The AccessWorld Technology Summit and Showcase was held on February 27, 2014, in Brooklyn, New York, as a special part of the American Foundation for the Blind Leadership Conference.
This all-day event, facilitated by Lee Huffman, AccessWorld and Technology Information Editor, discussed mobile communications, social networks, technology areas, and advancement in the work place. There were seven presentations from companies including Google, Yahoo! and Facebook.
Google: The Accessibility of Google Docs
Presenter: Shawn Laurait, Software Engineer, Google
Laurait used a speech-enabled laptop computer connected to a screen to demonstrate how to create and edit a Google Docs document. He showed navigating through the document and the accessibility of keyboard commands. He explained that when a Google Docs document is opened, information will automatically be spoken about the documents.
Lauriat explained that although some people are initially leery of using Google Docs, it is quite accessible and Google is working to enhance accessibility and documentation. He said that Google Docs works well with Firefox and the Non-Visual Desktop Access (NVDA) screen reader. On the Mac, he said that Google Chrome works better than Safari with Google Docs. On mobile devices, Google Docs works well with VoiceOver and iOS. He indicated that Google is working on Google Docs with BrailBack, an Android app for using a braille display.
IBM: Going Social and Mobile in the Enterprise
Presenters: Tom Babinszki, IBM Accessibility Advisor and Drew LaHart, Manager, CI 162 Consulting, and Accessibility Project Office IBM Human Ability and Accessibility Center
Babinski stated that for many years, IBM has made a special effort to hire individuals with disabilities by providing necessary training and accommodations. Each employee with a disability has a manager to provide assistance. Everything spoken between the employee and manager is kept confidential. If a person has skills, disability is not an issue.
IBM Connections, the world's largest social collaboration platform, was designed to be completely accessible. It allows employees to work together on their computers and devices. Connections is used internally at IBM and externally by many businesses. There are versions for iOS and Android in the iTunes App store and Google Play Store.
My Blind Spot Inc.: The Quest for QuickBooks: How a Small Nonprofit and a Corporate Giant Joined Forces for Greater Accessibility
Presenter: Albert Rizzi, Founder and CEO, My Blind Spot Inc.
Rizzi wanted to use QuickBooks for his business, but he found the software inaccessible. He contacted Intuit, the company that created QuickBooks. With its cooperation, Rizzi began the task of making QuickBooks accessible not only to people who are blind, but also to people who have print disabilities.
During the development of the accessible version, Rizzi was in constant communication with Intuit. They used beta testers who were visually impaired to insure accessibility. The 2014 version of QuickBooks is now accessible, a circumstance that can open accounting and bookkeeping jobs to people with visual impairments. Rizzi spoke about creating training tutorials and self-paced virtual lessons. He spoke about the importance of starting a dialogue and dispelling myths about accessibility.
Charmtech Labs, LLC: A Discussion and Demonstration of Capti Narrator
Presenter: Yevgen Borodin, PhD., Research Assistant Professor at Stony Brook University and President and CEO of Charmtech Labs LLC
Dr. Borodin began his presentation with this definition of universal access: "technology [that] is useable and accessible to the maximum extent possible, by everyone regardless of their age, ability, or circumstance." He explained that most technology is not developed with universal access from the start and that accessibility is often an afterthought. Dr. Borodin spoke about website accessibility, pointing out that screen readers cannot read graphics and that some web designers label graphics with Alt tags that are not related to the graphic. He explained that forms are not always accessible and that when a person with a visual impairment submits a form an error message might appear, but the person wouldn't be able to find the error.
The next inaccessibility problem he spoke about was how to deal with a CAPTCHA. Even audio CAPTCHAs are usually extremely difficult, if not impossible, to understand. He explained that sighted people don't listen to the web.
During the second half of the presentation, Dr. Borodin demonstrated Capti Narrator, a universally accessible, cross-platform application with a built-in screen reader. Capti Narrator is accessible right out of the box. It lets people listen to web content and documents through a playlist interface. Capti Narrator makes it easier to find and read articles on cluttered web pages.
Capti Narrator was designed for anyone who wants to listen to web content, documents, audio books, etc., regardless of their visual acuity. Capti Narrator lets the user perform other tasks while listing to content.
Yahoo!: Yahoo!'s Accessibility Progress
Presenter: Mike Shebanek, Yahoo! Senior Director of Accessibility
Yahoo! is one of the most popular websites, receiving millions of hits per day. Yahoo!'s accessibility team plays a big part in the development of products for the company. The team conducts training sessions and evaluations with designers and developers to ensure that accessibility guidelines are both understood and followed.
Shebanek described a training session where staff had to simulate being blind and walk around the building. They took turns guiding each other. Staff members learned a great deal about navigating without vision. Shebanek said, "It was really cool to watch and experience their change in perception and their capabilities."
Shebanek said that Yahoo! is making an effort to do more with mobile apps and demonstrated the free and completely accessible Yahoo! Fantasy Sports app. Accessibility is being built into the apps as they are being developed. He added that every designer has received accessibility training and has learned to use VoiceOver (for iOS devices) and TalkBack (for Android devices.) Developer response has been extremely positive. Shebanek said, "That sense of understanding and capabilities when people are given the right tools is unbelievable because now nothing is out of reach."
