Have you heard of the W3C, Tim Berners-Lee, WAI or Web Content Accessibility Guidelines? No! not to worry.

Heres the skinny…

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) develops interoperable technologies (specifications, guidelines, software, and tools) to lead the Web to its full potential.

Tim Berners-Lee is the Director of the W3C and inventor of the World Wide Web.

The Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) works with organizations around the world to develop strategies, guidelines, and resources to help make the Web accessible to people with disabilities.

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) developed by the WAI are guidelines widely regarded as the international standard for Web accessibility. They are also referred to as best practice guidelines

Over the years Segala has conducted many many independent audits of Web sites for accessibility compliance. This means we have manually checked if a Web site passes or fails the WCAG check points. Companies have engaged Segala to ensure their Web sites are compliant on the fear that they maybe excluding some users from accessing information within their Web site.

Below is a list of common issues found during some of those accessibility audits:

• Images have inappropriate alternative text
• Page sections don’t have their own headings
• Headings are incorrectly nested (H2 should follow H1, H3 should follow H2 etc)
• Link text does not make sense when read of out context
• A Focus state is not provided for links
• Form labels are missing or incorrectly positioned
• On-page items are incorrectly marked up in HTML
• Skip to main content link not provided
• Decorative elements are marked up in HTML code

To any developer well versed in the world of accessibility these issues are easy to over come. If the world of accessibility is new, you can sit down with a very large cup of coffee and try digest all the WCAG documents and working examples. It is possible and I would advise reading them and when finished read them again and again. After that take one guideline and apply it to your own Web site, baby steps.

Over the next few posts I’ll cover each bullet point above in more detail. Its very easy to pick up a bad habit, all I’m asking is that you develope the habit of considering accessibility when building a Web site.

I’m not going to quote guideline check point after check point. Instead I’m going to cover what is considered best practice and how people implement them in the real world.

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The article is a great promotion piece for accessibility, we have received a few enquiries today just because of it. Thanks Marie.

I have pasted the full article below but you can always read it on the Irish Independent Web site.

If someone told you that your shop or business property was so badly designed that 10pc of your customers had great difficulty finding your products or services, would you consider a better layout or just watch them leave in frustration?

Nowadays, your website is just as much a port of call for the average customer as your physical premises. If you have not considered accessibility as part of its design, then you are excluding the 8.3pc of the Irish population with a disability of some kind, be it physical, visual or cognitive.

Simply put, this amounts to an estimated €3.3bn in spending power that is out of your reach.

The spending power of the 10 million-plus disabled community in the UK was estimated to have been worth £50bn sterling in 2005.

Having a website that is accessibility compliant is not only about opening up your business to those with disabilities, it can also add value to your business, says Paul Walsh, founder and CEO of Segala.

Segala helps website owners understand the commercial benefits of adopting accessibility best practices.

One website that uses the services of Segala is O2.com, which was completely re-designed to comply with accessibility guidelines laid out by the Worldwide Web Consortium (W3C), an organisation under the directorship of founder of the web, Tim Berners-Lee.

The benefits are undeniable, says Walsh. When O2 decided to change the colour scheme of part of its site, because it had adhered to W3C standards, this involved changing one simple piece of code in what could otherwise have been an arduous task.

Because many companies are not fully accessibility compliant, Walsh says they tend to shy away completely, fearing an entire tearing down and rebuilding of their website.

“You don’t have to change your entire website overnight. It’s about making ongoing changes, letting the user know you are aware of accessibility and doing something about it.”

The major problem is the misconception surrounding accessibility. Many believe it will be exorbitantly expensive to build this into their site, while others assume it will render their website ugly or leave it with less functionality.

Some businesses are even afraid it will affect revenue by discouraging banner or Flash advertising, and this is simply not the case, says Brendan Spillane, co-founder of Dublin-based accessible design firm Ilikecake.net.

“Irish businesses and government organisations are doing better than they used to.

“With any government tenders placed on the eTenders website, it is very rare to see one that does not specify accessibility and to the correct level, which is more important,” says Spillane.

