TW Blog :: Entries for Accessibility

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Brainbench Games Winner

This post does not relate to any other topics

With recent distractions from the Severn bore (and the usual run of work) out of the way, I finally got round to following up on the recent Brainbench games results to discover that I scored highest in Web Design for Accessibility, winning a years subscription to all online tests and practice tools. I have never been too convinced by how much weight is put on the results of these online tests, but they do provide a nice way to progress my personal development, and I will certainly be making use of the practice tests to help further my knowledge of the web developers arsenal.

Posted on Apr 13, 2005 at 22:37:13. [Comments for Brainbench Games Winner- 0]

Latest WCAG Working Drafts

Also relates to Web Standards

The latest batch of WCAG working drafts were made public yesterday:

Posted on Nov 20, 2004 at 20:04:55. [Comments for Latest WCAG Working Drafts- 0]

Extending Firefox Search Plugins

Also relates to Firefox and Co

What makes Firefox so great is the unlimited scope for customisation. Take the Firefox search plugin - a great utility for stockpiling search engines from MyCroft. But it doesn't have to just be a search tool, for plugin files can easily be composed to extend the functionality to your requirements. As an example, placing the following snippet in a src file in the searchplugins directory below Firefox's installation route will give quick access to Jens Meiert's User Interface Test Resources.


<search
    name="UI Tests"
    description="UI Accessibility and Validity Site Tests"
    action="http://uitest.com/en/check/results/"
    method="GET">
<input name="url" user>
</search>

Now a domain can be entered in the search box to generate UITR's comprehensive set of links to the major validation sites. If the site to be tested is already being viewed a Conquery could be used instead to avoid entering the URL string:


<search
  name="UI Tests"
  description="UI Accessibility and Validity Site Tests"
  action="http://uitest.com/en/check/results/"
  method="GET">
<input name="url" value="[:url]" label="Enter URL">
</search>

This should be placed in a cqr file in the searchplugins directory.

Posted on Nov 13, 2004 at 14:54:54. [Comments for Extending Firefox Search Plugins- 0]

Device-Independent Tool Tips

Also relates to CSS Design and DOM Scripting

I have updated the Accessible DHTML Tool Tips experiment to handle both mouse events and keyboard events. It is not perfect, but the use of unobtrusive Javascript and device-independent event handling is a step in the right direction.

Posted on Nov 05, 2004 at 22:19:54. [Comments for Device-Independent Tool Tips- 0]

Web Based Applications

Also relates to PHP and DOM Scripting

Over on WASP Chris Kaminski talks about the future of the web as a platform for developing and deploying applications. In the wake of Javascript's XmlHttpRequest this has become a very popular topic for discussion. The ability to call data from the server via client-side scripting without the need to reload the whole page is an exciting prospect and already some excellent utilities are emerging. Bitflux led the way with Live Search which is under further development over at Colly Logic. Meanwhile, Harry Fuecks, in follow up to his Crouching Javascript, Hidden PHP series, has established the SourceForge project ScriptServer - a complete set of tools for connecting PHP and Javascript together. Although proprietary in detail, Jonathan Zufi applies the M$ implementation of XmlHttpRequest to form validation with VBScript and ASP. On a much grander scale, Gmail and A9 both offer fine examples of web based applications powered by considerable Javascript.

Personally, I am excited by the new opportunities provided by a web based platform and it is nice to see client side scripting appearing in the spotlight again. The communication between client-side and server-side scripts is providing plenty of potential for increased usability and enhanced UI. However, there is one critical concern with any application that puts major emphasis on client side scripting - accessibility. Fortunately A9 still functions with scripts disabled, however GMail currently displays that gratuitous javascript is required message! Done right the enhancements provided by XmlHttpRequest and other DHTML tools can improve the usability of an application without reducing its accessibility. But a dependance on scripting could see a drastic demise to former times and a blank screen served upto 20% of the web!

Posted on Oct 03, 2004 at 01:48:18. [Comments for Web Based Applications- 0]