The accessibility team at Yahoo will be expanding. In addition, outside companies can come to Yahoo! to learn about accessibility and use the technology to make their products accessible. Shebanek said, "It's not just for us to figure out. It's for us to share how we're figuring it out, and share those problems, issues and solutions. We'll learn from them as they learn from us."
Visus Technologies Inc.: VelaSense
Presenter: Stephen J. McCormack, Ph.D., Chairman and CEO
Dr. McCormack provided a demonstration of an emerging product called VelaSense, an application that works on the Android operating system. It will be for sale shortly.
Dr. McCormack had VelaSense read the selection menu. There were many options including e-mail, alarms, contacts, calendar, Facebook, Twitter, weather, a bar code scanner, Google searches, news and much more. News articles were presented as links, without any additional clutter. This app will also have facial and object recognition capabilities.
VelaSense runs on Android 4.2 or later, and it is being positioned to be available as a download from your wireless carrier. It is its own separate screen reader, so TalkBack should be turned off when you use VelaSense. The developers have made it easy to switch between the two screen readers. Dr. McCormick said, "The technology is just one aspect. The ability to have your own personalized database, your own personalized routes, and music, that's where everything's heading." He continued, "The intent here is to bring as much autonomy to the individual as possible."
Facebook: Accessibility Efforts at Facebook
Presenters: Jeff Wieland, Project Manager, Web Accessibility at Facebook, and Ramya Sethuraman, Engineering Lead, Web Accessibility at Facebook
Facebook's accessibility team was formed in 2012. Wieland explained that it was the function of his team to make all the different forms of Facebook accessible, such as facebook.com, m.facebook.com, Facebook for iOS, and Facebook for Android. He said, "We have 16 flavors of Facebook and we want to make sure that all these different flavors work really well with accessible technology and core accessibility." He indicated that their developers are very responsive. Wieland said, "There are a lot of people working on making their products accessible and writing accessible code. We really focus on writing tools for navigating documentation, things that will make them autonomous."
During the Facebook presentation, Sethuraman demonstrated how Facebook handled some accessibility issues. She explained that the Caption Generator looks at the location, tagging, date, and other data and generates a caption that can then be read by screen readers. Prior to this, if someone posted a photo but didn't enter a caption, a person who is blind would not have any idea what was in the photo. The Caption Generator is automatic if a description is not entered when the photo is uploaded.
Another accessibility improvement is the use of headings and landmarks, making it easier for screen reader users to jump directly to different locations on the page. Sethuraman demonstrated how to create an event on Facebook using just keyboard commands. She noted that there are keyboard shortcuts to navigate a Facebook page. Some shortcuts, however, conflict with some screen readers and they are working on the issue.
The accessibility team used both comments from users and accessible technology to see how Facebook worked. Developers were given both information and training on how to make their products more accessible.
Developers writing Facebook applications for iOS or Android automatically receive training before beginning work on their product. Built into every internal Facebook product page is a menu where developers can learn about accessibility and check that their product meets standards. Quality assurance staff members have received training about accessibility and how to use access technology. Wieland explained, "Partnering with these folks has been essential to us capturing more things that we can do better about accessibility, earlier in the development process." Sethuraman is the only one on Facebook's core accessibility team who writes accessible code. Wieland proudly added that due to internal accessibility efforts at Facebook, 79 support-level engineers are now writing and implementing accessible code into their individual projects, even though their projects do not fall under the umbrella of accessibility.
Wieland closed the presentation by speaking about the importance of having computer science students learn about accessibility while they're still in school. He talked about a young engineer who graduated from a very prestigious school, but had no idea what a screen reader is.
Sethuraman said that the team looks at all feedback and, "We will make things better."
Panasonic: A Presentation of Panasonic's Newly Improved 2014 Accessible Viera HDTVs and Bone Conduction Headphones
Presenter: Tony Jasionowski, Senior Group Manager Accessibility, Panasonic
Jasionowski gave a brief history of the Panasonic accessible TV. It was marketed in Japan in 2011, in England in 2012, in the U.S. in 2013, and is now in 20 countries. Twenty languages are available. The televisions have both voice recognition and text-to-speech capabilities.
Although the 2014 model isn't available yet, it will have facial recognition. If it recognizes your face, it will automatically put up your particular home screen. It will also recognize your voice.
Jasionowski described the Panasonic bone conduction headphones product this way: "It does not have a speaker so it conducts the sound through the skull." There will be both wireless Bluetooth and wired models that will be available at the same time as the TVs.
He said that the TVs are very accessible when hooked up to an antenna; when hooked up to a cable box or satellite, accessibility diminishes because you're using a third-party remote control rather than the one from the TV. The cable or satellite box controls the TV. He added that some of those companies are working to make their boxes more accessible.
Jasionowski is very dedicated to improving accessibility. He is on two Consumer Electronics Association committees. One is for improving access to video description and he chairs the other on standards for TV audio.
Conclusion
This was a very informative summit. It's clear that these presenters and the companies they represent are dedicated to improving accessibility for people who have visual impairments, and a great deal of progress is being made.
For more information, visit:
www.drive.google.com,
www.ibm.com/connections,
www.captivoice.com,
www.yahoo.com,
www.visustech.com,
www.VelaSense.com,
www.facebook.com/accessibility.
