Here’s a new video that promotes web accessibility by striking at the core of some myths about it. It’s got a beat you can dance or code to, and best of all, it’s from the Government of Australia.
Search
Categories
Loading ...-
Recent Posts
Welcome to Inclusive Technologies
We’re all about accessible and usable products — products that work better for everyone because they’re easy to use.
- Industry: Trying to meet accessibility regulations without sacrificing your design flexibility or marketing strategy?
- Public sector: Trying to find accessible products for your employees and the public?
- Consumers: Trying to locate information about products that will work for you, with and without assistive technology?
- Employers and technology managers: Trying to find technologies that will work for all of your users without sacrificing economy and productivity?
Inclusive Technologies provides free and paid consulting services to companies, public agencies, consumers, researchers, purchasers, and policy makers on how products can better meet the needs of all users, including users with disabilities and elders.
We’ve been involved in accessible and usable technologies for more than 30 years. Our principal, Jim Tobias, has worked at Bell Labs and Bellcore, schools, rehab centers, and independent living centers. He co-Chaired the Access Board Advisory Committee for Section 508 and 255. Other staff skills include clinical evaluation, hardware and software development, user testing, and legal/regulatory analysis.
Our clients and partners include AOL, the California Secretary of State’s Office, the California State University system, the Center for Accessible Technology, Cisco Systems, HP, IBM, Microsoft, National Science Foundation, Panasonic, Raising the Floor, and Verizon. Contact us to learn how we can work together.
Health Care Kiosks Popping Up Everywhere?
HealthSpot is preparing to offer large, enclosed health care kiosks in public locations so people can access their records, their physicians, and other medical services from anywhere. What a great idea! These virtual clinics could be in pharmacies, airports, college campuses, rural libraries, even in developing countries. We’re hoping that enough attention is being paid to usability and accessibility in the design, as this product sits in a market and policy hotspot — there’s lots of attention right now on making both kiosks and health IT as inclusive as possible.
AFB Publishes Another Worthwhile Study of “Consumer Vs. Technology”
The American Foundation for the Blind’s (AFB) AccessWorld has published the results of a new study on barriers encountered by people who are blind or have low vision when they use everyday household and electronic devices. The results include an all-too-familiar list: no speech output, no physical landmarks, and unreadable printed and electronic text. AFB wonders if touchscreens and small displays are actually making these products less accessible, and it’s hard to argue against that.
AFB surveyed 2 groups of people: a random sample of American households, screened for vision loss; and a sample of people who had previous contact with AFB. Read the article to see the interesting ways in which these 2 groups differed in demographics and in technology use.
The Cost of Hearing Loss
Not a rigorous economic analysis, but a powerful consumer statement about hearing loss, technology, and what it takes to keep communication functioning. Another reminder that technology is only part of the picture — it’s those human beings who cause all the trouble!
Posted in It's not about the technology
Leave a comment
ESPN Explains Captioning
Here’s an example of how to approach accessibility: with enthusiasm and professionalism. This ESPN video of how they do captioning takes a regulatory requirement and makes it part of the everyday excitement of producing live video content for a huge, demanding audience.