaScript, as well as accessible JavaScript. Here’s an update of recent and forthcoming activities our Task Force members are involved in. Next stop is @media 2006 - see you there!
By Mike Davies | Filed in Accessibility, DOM, DOM Scripting TF
- London Web Standards Group meeting 14th of July
-
See Andy Budd and Christian Heilmann talk about “Maintainable JavaScript” and “Who cares about Standards” respectively on 14th of July in London. Cheap as Chips and a good networking opportunity to boot!
By Mike Davies | Filed in DOM Scripting TF, General
- It Was 5 Years Ago Today …
-
It’s been just over five years since the publication of a couple of articles about using CSS for layout were published, but where are we now?
By Ian Lloyd | Filed in CSS, Web Standards (general)
- IBM Endorses Dojo and Lends Accessibility Support
-
On Monday, IBM officially announced its support for the Dojo Toolkit JavaScript framework. This announcement comes soon after the creation of the Dojo Accessibility email list, and like its other open source donations, IBM’s support for Dojo includes a major emphasis on accessibility for people with disabilities. Several weeks ago, Dojo ...
By James Craig | Filed in Accessibility, Accessibility TF, DOM, W3C/Standards Documentation
The Web Standards Project is a grassroots coalition fighting for standards which ensure simple, affordable access to web technologies for all.
Recent Buzz
WCAG 2.0 is a W3C Recommendation
By Matt May | December 11th, 2008
After 9.5 years of work, the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 have reached W3C Recommendation status. On behalf of the WaSP Accessibility Task Force, I’d like to welcome WCAG 2 officially into the pantheon of Web standards.
I think this tweet by caledoniaman sums up the level of anticipation:
WCAG 2.0 and a new Guns ‘n’ Roses album in the same year. What’s the world coming to.
Interesting comparison. They’ve each had about as many pre-releases. In any case, I can say, having spent over 8 years with it, that WCAG 2 is not as entertaining as Chinese Democracy. But I do think that it’s better equipped to stand the test of time.
If I had to pick one thing I’m most happy about, I’d say it’s that the HTML- and text-centrism in WCAG 1 is largely gone. In its place is a much more flexible (dare I say robust?) concept of accessibility-supported technology. So when newer technologies can show themselves to be directly accessible, they too can be used in WCAG 2-conformant content.
Over the years, many people have conflated “WCAG-conformant” with “accessible,” and that’s led to people making statements like: “Don’t use JavaScript–it’s inaccessible.” That’s bad for everyone, from users with disabilities who actually can work with JavaScript (which is to say, the vast majority), to Web designers and developers, to policymakers, to those developing new technologies.
With WCAG 2, “Don’t use x” is no longer valid. (Was it ever?) It is now up to you, the developer, to work on the direct accessibility of your content, no matter what technology you choose. I believe we’re about to experience a new wave of accessible design techniques, as a result.
But first, we need to flush “Don’t use x” out of our system. Some are accustomed to saying it about anything they’re not comfortable with. That’s only holding accessible design back. It’s time to learn what’s out there, today, and use it in everyday Web design. It’s time to make everyone’s Web more accessible. Have a look at the WCAG 2.0 Recommendation, and its supporting material. Then, start thinking about what a more accessible Web could be. We still have a lot of work to do.
Filed in Accessibility, Accessibility TF, W3C/Standards Documentation, Web Standards (general) | Comments (8)