Metadatos sobre accesibilidad

En la página Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (pero supongo que ocurrirá también en otras páginas de esta editorial) he encontrado algo muy interesante:

Parece que hace uso de Schema.org para indicar las características de accesibilidad. En concreto, las propiedades de CreativeWork:

ccessMode	Text	The human sensory perceptual system or cognitive faculty through which a person may process or perceive information. Expected values include: auditory, tactile, textual, visual, colorDependent, chartOnVisual, chemOnVisual, diagramOnVisual, mathOnVisual, musicOnVisual, textOnVisual.
accessModeSufficient	ItemList	A list of single or combined accessModes that are sufficient to understand all the intellectual content of a resource. Expected values include: auditory, tactile, textual, visual.
accessibilityAPI	Text	Indicates that the resource is compatible with the referenced accessibility API (WebSchemas wiki lists possible values).
accessibilityControl	Text	Identifies input methods that are sufficient to fully control the described resource (WebSchemas wiki lists possible values).
accessibilityFeature	Text	Content features of the resource, such as accessible media, alternatives and supported enhancements for accessibility (WebSchemas wiki lists possible values).
accessibilityHazard	Text	A characteristic of the described resource that is physiologically dangerous to some users. Related to WCAG 2.0 guideline 2.3 (WebSchemas wiki lists possible values).
accessibilitySummary	Text	A human-readable summary of specific accessibility features or deficiencies, consistent with the other accessibility metadata but expressing subtleties such as "short descriptions are present but long descriptions will be needed for non-visual users" or "short descriptions are present and no long descriptions are needed."

Podemos encontrar más información sobre esto en WebSchemas/Accessibility del W3C.

Deque University

La consultora de accesibilidad web Deque ofrece Deque University, un servicio de enseñanza de la accesibilidad web. Entre sus cursos aparece:

• Fundamentals:
• Accessibility Fundamentals: Disabilities, Guidelines, and Laws
• Designing an Accessible User Experience
• Basic Web and Document Accessibility for Content Contributors
• Section 508: Fundamentals of the Law and Technical Standards
• IAAP CPACC (Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies) Exam Preparation:
• IAAP CPACC Certification Preparation Course
• Web Accessibility:
• Semantic Structure and Navigation
• Images, SVG, and Canvas
• Visual Design and Colors
• Responsive Design and Zoom
• Multimedia, Animations, and Motion
• Device-Independent User Input Methods
• Form Labels, Instructions, and Validation
• Dynamic Updates, AJAX, Single Page Apps
• Custom JavaScript/ARIA Widgets
• Web Accessibility Testing: Screen Readers
• Web Accessibility Testing: Basic Methods and Tools
• Web Accessibility Testing: WCAG Conformance Testing, Detailed Methodology
• Document Accessibility:
• Basic Web and Document Accessibility for Content Contributors
• MS Word Accessibility
• MS PowerPoint Accessibility
• MS Excel Accessibility
• InDesign Accessibility
• PDF Accessibility
• EPUB Accessibility
• Accessibility Management:
• Accessibility Program Management
• Native Mobile App Accessibility:
• iOS Mobile App Accessibility
• Android Mobile App Accessibility

Sobre el uso correcto de figure y figcaption

En How do you figure? se explica el uso correcto de las etiquetas figure y figcaption:

A figcaption is not a substitute for alt text
Regarding images used within figures, one of the biggest misunderstandings of using a figcaption is that it’s used in place of image alternative text. Such a practice is outlined in HTML 5.2 as being a last ditch effort to convey meaningful information, but only when images are published without an author being able to provide appropriate alt text.
From the guidance of HTML 5.2:
Such cases are to be kept to an absolute minimum. If there is even the slightest possibility of the author having the ability to provide real alternative text, then it would not be acceptable to omit the alt attribute.
A figcaption is meant to provide a caption or summary to a figure, relating it back to the document the figure is contained within, or conveying additional information that may not be directly apparent from reviewing the figure itself.
If an image is given an empty alt, then the figcaption is in effect describing nothing. And that doesn’t make much sense, does it?