Vivienne Trulock, co-founder of Ilikecake.net, carried out research on the level of accessibility among Irish websites and tested 152 different websites — all tested three years previously — to check their progress.

“There is an improvement in the level of knowledge that guidelines for accessibility exist, but not the same amount of improvement in the actual level of change,” says Spillane.

It is also interesting to note that structuring a website to work with the navigation software used by the visually impaired or blind makes that site easier to be listed and found on Google, Walsh says.

“Somebody once said that Google is the web’s most important blind man. If we make content accessible to people with disabilities, whereby a complete text alternative is made available in the background, then the search engine can read it and rank it accordingly.”

Spillane says his own firm’s website is proof of the pudding because it comes up as No 1 in its category when searched for on Google.

The internet should be the perfect enabler for those with disabilities, says Walsh. “When a blind person enters a supermarket for the first time, they have no way of knowing what kind of chocolate biscuits, for example, are on the shelf.

“But when they enter a website for the first time, there is the opportunity to have this information at their fingertips.”

© Silicon Republic Ltd 2008

All content copyright 2008, Silicon Republic Ltd — all rights reserved

Email: editorial@siliconrepublic.com

© Silicon Republic Ltd 2008

- Marie Boran

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Dear WAI Interest Group Participants,

We are interested in collecting experiences, stories, and perspectives
on people with disabilities using the Web via mobile devices. For
example: What are use cases of accessing the Web via a mobile device
that are particularly useful for a person with a disability? What are
unique issues accessing the Web via mobile device (versus desktop or
laptop) for people with disabilities?

We are also interested in similar information about Web access via
mobile device by “seniors”, older users who may have Web accessibility
needs related to aging. Are there cases when accessing the Web via a
mobile device is particularly useful for older users, or they have
unique issues using the Web via a mobile device?

Please note that we are limiting the scope of this query to *specific
accessibility issues using the Web*, and *not* more general hardware
issues, non-Web functionality, etc.

You can send your feedback to me, the WAI interest list or you can send them
to wai@w3.org.

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The first draft of the application design was only intended to support Web accessibility (WCAG) but we decided to keep going simply from the reaction of folks we told about the application. The result is you will be able to label Web sites to make claims about compliance to WCAG, MobileOk and Section 508.

It does not stop there. The application can also create content labels for Web Sites that use a Creative Commons license and we’ll be adding more standards and codes of conduct as they come down stream.

I spent the day on the phone to our partners, touching base to say Hi and that they can expect and update shortly. If I haven’t called you yet, don’t worry, I will. Feel free to get in touch anytime.

I was delighted to hear partners still being so positive towards Accessibility. We all know the many reason and benefits of why a Web site should be accessible and comply with Web Standards. We need to push it so that brand/product owners also understand those benefits.

We will be sending out an update very soon.

We currently have more than 50 partners across at least 10 countries and looking to scale this when we raise funding. To find out more about the programme and sign up to the Accessibility Partner Programme visit here.

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Google’s dominance in online search hasn’t stopped hundreds of startups from trying to build a better mousetrap. Each is trying a new twist on search: geography, crowdsourcing, tags, user annotations, learned hierarchies and timelines. With $20 billion spent on online advertising every year, a killer search application can make a lot of money.

But will new types of search catch on? A recent study of the Google Generation, conducted by University College London, found that “users make very little use of advanced search facilities, assuming that search engines ‘understand’ their queries.” Many of today’s Internet users still don’t know how to use a search engine, preferring instead to type a domain name into the search box (which is why Yahoo is a top search on Google and vice-versa.) The reverse, known as type-in traffic, involves typing a search topic into the address bar to find results.

Alistair Croll‘s opinion

If the flurry of search startups can tie into the social graph of Google, Facebook and others without biting the hands that feed them, then they have a chance of succeeding. But if they’re betting their business on changing the way people search, they have a lot of work ahead of them.

