Dear Brian,
Many thanks for this very useful response, and particularly for your final thought.
For a long time, accessibility was treated as a technical issue rather than a human one. As you know, although the Government's commitment to WCAG AA conformance is a positive step, it doesn't in itself guarantee that online resources will be accessible to people any more than it guarantees that they will be well-written, up-to-date and accurate.
I'd suggest that an important part of the development of any public-facing service (online or off) is both to include disabled users in your user profiling and use cases, but more importantly also to include actual disabled people in user testing.
Web accessibility validation schemes such as the Shaw Trust's Web Accreditation Service (http://www.shaw-trust.org.uk/website_accessibility) - including as they do users representing a number of different types of disability - provide much-needed insight to inform the development process.
All best,
Nick
Nick Poole
Chief Executive
Collections Trust
-----Original Message-----
From: Brian Kelly [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 23 October 2009 10:53
To: Nick Poole
Cc: 'Museums Computer Group'
Subject: RE: New on OpenCulture blog - Saving NOF Digi, API and Digital Inclusion
Hi Nick
On the subject of digital inclusion, there will be a need to consider how
to ensure that the needs of people with disabilities are included.
A simplistic response to this challenge is to require all Web resource
conform with WCAG guidelines, and indeed the government have announced that
all government Web sites must conform to WCAG AA by December this year - and
Web sites which fail to conform all liable to be deleted. A strange way to
enhance access to digital resources! And not that this "Websites owned by
central government executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies
must conform by March 2011." - see
http://www.coi.gov.uk/guidance.php?page=131
As you know, UKOLN has been engaged for a number of years in developing
a user-focussed and holistic approach to enhancing access to Web resources
for people with disabilities. For those interested a series of blog posts
on this topic are available at:
http://ukwebfocus.wordpress.com/category/accessibility/
A visually impaired developer has recently commented on this work:
"I came across this note recently, from an article written by Brian Kelly,
summarising a paper he has co-written:
'Disability is therefore a social construct and not an attribute of an
individual. In particular, resource accessibility is the matching of a
resource to an individual's needs and preferences - and is not an attribute
of a resource.'
That really got me thinking about our perception of accessibility, and in
particular the ways in which we view the people we are trying to help."
http://www.produxion.net/2009/10/20/a-new-approach-to-web-accessibility/
It would be good if the community, including members of this list, could
explore ways in which access to digital resources could be enhanced for
people with disabilities beyond the simple notion that WCAG conformance is
all that is needed.
Brian
--------------------------------
Brian Kelly
UKOLN, University of Bath, BATH, UK, BA2 7AY
Email: [log in to unmask]
Phone: +44 1225 383943
Web site: http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/
Blog: http://ukwebfocus.wordpress.com/
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Nick Poole [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: 22 October 2009 16:05
> Subject: New on OpenCulture blog - Saving NOF Digi, API and Digital
> Inclusion
>
> Dear MCG'ers,
>
> Just a quick note to alert you to some recent updates to the
> Collections Trust's OpenCulture blog:
>
> Museums, Libraries, Archives and Digital Inclusion
>
> Race Online 2012 is Martha Lane-Fox's initiative to promote engagement
> with technology by people throughout the UK, and particularly the
> estimated £10m UK citizens who don't use the web. We are in the process
> of scoping a national programme to transform the role of museums,
> archives and libraries to support Digital Inclusion - read more on the
> blog<http://openculture.collectionstrustblogs.org.uk/2009/10/22/museums
> -archives-libraries-digital-inclusion/> and contribute to our first
> ever crowdsourced policy
> proposal<http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AU8qzL7hzDX4ZGdkNmNxcjhfMWM1
> ZndnbWRz&hl=en> via Google docs!
>
> Saving NOF Digi
>
> The NOF-Digitise programme funded the creation of tens of thousands of
> Digital resources, many of which remain available, if a little unloved.
> The Collections Trust has recently run a petition to encourage people
> to register their support for a programme of work to unlock the
> potential of NOF-Digi content by exposing it for harvest, aggregation
> and re-use. This petition is being shared with Creative Industries
> Minister Sion Simon following a recent Digital Summit at DCMS - read
> more about the potential for a national programme to unlock this
> content<http://openculture.collectionstrustblogs.org.uk/2009/08/27/how-
> to-save-nof-digi/>.
>
> To Key or not to Key
>
> The Collections Trust has recently launched a series of short videos on
> our YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/user/collectionstrust)
> explaining what the Culture Grid is and how it works. We are now at the
> point where we need to decide whether to offer completely open access
> or to require users to register for an API key. Read about the
> interesting debate about this subject, and contribute your thoughts
> about API and culture-sector
> data<http://openculture.collectionstrustblogs.org.uk/2009/10/22/to-key-
> or-not-to-key/>.
>
> OpenCulture
>
> OpenCulture is a joint programme between the Collections Trust, MLA,
> Culture24 and UKOLN which celebrates, supports and focuses the huge
> range of innovative Digital work currently underway in UK museums,
> archives and libraries. It is an active programme of development, and
> is structured in response to the Digital Britain report and subsequent
> initiatives. Do please check in regularly on the OpenCulture blog at
> http://openculture.collectionstrustblogs.org.uk and have your say!
>
> All best,
>
> Nick
>
>
>
>
> Nick Poole
> Chief Executive
> Collections Trust
>
> Follow the Collections Trust on Twitter:
> http://twitter.com/collectiontrust
>
> The new BSI/Collections Trust Code of Practice for Cultural Collections
> Management and the accompanying Collections Management: A Practical
> Guide are now available via Collections Link -
> http://www.collectionslink.org.uk/news/004912.html
>
> Registered offices: 22 Hills Road, Cambridge, CB2 1JP
>
> Registered Charity no. 273984
> Company Registration No: 1300565
>
> Telephone (switchboard): 0207 022 1889
>
> www.collectionstrust.org.uk
> www.collectionslink.org.uk
> www.culturalpropertyadvice.gov.uk
> www.discs-uk.info
>
>
> ****************************************************************
> For mcg information visit the mcg website at
> http://www.museumscomputergroup.org.uk
> To manage your subscription to this email list visit
> http://www.museumscomputergroup.org.uk/email.shtml
> ****************************************************************
****************************************************************
For mcg information visit the mcg website at
http://www.museumscomputergroup.org.uk
To manage your subscription to this email list visit
http://www.museumscomputergroup.org.uk/email.shtml
****************************************************************
|
