Unic has been concerned with accessible websites for a long time, and was significantly involved in the Accessibility Checklist 2.0 recently published by the “Zugang für alle” foundation and presented at the third Accessibility Update.
The “Accessibility Update” series of lectures presents the latest trends, developments and projects aimed at making it easier for people with disabilities to access information and communication technologies.
The third event organised by the specialist group on accessibility from the Schweizer Informatik Gesellschaft SI (Swiss Informatics Society) with half-hourly presentations at the ETH Zurich kicked off with an extra-special welcome:
Stanko Pavlica, who is himself deaf, welcomed the audience using only sign language, thereby demonstrating the barriers faced by disabled persons. The introduction was then spoken simultaneously by an interpreter, who in turn also interpreted all of the presentations into sign language.
In the first lecture, Alexander Seifert presented the latest study by Pro Senectute and OFCOM entitled “Information and communication technologies in old age”. This study highlights the reasons for (not) using information and communication technologies by those aged 65 and over in Switzerland.
The second lecture was on the subject of “Accessible education – accessible university education for all”. Martin Dorigo, a disabled ZHAW employee, presented its current project for the integration of persons with disabilities. Through this project, the university has already been able to break down some barriers, for example, by providing tools that automatically convert documents into an accessible form. This was followed by a live demonstration of one of these tools.
Kerstin Probiesch, a former employee of BIK and now working for Zugang für alle (Access for all), showed the audience how accessible and useful social networks such as Delicious, Twitter and YouTube are in her lecture, “Accessibility in Web 2.0 – old barriers in a new look”. Whereas most users perceive the developments in these platforms as positive, the conclusion with regard to accessibility was alarming: almost all of these social media sites are difficult or almost impossible for persons with a disability to access.
After a short break, Sven Jenzer and Markus Riesch from Zugang für alle presented a “world premiere” (direct quote from Markus Riesch), the PDF Accessibility Checker just published that morning and the Checklist for WCAG 2.0, and their development. Unic was involved in developing the checklist and contributed a wealth of experience of implementing accessible websites.
To round it all off, Wolfgang Lehmann, co-founder of Alea Technologies GmbH, presented his extremely interesting lecture “Controlling a PC with the head or eyes – aids for persons with motor disabilities” – a demonstration of communication channels for severely disabled persons with an introduction to the software and hardware used.
After the presentations, the audience had an opportunity to exchange ideas and network over an aperitif.
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