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FW: Evaluation: Accessible Interface to YouTube

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From: Thomas Jolliffe
Date: May 5, 2009 11:45AM

Randi,

Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about you! Neither have I forgotten about
everyone else who has filled out my questionnaire and given me a huge amount
of useful feedback - I'll be sending out a message addressing the issues
you've all raised at some point, but as you may have guessed from the tone
of my original message I'm rather busy meeting a deadline :)

The project will most certainly not be abandoned, and I intend to implement
as much functionality as the YouTube APIs allow me to do in the fullness of
time. I'm glad it's improving the web experience for some of you - as I
said, this was as much a technical demonstration for my dissertation as a
long-term project, but the enthusiasm so many people seem to have for it has
spurred me on to continue it in the future.

Thanks once again, to everyone who's filled out the questionnaire, sent me
additional feedback, and forwarded my original message on to other mailing
lists. It's been a huge help, and the results are overwhelmingly positive.
Those of you have requested to see the document when finished, I will most
certainly honour your requests, though I may have to wait until after I
graduate (early July) to release it to the public. Either way, I'll post the
link here, on the site itself, and via email to those who have requested it.

Tom


From: <EMAIL REMOVED> on behalf of Randi
Sent: Mon 04/05/09 22:09
To: WebAIM Discussion List
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Evaluation: Accessible Interface to YouTube

Hi Diane,

Glad its working for you. I really like being able to control the
video, unlike the regular youtube. The only real issue I've run into
is the lack of a volume control. I had a video going last night and it
was so loud I couldn't hear my reader haha.