I totally agree with Alistair. We don’t need more search engines. What we need is for the current search engines to do all they can to enable more relevance and trust. Battling against Google is mad to say the least. This is why Segala has been working on Content Labels for the past two and a half years. This blog is attracting new readers all the time so I won’t assume you know what I’m talking about. So, I’ve published below, an old post which explains what Content Labels are, how they work and importantly, why I think they will see mass adoption within the next 24 months.

How to enable current search engines provide more trust

Before I explain how Content Labels enable more reliable and relevant search results, I will first use an analogy to help explain in plain English, what a Content Label is. This will help you to visualise yourself making use of a label, whether you are an end user, developer, Web site owner, search provider, browser vendor or trustmark provider.

Think of Content Labels on the back of food packaging

Jackie goes to the supermarket to buy the weekly shopping. Amongst other things, her shopping list includes a tin of baked beans. Most of the time, Jackie is happy to buy Heinz without hesitation.

Adrian goes to the supermarket with a similar shopping list. He however, has dietary requirements to consider. Adrian likes to check the Content Label on the back of the beans tin (irrespective of how much he trusts the brand) to ensure he’s happy with the contents before making a purchase.

Joanna is pregnant and although she should be taking it easy, decides to do the weekly shopping. She’s aware that eating any form of cream cheese is dangerous for the unborn. To ensure she doesn’t endanger her baby’s health, she checks the Content Labels on items that may contain cream cheese before making her purchasing decisions.

The moral of the story

People have different needs, some will only buy products that are low in fat, low in calories, high in protein or have some other dietary consideration.

Some brands will do more than provide a Content Label to promote the contents of their products. Brands such as Weight Watchers, for example, will promote specific aspects of their labels as a unique selling point to differentiate them from competitors. This allows buyers to look specifically for Weight Watchers without searching for any other brand to make a purchase, even though other brands may be trusted. Other brands are simply not ‘relevant’ (at this time).

So, there are numerous reasons why people check the Content Label on food packaging. The main point to highlight is that we are all different, with different needs and preferences when searching for and buying products.

If it wasn’t for the Content Labels on the back of food packaging, we would end up having to search and buy lots of products in order to taste and discover the ones that meet our dietary requirements. Some people may even die if they eat something they’re allergic to (such a nuts) – this may seem like an exaggeration, but the analogy does apply to the Web – consider a user who buys medication online.

If you’re the type of person that doesn’t care to read Content Labels on packaging, at least keep in mind that a lot of people do.

The problem today

The only information search engines provide today is the title and description of each Web site, nothing more. How do you know which Web sites are trustworthy?

A range of trustmark (visual badges) schemes exist around the world. In each case, a Web site is awarded the right to display a seal of approval or trustmark following a review by an independent authority or internal assessor. Trustmarks normally hyperlink to a certificate page provided by the labeling scheme provider to authenticate its claims.

However, trustmarks are invisible to search engines which limit their value. A user must already be on a Web site before they know it meets a labeling provider’s claims. Moreover, the logo is often displayed on just a single page and therefore invisible to visitors who are viewing other pages on the site.

The solution

Taking the food analogy to the Web, wouldn’t it be beneficial if Web site owners could provide more information about their content before users hit their site? In other words, allowing users to read specific information about the suitability of their content from search results. Well, this is now possible using Web Content Labels.

• It’s now possible for site owners to provide more information about their content from search results.
• It’s now possible for search engines to provide more reliable and relevant search results.
• It’s now possible for users to read Content Labels and make informed decisions about the suitability of content before entering Web sites.

Content Labels are files used to classify content in the form of metadata. The information contained within a Content Label is not generally found on the Web site, unless it’s in the form or a Trustmark. Content Labels not only contain information about the content, they also contain information such as the company name, asserter, creation date and expiration date.

The type of information contained in a Content Label very much depends on what the site owner wants to make claims about. It’s important to note that Content Labels have a very specific use. They’re used to make assertions about conformance to industry standards and codes of conduct. They’re not used to make assertions that are ambiguous. Although it’s debatable that most standards and codes of conduct are open to interpretation.

In concept, Content Labels act in a similar fashion to SSL Certificates. SSL Certificates are used so browsers can tell if a site is secure for credit card transactions. However, Content Labels are much more flexible. They can be used to make claims about a specific URI without the restriction of having to make a claim about an entire domain.

