Mark McGuire

A Deaf nomad exploring our world.

Reference

Welcome to my Reference section of the website. This section is where I keep notes on all topics that are relevant in my world. By no means are they to be used as an official source of information. Rather, these references assist in my professional development so I can better educate myself and share with you how we can make the world a better place for all Deaf and Hard of Hearing people with disabilities.

Accessibility Notice: If the text is too small to read, please press the tab key repeatedly until you arrive at the Toggle Font Size or read my post, How to resize the text on your screen.

Empathy

Empathy is the ability to identify with or understand the perspective, experience or motivations of another individual.

Objectives

  • Gather resources
  • Explain what empathy is
  • Explain how empathy plays a role in inclusive design

Overview

In the world of design, empathy serves a distinctive purpose: to inform and inspire decisions in the early stages of the design process.

Notes from the Internet

Design empathy is the ability to be aware of, understanding of, and sensitive to another person’s feelings and thoughts without having had the same experience.

Source: IDEO, Empathy on the Edge: Scaling and Sustaining a Human-Centered Approach in the Evolving Practice of Design

Interaction Design Foundation (IxDF) / Design Thinking Course

  • In the mid-2010s, the design industry shifted from the design of products to services to the design of experiences

For example, in the past, a digital nomad would have relied on paper maps and guide books. Next came websites that made it easier to find lodging and transportation. Now, the focus is on creating destination experiences.

Additional Resources

HTML

Miro

Invision / Inside Design (Blog) / 4 essential steps to designing with empathy

PDF

IDEO – Empathy on the Edge: Scaling and Sustaining a Human-Centered Approach in the Evolving Practice of Design

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) is a set of guidelines for removing barriers that prevent user agents from accessing web content.

Objectives

  • Identify the difference between WCAG versions
  • Identify the strengths and weaknesses of the WCAG

Versions

WCAG 1.0

  • Status: Released in 1999
    • Introduces conformance levels (A, AA, AAA)

WCAG 2.0

  • Status: Released in 2008

WCAG 2.1

  • Status: Released in 2018
  • Added seventeen (17) new success criteria

WCAG 2.2

  • Status: Working Draft
  • Latest Published Version
  • Released in YYYY
    • A working draft released in August 2020
  • Added (X number) new success criteria
  • Changes one existing success criteria
    • Conformance level changed from A to AA

WCAG 3.0

  • Status: Working Draft
  • To be released in the future

Understanding the WCAG Guidelines

It is possible to create a website that passes all the success criteria outlined in the WCAG and still be inaccessible. The challenge is understanding what makes a website accessible.

  • Designed to be objective
  • Does not include subjective aspects of accessibility
  • Includes testable elements
  • Some subjective criteria overlap with accessibility and usability

As of 2021, there are 13 guidelines.

HTML Entities

Objectives

  • Gather resources
  • Explain what Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) entities are
  • Explain how assistive technologies access HTML entities

Additional Resources

Accessibility Audit Results

WebAIM WAVE

  • Errors reported - None
  • Alerts reported - Three. All possible issues are currently under investigation.

Deque axe-dev

  • Issues reported - Two. All possible issues are currently under investigation.

Manual Audit

A manual audit has not been performed on this page. As a result, this page has not been determined to be in compliance with Section 508 and WCAG 2.2 guidelines.

Tagged With: Posted on .

Florida Alliance for Assistive Services and Technology

The Florida Alliance for Assistive Services and Technology (FAAST) is the state of Florida’s assistive technology program.

Objective

  • Gather resources
  • Be able to explain what FAAST is about

Overview

It is not clear what FAAST means by “the state of Florida’s assistive technology program” when it’s a separate non-profit entity created as a result of the Florida Statute 413.407.

More details is needed.

Official Resources

Official Locations

In addition to FAAST’s primary location in Tallahassee, they have several locations listed below. Each location is identified by the region they serve.

  • Pensacola (Gulf Coast)
  • Tallahassee (Northwest)
  • Jacksonville (Northeast)
  • Orlando (Atlantic)
  • Tampa (Central)
  • Miami (South)

Notes from the FAAST 2020 Annual Report

Primary questions

  • How can FAAST raise public awareness of organizations and its programs, benefits, service areas, and successes?
  • How can FAAST expand its capacity to reach all Floridians while maintaining a quality and equitable level of service?
  • How can FAAST address structural and operational weaknesses to improve governance, streamline operations, and pursue innovation?

Statistics

  • FAAST device loans, demonstrations, and reutilization activities saved Floridians an estimated $1.54 million

Screen Readers

A screen reader is a software program that converts digital information into braille or speech for people who are blind, deafblind, or have low vision so they can understand the content.

My Goals

  • Gather resources
  • Explain what are screen readers
  • Explain who uses screen readers
  • Explain why we should test with screen readers
  • Explain which screen readers we should test with
  • Explain what considerations we should be aware of for screen readers

Overview

The screen reader is the software interface that the person uses in order to receive the content or information contained within the computer operating system and its applications.

Types of Users

  • People who are blind
  • People who are DeafBlind
  • People who have low vision
  • People who have reading disabilities
  • People who have cognitive or learning disabilities
  • People who need eyes-free or hands-free environments

Output Types

Screen readers generally output the content into two formats.

  • Audio
    • Useful to people who are able to hear
  • Braille
    • Useful to people who are DeafBlind
    • Useful to people who are unable to hear

How Do Screen Readers Work?

Screen readers are designed to work with the operating system’s accessibility API which conveys information about the names, roles, values, and structure of the web content along with events.

Combinations

Not all screen readers work well with different applications.

  • Firefox and NVDA
  • Chrome and NVDA
  • Edge and NVDA
  • Chrome and JAWS
  • Edge and JAWS
  • VoiceOver with Safari (iOS)
  • TalkBack with Chrome (Android)

Accessibility Considerations

When designing and developing for screen readers, one should be able to take into consideration the following:

  • The difference between the visual and structural order of the content presented to screen readers
  • How WAI-ARIA role attributes and semantic elements work to create a page structure
  • How to use screen reader lists of different objects to find important information on the screen
  • How to naviage with a keyboard using a screen reader
  • How to enter information in a form

Why Test with Screen Readers?

Real people need screen reader access.

The results will vary when testing with different browsers, screen readers, and operating systems.  Automated tools are not capable of checking for all accessibility issues especially the following:

  • Elements must receive focus (links, data input or buttons)
  • The location of focus is visualized on web page for sighted keyboard users
  • The functions of components (menu, sub-menu, accordion, tabpanel, carousel, etc…) can be browsed or performed correctly

Additional Resources

Mark McGuire