Thought-provoking posts on Accessibility

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There have been several really thought-provoking posts about accessibility made over the last week or so, and while I'm marshalling my thoughts (and the several thousand words I've written in response) into something coherent, I thought it'd be worth linking to them. Accessibility to the Face from Northtemple

Here’s my point–if your brother or sister had a disability, you would give a crap. But you don’t have to have a sibling in a wheelchair to genuinely care, even if it’s only in your work.

Empathy is what separates us from the rest of the animal kingdom. We have an ability to imagine things the way that others see them and how it makes them feel. We don’t even have to have a disability ourselves.

And from my perspective, accessibility is about giving a crap.

Accessibility is NOT a checklist.

Accessibility is about usability.

Accessibility is a paradigm shift.

Accessibility is a personal issue.

If you read none of the other links in this post, read this.

Commentary on Sign Language and Accessibility from The Deaf Perspective

Quid pro quo. The loose translation for the Latin expression is “you give me something, I give you something.” We give the world accessibility to our community, our language, and our unique perspective. In return, everybody understands more why accessibility is so important for everybody.

When is the Right Time for Accessibility from Derek's Box of Chocolates

Is it possible to include accessibility support “too early?” I’m not saying it should be an add-on at the end of the process/project/product development cycle, but I’m very seriously wondering what the optimal time for integrating an actual accessibility implementation is? Is it enough to keep accessibility architecture in mind from the beginning, but not implement right away? Should we get the basics right first, and then build in accessibility support based on that previously envisioned architecture after we know we have a viable product? We continue to say that accessibility should happen throughout rather than just at the end, but would it actually be better if we left it out, just for a little while, at the beginning?

Is Web Accessibility a Human Rights Issue? by Wendy Chisholm

It’s important for us to recognize each other’s concerns. On the one hand we have technologists who want to create things to help make the world better–help people communicate more richly and quickly, to create technologies for self-expression and commerce. Rock on. We want you to innovate because you’re changing the world. On the other hand we have people who want to use the technologies and to participate in society. When the technologists say, “Don’t make me think about accessibility, I want to be innovative.” The response from people with disabilities can be hostile because the message from the technologists is, “I do not value you enough to include you in my innovation.”

These women

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A few of the women who've inspired me, in honour of Ada Lovelace Day.

Heather Champ

Even before I started blogging, I read Heather's blog. I did then, and still (to some extent) do, want to be her when I grow up. I've been inspired for many years by her design skills and photography, and couldn't help but be something of a dork when I finally met her in person at SXSWi 2007, and then again at the Yahoo Open Hack day.

Donna Smillie

Donna started off as my boss, but became a dear friend and mentor, and without her support and encouragement, I probably wouldn't be where I am today.

From writing data analysis programs in the 1970s she took a somewhat circuitous route on her way to RNIB, where she started the Web Accessibility Consultancy and created the See it Right standard for web accessibility, which has more than stood the test of time. See it Right remains a practical and achievable standard and has been used by many organisations across the UK and internationally to make the web better for people with disabilities. She cares deeply about the needs of people with disabilities, but has always had the ability to take the wider view and identify solutions that meet the needs of businesses too.

Bim Egan

Bim and I applied for the same job (that of Web Accessibility Consultant) and thanks to some forward thinking by my manager at the time, we both got it. She is a fantastic example of ability over disability. She has a wonderful way with words and I've learned a huge amount from her over the years.

I have no doubt that she will continue to rock the accessibility world and lead the See it Right standard on to greater heights.

Lynn Holdsworth

You probably haven't heard of Lynn, but her talent as a web developer, willingness to find a solution and determination to get the job done have been an inspiration to me. She is another fantastic example of ability over disability. I'm honestly not sure I could listen to JavaScript through a screen reader day after day after day.

Glenda Sims

Glenda is one of the most positive people I've ever met. Her enthusiasm is infectious, whatever the subject she happens to be talking about. I can't imagine anyone failing to be inspired and enthused after spending just a few minutes listening to her talk, especially about accessibility.

I've learned so much from these and many other women over the years. I could continue writing for much longer, but there's other things I have to do with my day.

In such a male dominated environment, I can't help but feel that it's a good thing that I can think of so many women who are excellent role models. I count myself very lucky to have had the opportunity to learn from them, and even luckier to count some of them as my friends.