On 5/4/09, D Hubbard < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
> Thanks Randy, I'm not having issues now. I don't know what happened but
> when I went back to the site and did another search, I really liked it. I
> wasn't having much trouble with the site to begin with but this is so much
> better.
>
> I'll have to check out both the mobile Facebook and Myspace.
>
> Thanks again and I'm glad to be a part of this list as well.
>
> -Diane
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Randi" < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
> To: "WebAIM Discussion List" < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
> Sent: Monday, May 04, 2009 11:35 AM
> Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Evaluation: Accessible Interface to YouTube
>
>
>>I use the mobile Facebook on my computer and its much easier than the
>> regular one so maybe the same would hold for myspace.
>>
>> As far as the accessible youtube, I've used it alot now and its always
>> been fine, and I haven't downloaded anything. What issues are you
>> having with it? I think you need to have Flash installed, but if
>> you've biewed other media content, you probably have it. I'm just
>> wondering what issues you're having with the accessible youtube? I'm
>> not a Jaws user, I use Voiceover, but maybe we can figure it out.
>>
>> Welcome to the list!
>>
>> Randi
>>
>> On 5/3/09, John E. Brandt < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
>>> Yes, it is the portal for mobile phones, but you can access it with a
>>> regular browser.
>>>
>>> ~j
>>>
>>> John E. Brandt
>>> Web Design, Development, Consultation
>>> Augusta, Maine USA
>>> www.jebswebs.com
>>> <EMAIL REMOVED>
>>> 207-622-7937
>>>
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: <EMAIL REMOVED>
>>> [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On Behalf Of D Hubbard
>>> Sent: Sunday, May 03, 2009 8:56 PM
>>> To: WebAIM Discussion List
>>> Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Evaluation: Accessible Interface to YouTube
>>>
>>> Thanks John,
>>>
>>> By "mobile portal" do you mean via mobile phone?
>>>
>>> I don't usually have a problem with facebook. I haven't tried Twitter,
>>> maybe that's another thing to look into.
>>>
>>> If you ever go back on Myspace to check it out, please let me know.
>>>
>>> -Diane
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> From: "John E. Brandt" < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
>>> To: "'WebAIM Discussion List'" < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
>>> Sent: Sunday, May 03, 2009 8:32 PM
>>> Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Evaluation: Accessible Interface to YouTube
>>>
>>>
>>> I know of no accessible version of MySpace. There is a student project to
>>> develop an accessible Facebook and there is currently an Accessible
>>> Twitter.
>>>
>>> I have hear others suggest using the mobile portal for MySpace
>>> http://m.myspace.com/login.wap
>>>
>>> It's been a while since I have been on MySpace, but as I recall, the
>>> users
>>> can do a fair amount of customizing of their "Space" and as a result all
>>> bets are off trying to control that.
>>>
>>> ~j
>>>
>>> John E. Brandt
>>> Web Design, Development, Consultation
>>> Augusta, Maine USA
>>> www.jebswebs.com
>>> <EMAIL REMOVED>
>>> 207-622-7937
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: <EMAIL REMOVED>
>>> [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On Behalf Of D Hubbard
>>> Sent: Sunday, May 03, 2009 8:12 PM
>>> To: Hadi Rangin; WebAIM Discussion List
>>> Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Evaluation: Accessible Interface to YouTube
>>>
>>> Hello,
>>>
>>> I'm new to this list so excuse my ignorant questions. Regarding the
>>> accessible interface with youtube, is there something I should have
>>> downloaded to try because I was confused. I thought it would be pretty
>>> easy
>>>
>>> to use but perhaps I need to try a different search.
>>>
>>> On another topic but related, has anyone developed an interface to make
>>> Myspace more accessible? The owner surely doesn't seem too interested in
>>> changing anything.
>>>
>>> I'm having some issues and, if any JAWS user wishes to contact me off
>>> list,
>>> I'd really appreciate it.
>>>
>>> Address at end of message.
>>>
>>> Diane Hubbard
>>>
>>> E-mail: <EMAIL REMOVED>
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> From: "Hadi Rangin" < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
>>> To: "WebAIM Discussion List" < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
>>> Sent: Saturday, May 02, 2009 6:22 AM
>>> Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Evaluation: Accessible Interface to YouTube
>>>
>>>
>>>> Hi Tom,
>>>>
>>>> It is really a very useful project. Good job.
>>>> Here's a few improvement suggestion to make it even better:
>>>>
>>>> 1. Keep the list of shortcut key assignments on the page when the clip
>>>> is
>>>> being played.
>>>> 2. Add Volume control buttons (volume up/down) to the controls.
>>>> 3. Add Stop and/or Rewind to beginning/Replay buttons to the controls.
>>>> Note: currently, when the clip is in progress, you can't replay it from
>>>> the
>>>> beginning.
>>>> 4. Optionally it would be great if all the controls were assigned to
>>>> shortcut keys.
>>>> 5. How about Video size options? This might not be a use for screen
>>>> reader
>>>> users (like myself) but people with motor disability can benefit from
>>>> it.
>>>>
>>>> Great job. Thank you.
>>>> Hadi
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>> From: "Thomas Jolliffe" < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
>>>> To: "WebAIM Discussion List" < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
>>>> Sent: Wednesday, April 29, 2009 2:08 PM
>>>> Subject: [WebAIM] Evaluation: Accessible Interface to YouTube
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> Hello all,
>>>>>
>>>>> I can't claim to be a long-term subscriber, but I'd appreciate a favour
>>>>> if
>>>>> possible. I'm a final-year Computer Science student at Newcastle
>>>>> University
>>>>> and for my dissertation I've been investigating the effect which what
>>>>> we
>>>>> call "Web 2.0" has had on accessibility.
>>>>>
>>>>> As part of this investigation, I've implemented what I think are some
>>>>> good
>>>>> practices, and to demonstrate a number of them working together I've
>>>>> created
>>>>> a somewhat simplified interface for YouTube, which you can find at
>>>>> http://tube.majestyc.net/. It makes use of technologies such as
>>>>> JavaScript,
>>>>> in line with what we can reasonably expect on the web nowadays, but
>>>>> also
>>>>> of
>>>>> things like WAI-ARIA live regions to aid the use of such dynamic
>>>>> scripting.
>>>>> Similarly, the video player uses a Flash object, but controlled by
>>>>> JavaScript firing from standard HTML buttons, instead of using buttons
>>>>> integrated into the Flash object itself.
>>>>>
>>>>> In order to evaluate what real-world users think, I've set up an online
>>>>> questionnaire, available at the horrible address of
>>>>> http://www.surveygizmo.com/s/128706/accessible-youtube, and via TinyURL
>>>>> at
>>>>> http://tinyurl.com/aiyt-eval. It's built using the website Survey Gizmo
>>>>> and,
>>>>> while it's not exactly perfect from an accessibility perspective, it's
>>>>> a
>>>>> pretty clean page and after a quick run-through myself with JAWS I
>>>>> didn't
>>>>> find too many glaring problems. I'd have liked to have built a system
>>>>> myself, but unfortunately simply haven't had time.
>>>>>
>>>>> Some people have questioned my use of YouTube, given that many of the
>>>>> site's
>>>>> intended audience will have visual impairments. However, not only is it
>>>>>
>>>>> a
>>>>> good demonstration of multimedia on the web, I don't think we shouldn't
>>>>> dismiss a video site outright. So many users are partially sighted, and
>>>>> the
>>>>> impact of YouTube across the web - and, arguably, society - has been
>>>>> enormous. And, let's not forget, it provides audio as well as video.
>>>>>
>>>>> Many thanks in anticipation of your responses, every single one is
>>>>> greatly
>>>>> appreciated. I am running somewhat behind schedule, so I'm looking to
>>>>> gather
>>>>> as many responses as possible in the next few days. If anyone knows of
>>>>> a
>>>>> good place to post this, let me know, or feel free to simply quote this
>>>>> message.
>>>>>
>>>>> There's a link on the 'Thanks' page to email me if you'd like to see an
>>>>> electronic copy of my dissertation when it's finished, but anyone
>>>>> (questionnaire or no questionnaire) is welcome to email me directly and
>>>>> I'll
>>>>> add you to the list.
>>>>>
>>>>> Once again, you can find the site at http://tube.majestyc.net/ and the
>>>>> questionnaire at http://www.surveygizmo.com/s/128706/accessible-youtube
>>>>> (or,
>>>>> if you trust a TinyURL link, at http://tinyurl.com/aiyt-eval).
>>>>>
>>>>> Thanks for reading,
>>>>> Tom
>>>>>
>>>>>