Y el artículo realiza un análisis del soporte de estas dos etiquetas por parte de varios lectores de pantalla.

Accessibility Conformance Testing (ACT)

Accessibility Conformance Testing (ACT) Rules Format 1.0 es un nuevo estándar del W3C que tiene como objetivo:

ACT Rules Format defines a format for writing accessibility test rules. These rules can then be shared, compared, and implemented by developers of automated testing tools and manual testing methodologies. This contributes to a common set of rules and harmonized interpretation of Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). More info is in the ACT Overview at https://www.w3.org/WAI/standards-guidelines/act/

W3C groups are providing vetted testing rules that follow the ACT Rules Format.

• Rules that are formally published by W3C WAI are listed in the Overview page: https://www.w3.org/WAI/standards-guidelines/act/#act-rules-repository
• Suggested rules in development by the ACT Rules Community Group are listed at: https://act-rules.github.io/rules/

Análisis del selector de fechas

En Collecting dates in an accessible way se ofrece un análisis exhaustivo de cuál es la mejor forma de seleccionar una fecha en una página web:

Currently, providing a usable and accessible method for collecting dates in forms is fraught with difficulty. Due to the lack of consistent and accessible support for input type=”date”, and the difficulty of finding date-pickers that are accessible to keyboard users and screen reader users, is it safest to just go back to using text boxes and dropdowns?
I believe you must include the include the ability for the user to enter a date using a text box or dropdowns – for keyboard-only users and screen reader users this is still the best and easiest option.
However, as we’ve seen, many people like date-pickers, including people with some disabilities, so if you wish to present a calendar-style date-picker:

• never force people to use it, but instead have it as an option triggered by a button, and

• hide the date-picker from screen reader users.

Día Internacional de las Personas con Discapacidad

Ayer, 3 de diciembre, se celebró el Día Internacional de las Personas con Discapacidad.

Para celebrarlo, el W3C anunció la apertura de su curso Introduction to Web Accessibility, ofrecido en la plataforma edX. El contenido del curso es:

This course is based on the open curricula from the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI).
Module 1: What is Web Accessibility (2 sections)

• Introduces the broad scope of digital accessibility through real stories of people with disabilities
• Examples of how accessibility impacts the lives of interacting in the digital world

Module 2: People and Digital Technology (5 sections)

• Explores how people with different disabilities use various assistive technologies and adaptive strategies
• Introduces accessibility barriers and accessibility solutions
• Explores how design decisions impact interactions
• Explains the essential components of web accessibility

Module 3: Business Case and Benefits (2 sections)

• Presents direct and indirect return of investment and the organizational business case
• Explains the broader benefits for everyone, with or without disability

Module 4: Principles, Standards, and Checks (5 sections)

• Covers international accessibility standards from W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)
• Explains the guiding principles of web accessibility: Percievable, Operable, Understandable, and Robust (POUR)
• Guides through first steps in checking accessibility and applications

Module 5: Getting Started with Accessibility (2 sections)

• Explains approaches for integrating accessibility into your design and development processes
• Provides tips to get started with accessibility right away

Accesibilidad de las imágenes en textos digitales (LS)

Se ofrecen recomendaciones para asegurar la accesibilidad de las imágenes en los textos digitales.

Los captchas y la accesibilidad

Una breve explicación en I'm Not A Robot:

CAPTCHA stands for Completely Automated Public Turing Test to tell Computers and Humans apart and it’s a way to filter out bots and fraudulent automated activity from the behaviour of real people. It's an umbrella term describing several different techniques presented to the user to determine if they are human. A CAPTCHA challenge could be a random collection of letters and numbers, text obscured with background noise, puzzle challenges or audio challenges asking the user to enter the letters and numbers heard with a lot of background static noise. All of these are termed CAPTCHA as they're asking the user to demonstrate they're human and not an automated computer program. 