Battlestar Galactica

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I'm a big nerd. A really big nerd. I'm nerdy in many, many ways, and one of those ways is Sci Fi. I think it might be something I got from my dad (who, against my mother's wishes, let me watch Dr Who when I was 3 years old). My introduction to the web was actually mostly through Sci Fi (although back then it was the Sci Fi/Fantasy Media Forum on Compuserve, specifically the Star Wars section), before I caught the Babylon 5 bug.

The B5 bug was a serious one, and it got so bad I even went to a convention (and the internet is so fantastic that not only are there still convention reports from people I was there with hanging around, but there's also an entire Wolf 359 photo set on flickr).

But B5 ended, and the bug faded, and other things took over - most notably West Wing, which I love with a passion beyond reason, and have rewatched in its entirety several times - but I still needed some good hard Sci Fi satisfaction (which sounds a lot dirtier written down than it did in my head).

Then along came Battlestar Galactica and blew my mind. I remember watching the Mini Series on Sky One, and then watching the repeat. I still deeply appreciate the gift of the Season 1 and Mini Series DVDs, at a time in my life when things were really shitty. I've held on through ups and downs through this show (and my life) and I'm both sad that its ending and eagerly waiting to see how it ends.

After more than two years of protesting that he didn't like the shaky camera work, I finally persuaded the HFBB to give it another try, and apparently, a 42" telly makes all the difference, and he loves it. We've been gulping it down in multi-episode chunks, seemingly unable to stop mid-disc, and have caught up to the last few episodes of Season 3.

I wanted to wait to watch the second half of Season 4 with him for the first time, but I just couldn't. With the advent of twitter, it's almost impossible to stay spoiler free, and I'd rather re-watch it with him and try not to give the game away than be spoiled myself.

I'm just about to watch Episode 19 of Season 4, and the final episode is shown tomorrow night in the US, and Tuesday in the UK, so in case I'm too depressed by the end and forget to say it out loud...

Farewell BSG. It's been frakking awesome.

TIFI: 18 March 2009

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  • Fifty People, One Question. Great concept, beautifully shot videos and a gorgeous site to boot. Love these. My favourite is probably the London one (above). The answer given by the guy seen in the still is a heartbreaker.
  • Crush + Lovely. The people who did the Fifty People, One Question website. Stunningly gorgeous site. Very inspirational.
  • The Big Picture. I love this site and wish I'd been at the SXSW panel. It's my favourite example of accidental accessibility, and I really should write more about why (note to self).
  • Authonomy. Books and block printed lettering. Heaven.
  • Sexy Web Design by Elliot Jay Stocks. From what I've read so far, this is a great book. I downloaded the sample chapters, then had to buy the book. It's gone straight to the top of the reading pile.
  • UI Pattern Factory. Great resource (via the Sexy Web Design book).
  • Elliot's Inspiration Collection.
  • Chris Messina's Design Pattern Collection.
  • Talking about Design on Huffduffer. Great collection of audio files tagged with Design. I would totally Huffduff stuff if I ever found any audio files while browsing around the web.
  • Unofficial Landmark Trust Search Page. Matthew Somerville does it again. I'll definitely be using this to book my next Landmark holiday (and there will definitely be a next, and a one after that, and so on - staying in a Landmark is just the most amazing experience).
  • André Da Loba. I particularly love the shoes in the middle of the maze.

Goals for 2009

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…because having goals is important, writing them down makes them real and writing them down in public means they're really real.

  • get Equal Web site up and running;
  • get pixeldiva blog up and running again;
  • relaunch The Shoe Project;
  • write more (in places other than Twitter);
  • write more about accessibility and design;
  • do more design;
  • make more of the design work I do public, rather than deciding it's shit and deleting it before anyone else sees it;
  • finishing fixing the Adana Press and do more printing;
  • take a photo a day for 365 days;
  • do more portrait photography (and to that end, If you're in London and don't mind someone pointing a camera at you in exchange for some prints, please get in touch);
  • do more exercise;
  • drink more water;
  • pay more attention to skincare;
  • get out more;
  • find (or re-write) that sock pattern from a while back and donate it to the p/hop project;
  • be purple, fluffy and awesome.

TIFI: 16 March 2009

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Glorious

TIFI: 12-15 March 2009

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Things I found interesting between the 12th and 15th of March 2009.

