[LINK] Fwd: vip-l: Article: The Impending Collision Of Accessibility and Rich Internet Applications

[Jan Whitaker]

given recent discussions of Web2.0:

>The Impending Collision Of Accessibility and Rich Internet
>Applications
>
>By Rob Garner
>
>Over the last six months I have written about two trends in the Web
>design world that will have an enormous impact on the future of natural
>search:
>accessibility and rich Internet applications (RIA).  On one side of
>the discussion, the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) is pressing
>corporations in the state courts on the issue of designing accessible,
>text-based Web sites for the visually impaired who use screen readers
>such as JAWS.  On the other side, cutting-edge Web developers and
>user-experience gurus are designing rich Internet applications for
>better user experience in a Web 2.0 world -- applications that also
>expand the boundaries of being search- and accessibility- unfriendly.
>
>The tipping point in the debate on dichotomous design approaches will
>not occur in the context of designing search-friendly Web sites; it
>will occur in the impending corporate discussion of Web accessibility,
>and whether or not corporations will build accessible Web sites in
>place of, or in addition to, existing rich applications utilizing Flash,
>DHTML or Ajax.
>
>In the Feb. 27 Forrester Research report entitled, "Prepare To Be
>Challenged On Web Accessibility Compliance,"
>
>LINK:
>http://www.forrester.com/Research/Document/Excerpt/0,7211,41644,00.htm
>l
>
>analyst Michael Rasmussen discussed the increasing momentum of the Web
>accessibility movement as it relates to recent court activity by the NFB.
>His assessment centers on legal issues, the complexity of the Web,
>lack of accessibility awareness and lack of ownership in
>organizations.  The report also points out a few of the benefits of
>designing for accessibility, including being a socially responsible
>corporate citizen, reaching untapped markets, and also capturing the
>riches of natural search optimization.
>
>In early February, the NFB continued to pursue its Web accessibility
>mission in the state courts by filing a case against the State of
>Texas for using inaccessible Oracle software that effectively makes
>content invisible to screen readers.
>
>LINK:
>http://www.nfb.org/nfb/NewsBot.asp?MODE=VIEW&ID=140
>
>The NFB is also pursuing a case against Target in California, which
>claims that the Target.com site is inaccessible to visually impaired
>persons.
>
>The irony is that while Web accessibility is just beginning to appear
>on the radar screen of corporate America, current mega-trends in
>enterprise Web design are as far away from meeting accessibility
>standards as they could possibly be.  To get an idea of the priority
>of RIA in the Web development world right now, consider this roster of
>sessions that represents the rich theme of the upcoming Thunderlizard
>Web conference in San Francisco:
>
>LINK:
>http://www.ftponline.com/conferences/thunderlizard/
>
>- Ajax Frameworks & Design Patterns Survey
>
>- Yahoo! vs. Yahoo! Case Studies of Three Mainstream, Large-Scale
>Ajax/DHTML Implementations
>- Keynote: The Dawning of the Age of Experience
>
>- Making Web 2.0 Usable: An Ajax Case Study
>
>So what does this mean for marketers?  It means that the RIA and
>Accessibility showdown is coming soon to a server near you, and the
>way you approach online Web development will have a potentially
>serious impact in other areas of your company that have a stake in the
>accessibility issue.
>
>Even if your company doesn't already have some sort of rich presence,
>it is quite possible that the next redesign will.  But will it be
>search- and screen-reader friendly?
>
>Designing for search-friendliness makes inroads into accessibility
>
>Designing for search will provide many answers for accessibility.  A
>no-risk, naturally optimized site is fundamentally accessible, though
>there are still many other special considerations for compliance.  If
>you are designing a rich interface, it would be wise to start thinking
>now about how to make it accessible and search-friendly.  Here are a
>few
>considerations:
>
>Find out if any rich applications are currently being developed by
>your organization or respective digital agency.
>
>If rich site applications are being developed, find out what is being
>done to make the application search and screen-reader friendly. If you
>are currently in the development process, it may be painful to address
>search and accessibility, but it will be even more painful if your
>site cannot be made accessible after launch.  Plan upfront, and avoid
>trying to retrofit a search and accessible design solution at all costs.
>
>If nothing is being done for accessibility or search, mobilize your
>developers, designers, search specialists, and accessibility
>specialists to assess and determine the best solution.This will likely
>involve the creation of an entire second site for search engines and
>screen-readers.
>If rich applications are a part of your future, get used to the dea of
>maintaining two sites.  Don't fret - there are solutions for being
>both accessible and rich, and your experts will help determine the
>best solution for your site.
>
>Rob Garner is a senior strategic planner for interactive marketing and
>search agency iCrossing. He is president-elect of the Dallas/Fort
>Worth Search Engine Marketing Association, and also serves on the
>board of the Dallas/Fort Worth Interactive Marketing Association.
>
>
>http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.showAr
>ticleHomePage&art_aid=57094

Jan Whitaker
JLWhitaker Associates, Melbourne Victoria
jwhit at janwhitaker.com
business: http://www.janwhitaker.com
personal: http://www.janwhitaker.com/personal/
commentary: http://janwhitaker.com/jansblog/

'Seed planting is often the most important step. Without the seed, 
there is no plant.' - JW, April 2005
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