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Re: Bringing accessibility into the development process(request for feedback).

for

From: tedd
Date: Apr 16, 2007 3:20PM

At 1:13 PM -0700 4/16/07, Tim Harshbarger wrote:
>Peter,
>
>Yes, there can be some value in automated testing. Your example of the
>alt attribute and the label element are good ones. Automated testing
>could verify for the existence of an alt attribute and the correct use
>of a label element. It may not be able to discern if the alt attribute
>contains a good description or if the label is attached to the correct
>control, but you may be able to extend your tool to provide feedback to
>the developer that allows them to verify if it is the case.
>
>One thing I have learned from someone who used automated tools
>extensively is that over time, a developer will start using the tool
>less frequently. At least in that specific case, the developer reached
>a point where she knew what she was supposed to do and no longer needed
>the tool to tell her. In that way, the tool seemed to serve as a
>temporary teaching aid.
>
>Some other ways of better integrating accessibility into the development
>process might be to include more accessibility decisions in the design
>phase and to employ more reusable components in the user interface.
>
>For example, all the alternative text descriptions could be written
>during the design phase. Also, design is the best place to make
>decisions on how the task will flow and what keystrokes users will need
>to use to perform tasks.
>
>Additionally, creating accessible reusable UI components and UI patterns
>may assist your efforts, since you would basically address the
>accessibility issues for that component once and then deploying it
>multiple times.
>
>Tim

Tim:

Five bingo's in row -- way to go. :-)

Cheers,

tedd
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