http://www.webstandards.org Working together for standards Mon, 29 Jun 2009 12:49:50 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Hat-tip to ATF member Jared Smith:WebAIM recently conducted a survey of preferences of screen reader users. With over 1100 responses, the results of this survey provide much useful information about screen reader user demographics and preferences. Some of the results were quite surprising. This comprehensive survey of screen reader ... http://www.webstandards.org/2009/01/31/webaim-screenreader-survey-results/ 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 ... http://www.webstandards.org/2008/12/11/wcag-20-is-a-w3c-rec/ BSI British Standards is inviting all interested parties, and in particular marketing professionals and disabled web users, to review and comment on the draft of a new standard on accessible web content. DPC BS 8878 Web accessibility – Building accessible experiences for disabled people – Code of Practice is ... http://www.webstandards.org/2008/12/01/bsi-british-standards-invites-comments-on-new-draft-standard-on-accessible-web-content/ The University of Texas is closing its Accessibility Institute today. Non-profit Knowbility has started a petition to save it. Though you may not have heard of the Accessibility Institute, you have been influenced by its work. Its late founder, Dr. John Slatin, was the former co-chair of the Web Content Accessibility ... http://www.webstandards.org/2008/08/29/save-the-accessibility-institute/ It's a question many of us in accessibility have been waiting for years to be answered. Does the Americans with Disabilities Act apply to the web? Sadly, accessibility's ultimate cliffhanger once again reaches an awkward denouement, leaving us deflated, and looking at yet another boring sequel. The National Federation of the Blind ... http://www.webstandards.org/2008/08/28/what-the-target-settlement-should-mean-to-you/ The British Standards Institution (BSI) has invited two members of the WaSP, Bruce Lawson and Patrick Lauke, to join the drafting committee for the first British Standard for Web Accessiblity. Two years ago, the BSI was sponsored by the Disability Rights Commission to write a Publicly Available Specification ... http://www.webstandards.org/2008/07/11/british-standard-for-accessibility/ The UK government has issued a consultation document on Delivering Inclusive Websites. It's not finalised, as the consultation doesn't end until November 13 (my birthday, by the way …) but in its current state it's not a bad document; it rehashes PAS 78, recognises that the only way to find out ... http://www.webstandards.org/2007/11/04/uk-government-accessibility-consultation/ In last month's Interview with Judy Brewer on WCAG 2.0, we read that:WCAG 2.0 went through several Public Working Drafts in recent years, and a Last Call Working Draft in 2006. Each Working Draft was sent out for public review — altogether to hundreds of individuals, organizations, and lists around ... http://www.webstandards.org/2007/06/11/review-wcag2-may2007-working-draft/ Shawn Lawton Henry is the W3C's Web Accessibility Initiative Outreach Coordinator, and so she's very familiar with WCAG 2.0. Her chapter in Friends of Ed's Web Accessibility: Web Standards and Regulatory Compliance, Understanding Web Accessibility is an excellent practical introduction into the barriers disabled people face when using the web. One ... http://www.webstandards.org/2007/05/28/london-shawn-lawton-henry-on-wcag-20/ I heard a piece on NPR this morning featuring an atypical screen reader user: atypical because he is not blind.His vision-impairment is caused by a lack of muscle control due to cerebral palsy, effectively making him vision-, mobility-, and dexterity-impaired. The mention of the screen reader is a minor note ... http://www.webstandards.org/2007/05/24/screen-reader-user-on-us-national-public-radio/