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How disabled users access the Internet

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Subject:  How disabled users access the Internet
Author:   PaulAlburquerque:   view profile | all posts by this author | add to favourites
Date:   16:02:37 21 July 2005
 
Thanks for your insightful info.

It seems that theory and practice of standards in this area is a murky one particularly given the conflict of other applications vying for the same keys.

Can you explain your rationale for the differing approach between M&S and Allied Domecq? The former uses mostly numbers and the latter mostly characters for the same category of pages. is it much the case that users of the keys will initially consult the alt+0 page to familiarise themselves with the navigation. And given the scale of your client websites can you offer any insight into user testing of these sites in that respect?

Thinking about this much reminds me of frequent instances of poor design: The peculiar quirk that the number pad on a keyboard/calculator, starting at 1 on the left bottom of the pad layout, is routinely re-arranged for a cashpoint, where the pad starts with a 1 at the top left. It makes for hell if you are used to intuitively typing your PIN numbers on websites and then try to get cash out of the bank. It's like we intuively know that the top left of a screen will get us the homepage, then some designer tries to break convention with a radical new design. It must be frustrating for disabled people to grapple with poor design on a daily basis.

Re accessbility keys I'm still racking my head if their useage can be ascertained other than looking at the logs for page views of the alt+0 page alone. Maybe the webanalytics can identify through other means if the browser agent is a screen reader or assistive technology.

 
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  • How disabled users access the Internet, Trenton, 6 Sep 18:10
    In 1995 a new era of accessibility for disabled people began. The DDA (Disability Discrimination Act) was passed, stating that:“It’s unlawful for a service provider to discriminate ...
    • How disabled users access the Internet, fjordaan , 8 Sep 17:10
      A helpful overview, thanks. I just had a few additional comments: Internet users who have no sight at all may utilize a screen reader, which reads the content of the web page, o ...
      • How disabled users access the Internet, PaulAlburquerque, 21 Jul 14:50
        A client is interested in adding access keys to their website particularly given the relevance to their audience. I'm looking for best practice examples of their useage ...
        • How disabled users access the Internet, fjordaan , 21 Jul 15:05
          Access keys are a controversial subject, and many accessibility experts advise against using them at all. The reasons are best explained in this article (also see the related artic ...
          • How disabled users access the Internet, PaulAlburquerque, 21 Jul 16:02
            Thanks for your insightful info. It seems that theory and practice of standards in this area is a murky one particularly given the conflict of other applications vying for the s ...
            • How disabled users access the Internet, fjordaan , 21 Jul 16:24
              Since best practice on access keys is unclear, our approach has evolved over time (and sometimes also reflect the preferences of different designers.) Our most recent implementatio ...
              • How disabled users access the Internet, PaulAlburquerque, 21 Jul 16:39
                It would be interesting to hear from other industry agencies, particularly those publishing multilingual websites. This is where I favour the number route rather than the character ...
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