As was noted in last week’s interview with Judy Brewer, the Web Accessibility Initiative has been making significant changes to WCAG 2.0. An updated draft of WCAG 2.0 has just been published and is open for review and comment. Many people were critical of the previous draft published over a year ago. I believe this update addresses many of the concerns that were brought at that time and since. It’s certainly not yet perfect, so I encourage everyone that is passionate about web accessibility to take some time and review these documents and submit comments if you see problems. If you don’t, at least do us all the favor of not complaining about the guidelines when they are published. Comments are due by 29 June 2007.
I’ve become an RSS junkie. I’m amazed by the power that blogging and RSS feeds have brought to the accessibility field. I have Google Reader chock full of accessibility blogs and feeds. I have learned so much in the last year or so due to the vast contributions of the accessibility bloggers I have stumbled upon. I’m sure there are many more out there that I have yet to discover.
Here are the best of the accessibility blogs that I’m currently subscribed to (not to mention our own blog). The RSS icons link directly to the RSS feed (RSS 2.0 when multiple options are available). If you’d like to subscribe to all of these feeds in your RSS reader (I recommend Google Reader), you can download an OPML file containing all of these feeds. Your feed reader should import the OPML file and subscribe you en masse.
If you can get past their very broken RSS feed which repeats entries every few days, then you’ll find great, peer-reviewed articles here on a range of topics.
As a blind information technology professional, Darrell Shandrow actively blogs “about the blind and our quest for the greatest possible access to all the information available.”
Fellow ATFer Bruce Lawson’s blog offers a mix of very interesting humor (you’ve been warned), personal experiences, and in-depth accessibility info. Bruce knows his stuff and if you disagree, you may regret it.
If you don’t know of Joe, then you probably don’t really know accessibility. Joe blogs on a wide variety of topics - his favorites range from typography to lambasting the W3C to the accessibility of everything from web sites to train subway-station signage. The RSS feed above is for his accessibility-related posts only.
Gez Lemon’s personal site. Gez provides some of the most influential research and writing in the accessibility field, particularly on the technical aspects of accessibility and assistive technologies
Patrick H. Lauke is one of the more vocal and active accessibiliters you’ll find. He’s active on about every accessibility project and mailing list there is, yet still finds time to work as web editor for the University of Salford.
WaSP is perhaps the most influential group of standards advocates on the planet. The Accessibility Task Force of WaSP is comprised of the brightest minds in web accessibility. The news feed represents just a small portion of the work that goes on behind the scenes at WaSP.
Web Axe is a podcast and blog featuring practical web design accessibility tips. There are currently 47 podcasts available for download and every one of them provides useful accessibility information. Dennis Lembree’s site provides loads of useful information and interviews with the who’s who of web accessibility.
Other fantastic accessibility blogs and news aggregators
Sandy, besides being a Coldfusion (my first real web scripting language) wonder woman, also blogs extensively on accessibility and other standards related topics.
Besides running Black Widow Web Design, her design firm that focuses on standards compliant accessible site design, Mel Pedley is a prolific blogger on many accessibility topics.
Natalie Jost’s blog topics include color schemes, her strong Christian faith, photography, and site design. In a field where stuffiness prevails, Natalie’s writings and design work are refreshing and inspiring.
The tagline of “standards, accessibility and ranting (and general stuff) by the web chemist” pretty well sums up what you’ll find on Jack Pickard’s blog.
Matt Bailey is, by trade, an expert in the field of search engine and website marketing, thus making his insights into accessibility all the more relevant to today’s web.
What have I missed?
If you write or are familiar with an accessibility-related blog that’s not listed above, please post the URL in a comment below.
Over the last several weeks, I had the great opportunity to interview Judy Brewer from the W3C about what is currently happening with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0. Because of the involvement of others on the Accessibility Task Force at the Web Standards Project, I decided to have the interview published there.
There has been much discussion and controversy surrounding WCAG 2.0 over the several years it has been in development. Conducting this interview helped me understand more about the W3C guideline development process and helped allay many of my concerns about the future of these guidelines. The W3C is doing much to make the standards better and to address the concerns that the development community has raised. While more needs to be done and we all need to become more involved in WCAG, I am rather optimistic at what these standards will bring.
And a big “Thank You” to Judy Brewer for taking the significant time to answer my questions.
May 17, 2007