The theory is humans are very good at being able to identify distorted text, numbers and audio but not a computer program. A computer program i.e. bot can't reliably identify displayed text or audio and so it's a very effective way to stop bot activity affecting your website. 

The problem is CAPTCHA in its many incarnations causes significant challenges for people with disabilities. Asking a user to decipher distorted text may mean vision-impaired people will be unable to complete it. Presenting an audio challenge may mean people with a hearing impairment will have difficulty, reorientating a visual 3D puzzle may affect users with mobility and cognitive impairments and disabilities are rarely isolated, users may have a range of disabilities. 

If your security check is relying on some kind of user input to determine the "humanness" of the person at the other end, it is ultimately doomed to failure.

Accesibilidad de los textos digitales. Parte II (LS)

Definición del contenido tipo texto
La importancia de etiquetar el idioma
Incluir un glosario
Hacer tablas y listas accesibles
El tipo de fuente, su tamaño, el contraste con el fondo y la alineación del texto.         
No utilizar imágenes para transmitir texto
Cómo incluir texto matemático

Canal de vídeo Accessibility Talks

Accessibility Talks es un excelente canal de vídeos en YouTube dedicado a la accesibilidad. Tiene diferentes listas de reproducción donde se clasifican los vídeos para principiantes, desarrolladores y paneles de discusión.

Un vídeo organizado por capítulos

Un vídeo organizado por capítulos ayuda a navegar por su contenido, lo cual ayuda a mejorar la usabilidad para todos los usuarios y también su accesibilidad.

En Adding Chapters to a Video se explica cómo se puede lograr con un reproductor de vídeos llamado Brightcove Player. Los capítulos se especifican mediante un fichero WebVTT, así que es posible que sea compatible con los reproductores nativos de los navegadores... hay que probarlo.

En YouTube se puede lograr una navegación por capítulos indicando el instante de tiempo en la descripción del vídeo. Desafortunadamente, no es muy usable, ya que muchas veces aparecen ocultos los enlaces y los usuarios no son conscientes de ello.

Y aquí un ejemplo de uno de mis vídeos en YouTube que hace uso de esta técnica:


Los enlaces a los capítulos aparecen en la descripción del vídeo.

Accesibilidad de los textos digitales. Parte I (LS)

Definición del contenido tipo texto La importancia de etiquetar el idioma Incluir un glosario Hacer tablas y listas accesibles El tipo de fuente, su tamaño, el contraste con el fondo y la alineación del texto. No utilizar imágenes para transmitir texto Cómo incluir texto matemático.

Vídeo con múltiples pistas de audio

Ofrecer un vídeo con múltiples pistas de audio es una forma de mejorar la accesibilidad de un vídeo. Por ejemplo, una pista puede tener solo lo que se habla, lo que se conoce como "clean audio". Y otra pista puede tener una audiodescripción.

En las siguientes páginas se ofrecen ejemplos de vídeos con varias pistas de audio:

• Multiple Audio Tracks
• Display multi language and audio options available with the Bitmovin player

International Association of Accessibility Professionals (IAAP)

International Association of Accessibility Professionals (IAAP)  es una asociación internacional que tiene como misión:

to define, promote and improve the accessibility profession globally through networking, education and certification in order to enable the creation of accessible products, content and services.

Tiene un apartado dedicado a webinars muy interesante.

Productos de apoyo para todos

Productos de apoyo y tecnologías de la información y las telecomunicaciones - Estamos rodeados de tecnologías y de productos de apoyo, que hacen nuestra vida más cómoda y segura.




 En el siguiente enlace puedes descargarte el fichero con la transcripción del vídeo "Productos de apoyo para todos" del que anteriormente te invitábamos a fijarte en sus subtítulos y audiodescripción. Este fichero en formato pdf es un ejemplo de transcripción de vídeo.

El texto de la transcripción equivale a la unión del texto de los subtítulos y de la audiodescripción. Leyendo ese archivo tenemos una información equivalente a la que tenemos si vemos y oímos el vídeo.