Very Berry Smoothie Muesli

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Very Berry Smoothie Muesli The HFBB requested "something different, but healthy" for breakfast today. He gets a bit spoiled during the week. Living in a hotel has its upsides, and one of them has to be the fabulous cooked breakfast he gets, but after nine months, even that gets a little old (not to mention a wee shade troubling for the old cholesterol).

We quite often have smoked salmon and either scrambled or poached eggs (now that I've got the technique down) at the weekend, but even that can get samey, so I thought I'd try something entirely different today. After rather too long wandering around Sainsbury's, I came up with the idea of a bowl of Very Berry Smoothie Muesli. Using fat-free yoghurt it's low fat, moderate GL and counts towards this 5 a day malarkey they keep going on about. Even better, it tastes good too. Result!

Ingredients

  1. Some berries (I used a Sainsbury's berry mix pack, which had strawberries, blackberries and blueberries)
  2. Some fat-free yoghurt (I used Yeo Valley Organic Fat-free Vanilla, correctly figuring it might be a little sweeter than natural yoghurt)
  3. Some muesli (You can make your own if you like that sort of thing. I couldn't be arsed, so spent 20 minutes in the muesli aisle trying to pick the best compromise between interest, taste and health factors and went with Dorset Cereals Fantastically Fruity Roasted & Toasted Muesli)

Equipment needed

  1. Blender
  2. Spoon
  3. Ramekin
  4. Bowl
  5. Glass

Method

Berries in a blender

Coulis in the blender

Prepare your berries (wash them, dry them, and take the stalks off the strawberries) and then throw them into your blender. Give them a good whizz until you have a berry coulis.

Berry coulis in a ramekin

Bowl, muesli and yoghurt

Set aside some of your berry coulis in a ramekin or whatever you have to hand, and get out your muesli and yoghurt.

Muesli in a bowl

Admire the really lovely packaging of the museli for a minute, before opening it carefully and putting some muesli in the bowl.

Make sure the museli stays fresh by raking round the kitchen until you find one of those bag seal clippy things and putting it on the bag. Redo clip and bag a few times so you don't ruin the aesthetics of the packaging.

Smoothie in blender

Open the yoghurt.

Bonus points if you manage to do this without getting a little splurt of prematurely ejaculated yoghurt on the worktop.

Turn the coulis into a smoothie by pouring some yoghurt into the blender and blending it all together. I used about half the yoghurt (250ml).

Smoothie, muesli and coulis mixed together

Pour some of your smoothie over the muesli, and mix it together with a spoon. Adjust the dry/wet ratio to suit your own taste by adding less smoothie or more cereal, depending on whether you went a little heavy handed with the smoothie pouring first time out.

Find the ramekin with the coulis in it, and pour some of the coulis over the top, to try and appear a bit posh.

Eat, and feel virtuous.

Coulis and smoothie in a glass

Pour any leftover smoothie into a glass, and pour any leftover coulis in the middle of it. This can then be put into the fridge to give you a bit of an energy boost later in the day.

One pack of berries and half a pot of yoghurt is enough for two bowls of very berry smoothie muesli, or one bowl, and an IKEA glass full of smoothie for later.

TIFI: 11 March 2009

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Spring Blossom

  • Spring has arrived in my wee corner of SE22, and very welcome it is too.
  • Natalie Downe's slides on practical, maintainable CSS. I wish I'd been able to be there for the actual presentation.
  • The Fluid Grid system. I remain unconvinced that fluid is the way to go for all sites, but for those where it is appropriate, this could come in really handy.
  • Designers are not programmers.
  • Need a napkin? I know I do.
  • Birds on a wire. Beautiful.
  • Hampus Jageland. He's got some great stuff in his portfolio. I particularly like the branding work for Reading is Fundamental. It's modern and minimalist, but it's got a kind of classic, Penguin-esque feel to it.
  • Yerba Mate tea. Haven't tried this before, but I spotted some in my favourite wee deli when I went out for a wander earlier and thought I'd give it a try. It's apparently some kind of miracle tea. So far, all I can say is that it's a bit of an acquired taste (and colour), but it's not unpleasant.
  • Spring 2009 Knitty is up!
  • The Yarn Harlot on brit TV. Stephanie (who is in Canada) spoke to Greg Kinnear (the actor) while he was on the Graham Norton show (in the UK). Confused? It's a long story, but a very funny one. The links are there for following.
  • Happy Cog are working on Redesigning Mozilla and doing the whole Design by Community thing. Hope it doesn't wind up looking more like a camel than a horse.