Content Labels are a lower cost solution than SSL Certificates as sold by companies such as VeriSign and GeoTrust. Oh wait, VeriSign bought GeoTrust which was their biggest competitor, so that provides them with a monopoly using proprietary technology. This is something we intend to disrupt!

We’re also helping to build other elements of the ecosystem. We have instigation the creation of ContentLabel.org. Contentlabel.org facilitates the creation and harmonization of new codes of conduct for which Segala will create new Content Labels. The idea is for any organisation or association worldwide to create a code of conduct and then have it reviewed in an open forum, formalised, endorsed and promoted.

It’s also possible for organisations and associations that already have a code of conduct (even if they have a trustmark) to have it recognised by industry and promoted to encourage mass adoption.

We intend to start with a new code of conduct for blogs as it appears to go down well with the bloggers we’ve spoken to. Anyone can participate so get in touch if you would like to get involved.

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I stated recently that I wasn’t go to Chair or speak at conferences this year as I had my fill of them last year. I’ve already had to decline 2 kind offers to Chair very good conferences. So I’m being very picky about the events I attend this year. If I’m to Chair or speak, it must be directly related to Segala’s business, be beneficial to the community (i.e. it’s no more than £40 to attend and not the typical £750+), or be in a sunny location Don’t get me wrong, I love to be asked. I just don’t have the time these days.

The Irish Web Technology Conference is my first speaking slot of the year.

What I’m going to talk about

I’m going to deliver a presentation on how Content Labels (AKA POWDER) will enable more trust on the Web. I’ll have with me, a tin of Heinze Baked Beans to help me demonstrate how Content Labels help consumers make better informed decisions about the suitability of products before making a purchase.

Sound interesting? Well, why not come along. As with every conference, you’re likely to get most value by hanging out in the hallway chatting to others and with around 500 delegates expected, you’re likely to meet some very interesting people. I might give away a prize as a means of keeping everyone awake. I’ve done this before and it seems to work well.

Oh by the way, all of this Content Labels malarkey is based on the Semantic Web. Don’t tell anyone though as they might assume it’s academic, boring or a nice concept.

About the conference

WHY?

This event’s aim is to showcase the sheer brilliance of the Irish Web Industry. It’s a four day, 10 track, 50 session web extravaganza.

WHAT?

The inaugural IWTC 2008 organised by IrishDev.com in association with the Dublin Java User Group and First Port Jobs, is the first of seven major technology conference in our Series 2008.

IWTC 2008 is an event by the Irish Java community for the Irish Java community and will bring many experts and internationally renowned speakers together to discuss latest trends and emerging technologies.

With almost 50 expert technology sessions to choose from, covering a breadth of Web technologies, this is yet another tech conference you can’t afford to miss!

When?

Begins Tuesday 26th February, Ends Friday 29th.

Where?

Cineworld Complex Parnell Street, Dublin 1

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The W3C has just published a first public working draft of a Relationship between Mobile Web Best Practices 1.0 and Web Content Accessibility Guidelines document. This document aims to bridge the gap between WCAG and the Mobile Web Best Practices by providing direct mappings between the guidelines. If you know what WCAG checkpoints your site conforms to, then this document will tell you what additional steps you need to take to also make it Mobile OK.

It’s a very useful document as it demonstrates just how little effort is actually required to make your website Mobile OK.

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The main goal of HTML 5.0 is to make it easier for developers to create dynamic content and it introduces a load of new elements to enable this.

A final release of HTML 5.0 is still a long way off but this working draft provides an insight into where HTML is heading and the future is looking bright.

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We’re changing the name of our Firefox extension and we’d like to solicit your help in return for the opportunity to feel good and win an iPod Touch at the same time.

The current working name is ‘Search Thresher’ which I’m sure you’ll agree, is too much of a mouthful.

In order for you to win, your nomination must be used in full. Even if we decide to use your nomination in part, you won’t win. This is mainly because we’ve already thought of lots of names using terms you’re likely to think of, but perhaps in a different combination. If you come up with a name that we’ve already thought of and we decide to go with it, then obviously you’ll win.