¿Dónde está BLITAB?

BLITAB fue anunciada hace unos años como la primera tableta para las personas ciegas:

• Blitab es el tablet perfecto para personas ciegas, ahora solo falta que llegue al mercado
• BLITAB, el iPad para invidentes de Kristina Tsvetanova

En abril de 2019, volvió a aparecer en el blog "El futuro es apasionante" del periódico El País y patrocinado por Vodafone: Tabletas con tinta inteligente para traducir webs al braille.

¿Dónde está la tableta? En el canal de la empresa en YouTube, el último vídeo se publicó hace más de 2 años:


¿Existe la tableta o fue todo un "bluf"?

En Blitab, la tableta braille más económica se puede leer un excelente análisis sobre este invento que puede aclarar lo que ha pasado con él.

Sin embargo, lo que es más increíble, es que la página tenga un enlace a una versión accesible del sitio web, lo cual va en contra de todas las pautas de accesibilidad, y dirija a una página web en la que pone lo siguiente:

Coming soon
We are  currently  improving  our website

Cómo crear vídeos accesibles

En Checklist for creating accesible videos se explica cómo crear vídeos accesibles:

1. CREATE ACCESSIBLE VIDEO CONTENT
2. CHOOSE A CURRENT VIDEO FORMAT FOR THE WEB
3. CHOOSE AN ACCESSIBLE VIDEO PLAYER
4. ADD CAPTIONS TO YOUR VIDEO
5. ADD A TRANSCRIPT TO YOUR VIDEO
6. INCLUDE AUDIO DESCRIPTION IF NEEDED

Y como resumen:

An accessible video usually includes captions; a transcript; and careful use of color, text, and flashes or animation. A video should also be delivered in an accessible format with an accessible media player, and may include additional audio description when the default audio track isn't sufficient.

Accessibility in JavaScript Applications

Accessibility in JavaScript Applications es un curso sobre:

We can produce innovative and inclusive JavaScript-powered web apps! This course will teach you to remove barriers to access that might prevent people with disabilities from using a modern JavaScript web application. We’ll study accessibility in UI components, primarily with React and Gatsby.js, but with knowledge applicable to all JavaScript-heavy web stacks. Debug your sites for accessibility, manage keyboard focus, announce live updates to the page to screen readers, and use manual and automated testing to gain web accessibility superpowers!

This course and others like it are available as part of our Frontend Masters video subscription.

Accesibilidad audiovisual: subtítulos (LS)

Se presenta el concepto de los subtítulos, sus principales características, beneficios y recomendaciones para que sean accesibles.

Accesibilidad en la Unión Europea

En Accessibility: Essential for Some, Useful for All se resumen los avances en materia de accesibilidad que ha impulsado la Unión Europea:

Promoting digital inclusion, the European Union has taken measures in a variety of areas including electronic communications, digital public services, audio-visual media services, ebooks, eCommerce and ICT equipment:

1. The Web Accessibility Directive establishes common accessibility requirements enabling everyone to read, understand, and complete administrative procedures on public sector websites and mobile applications.
2. The European Electronic Communications Code ensures that everyone has access to affordable electronic communications services, including emergency services.
3. The recently revised Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD) covers the means to achieve accessibility such as with sign language, subtitling for the deaf and hard of hearing and audio descriptions for both television broadcasting (i.e. linear services) and video on demand (VOD).
4. The eIDAS Regulation (on electronic identification and trust services for electronic transactions in the internal market) requires that trust services provided and end-user products be accessible for persons with disabilities, such as with eSignatures which aid in signing legal documents and email in a paperless manner.
5. The Marrakesh Directive and Regulation (2017) aim to facilitate the access to print works, including e-books, in formats adapted for persons who are blind, visually impaired or those who have difficulties reading.
6. Whilst complementing the above legislative measures, the European Accessibility Act, sets common accessibility requirements including a number of key ICT products and services.common accessibility requirements including a number of key ICT products and services.