[CEUD-ICT] Accessibility of "complex documents" - what next?

[Sean Loughran]

Hi Barry,

I am working for Enable Ireland.  Users of our services have a primary physical disability and so it is more the lack of accessibility of the e-book devices themselves that cause the greatest problem.

These new mainstream portable devices usually have the no interface that would allow alternative controls to be used and so they exclude many individuals with a physical disability. 
  
In the past it may have been possible for hardware technology to be adapted such as providing an alternative large switch to activate the controls but nowadays tightly constructed circuits prevents even this.

To really progress the practice of accessibility of such "e-books" or "complex documents" I think the technology used to display this content should also be considered.

I am sure there are useful initiatives that could be undertaken in this area.  Hopefully you will include this for the meeting or workshop.

Regards,

Seán Loughran
Enable Ireland
National Assistive Technology Training Service
1 Grand Canal Quay,
Dublin 2

Phone: +353 1 6363606


-----Original Message-----
From: ceud-ict-bounces at list.universaldesign.ie [mailto:ceud-ict-bounces at list.universaldesign.ie] On Behalf Of Barry McMullin
Sent: 24 June 2010 10:23
To: Centre for Excellence in Universal Design ICT mailing list
Cc: Barry McMullin; cearbhall.omeadhra at blbc.ie; ronan.p.mcguirk at gmail.com
Subject: [CEUD-ICT] Accessibility of "complex documents" - what next?

Hi Folks -

I had an impromptu teleconference yesterday with Cearbhall
O'Meadhra and Ronan McGuirk, in which (among other things) we
again discussed the thorny question of accessibility of "complex
documents". We've broached this issue many times before on
this list, in various guises and contexts; for example:

Tools for conversion of Ms Word documents to HTML:
http://list.universaldesign.ie/pipermail/ceud-ict/2009/thread.html#1895

Single vs. Multi-page documents:
http://list.universaldesign.ie/pipermail/ceud-ict/2009/thread.html#1911

PDF accessibility:
http://list.universaldesign.ie/pipermail/ceud-ict/2009/thread.html#1938

While this has been rattling around for a long time, it is
perhaps coming into sharper, and more "mainstream", focus now with
the latest incarnations of the "e-book device" idea, in the shape
of the Amazon kindle, Apple iPad (yes, I know it is much more
than just an e-book device, but you get the idea) etc.

The question I am pondering is whether there are any useful
actions, projects or initiatives that we can undertake,
individually or collectively, to really progress the practice of
accessibility of such "e-books" or "complex documents"? In the
conversation with Cearbhall and Ronan I floated the idea of
convening some sort of meeting or workshop to consider this (in a
specifically Irish context): but the idea is actually still so
vague that I'm not sure whether such an event would be
productive, or whether there may not be other, much better,
things to do.

Anyway, I just wanted to put that initial thought out there, and
ask for opinions! Any comments or suggestions will be very welcome.

Best regards - Barry.

--
Barry McMullin,
Director, The Rince Research Institute (www.rince.ie):
   "Researching Innovative Engineering Technologies"
Dublin City University
   phone: +353-1-700-5432
   web: http://www.eeng.dcu.ie/~mcmullin/
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