So, we need to ensure this little competition is transparent and in no way, open to interpretation. This is especially important because bloggers are a sceptical lot and I’m certain some of you already think that this is rigged in some way

How to enter

Either drop us a comment on this post, or write a blog post of your own. If you decide to write your own post, please ensure to use a trackback so we get to see it. That’s it.

Closing date

25th January 2008 – so get moving.

Some background to help you out

Today, search engines provide the title and description of Web sites in search results, with prominence given to the highest bidder, not the most relevant or most trusted. Wouldn’t it be useful to know, which Web sites conform to industry standards and best practices without having to visit each site to find out? Wouldn’t you sometimes like to know which Web sites are accessible, child friendly, mobile friendly, endorsed by a qualified medical authority, or follow best practices for privacy and copyright?

Millions of Web site owners already demonstrate their conformance and commitment to standards and best practices by displaying a Trustmark on their Web site. However, search engines don’t provide this valuable information in search results.

Consumers have come to expect content labels on the back of products in the supermarket, as they provide information about the suitability of their contents. Sometimes the labels are relevant and sometimes they’re not, but everyone at some point uses them. Some people use them all of the time.

Segala is helping to bring the same concept to the Web using a new method of classifying and labelling content. Funnily enough, the method is called Content Labels.

A Content Label is a file that contains Metadata on steroids. It’s this Metadata that search engines and browsers can now use to provide more meaningful information in search results.

So, now about the Firefox extension

Segala owns a Firefox extension that reads Content Labels and does exactly what I’ve explained above. The screen shot below should give you an idea for how it annotates Google to highlight Web sites that have a Content Label. In short, red x means there is no additional information. An amber tick means the Web site owner is making a claim about their own Web site. A green tick means a trusted third party has independently verified the Web site owner’s claim.

There’s plenty more that the extension can and will do as we launch monthly builds from next month, but that should be enough information to get you thinking about a new name.

The extension is being endorsed by the W3C and is one of four applications used by the W3C Semantic Web Education and Outreach Special (SWEO) Interest group, to help demonstrate a real implementation of the Semantic Web.

Hint

Here are some keywords to consider: Trust, Security, Reliable, Relevant, Suitable, Appropriate, Semantic Web, Better Discovery.

Keywords you should not consider: censorship and filter.

Ideally the name will contain one word and a maximum of two.

You can make as many suggestions as you like. So, get going and suggest some names now. Good luck and thanks for helping out

Check out the early-stage concept browser and have a play.

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Microsoft announced last week that Internet Explorer 8 passed the Acid2 test. This is a milestone because IE has never been supportive of standards in the past, forcing Web developers to create multiple versions of the same code to ensure their Web sites were compatible with as many browsers as possible. This is a serious issue today as many sites have been developed specifically for IE and therefore exclude approximately 12% of the market who use other browsers such as Firefox.

Personally I think the Acid2 test is a little light. But it does encourage browser vendors to make significant adjustments to at least support a baseline of common standards.

(I purposely kept this post separate to the post that asks Microsoft to dump PICS in favour of Content Labels to enable better search based on trust. If Microsoft adopts Content Labels, it won’t really matter what crap Google servers up in 2008.)

According to the IE blog, Microsoft is very keen to adopt more standards. However, I’m a little unsure what exactly this means. It doesn’t articulate a commitment to the W3C, let alone specific standards.

Out of the entire blog post, there’s one point I’d like to highlight as a concern. The quote I’d like to question is

Now, with all that context, I’m delighted to tell you that on Wednesday, December 12, Internet Explorer correctly rendered the Acid2 page in IE8 standards mode.

I’d be very happy if there was a full stop (period) after the word ‘IE8’. But there isn’t. What they’re saying is that IE passes the Acid2 test when in ‘standards mode’. What does this mean? Does it mean that IE8 fails the Acid 2 test when using the default settings? What does this mean for end users?

I’d like some clarity on this so please let me know if you have any more information.

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