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Re: Browsers handling more widgets nativelyUsing title attribute on non-anchor elements?

for

From: Brandon Keith Biggs
Date: May 13, 2016 8:31PM

Hello,
I got lost and must have clicked the wrong button and now I can't take the
survey. I found the first question, then could not find what to click next.

Also, what kind of training should one have to become a SME?
Thank you,


Brandon Keith Biggs <http://brandonkeithbiggs.com/>;

On Fri, May 13, 2016 at 4:41 PM, Birkir R. Gunnarsson <
<EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:

> I can attest to the fact that Brooks makes downright unreal pan o baklava.
> In my 6 months or so of working with him I can also say that the man
> appears to possess a brain cell or 3, and know what he is talking
> about. *grin*
> Seriously, accessibility is a process that involves various players,
> and we need more conversation, training, development and solutions
> floating down the chain.
> We can't put it all on the website developer (which includes actual
> developers, content developers etc.).
> Me and my buddy CB Averitt did a presentation on this at CSUN
> http://whoseline.a11yideas.com
> I am working on taking the feedback from surveys, the examples and
> adding a personal thought or 3, as many as I can muster, to create a
> blog or a series of blogs about accessibility and the various players
> involved.
> This discussion serves as a great background and feeds in to my
> thought process behind the writing.
>
>
>
>
> On 5/5/16, Sharron Rush < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
> > Dear Brooks,
> >
> > Your observations are spot on and should be widely distributed. I may
> > disagree with you to some extent about the responsibility of the W3C
> > however. It seems to me that it is not only the regulatory bodies but the
> > W3C itself that has let slip the importance and interdependence of
> > consistent accessibility support in operating systems, user agents, and
> > assistive technologies. After all, the W3C is not just any "voluntary
> > agency." It is *the* standards making body for the web and if they do
> not
> > emphasize the interdependence, who can the regulatory bodies look to for
> > guidance? I see great opportunity for the work that has been done on UAAG
> > and ATAG to be brought to the attention of the legislators and
> regulatory
> > bodies with greater urgency and emphasis.
> >
> > Thank you for the prompt to raise these issues in the coming weeks as
> part
> > of the ADA SANPRM public comment process. Much appreciated.
> >
> > Sincerely,
> > Sharron
> > --
> > Sharron Rush | Executive Director | Knowbility.org | @knowbility
> > *Equal access to technology for people with disabilities*
> >
> > On Thu, May 5, 2016 at 1:00 PM, you wrote
> >>
> >>
> >> Hi Chaals,
> >>
> >> Thank you for taking the time to address my response to Deborah's
> comment
> >> about her desire for browsers to natively handle some of the WAI-ARIA
> >> functions. I know most folks on this thread just check in to find
> answers
> >> on "in the weeds" issues like, what browser supports this or what
> >> attribute
> >> works best for that. However, I think from time to time it's good to
> >> raise
> >> our heads up out of the weeds and take a gander at some of the bigger
> >> questions on the horizon that drive our industry. So thanks for
> engaging
> >> me and the others on this broader topic.
> >>
> >> Quick note about my background: I've been a professional in the Web
> >> business since 1998, having served worked in the U.S. in public schools,
> >> state agencies, private business (Web design agency owner for a dozen
> >> years), plus I've worked as the accessibility lead at what was the
> fourth
> >> largest company in the world, as well as having served as principal
> >> accessibility consultant for one of the big agencies in the U.S. and
> have
> >> served as a consultant for several other a11y agencies you likely
> interact
> >> with on a daily basis in your committee work. I also make a pretty good
> >> pan of baklava. You can ask Birkir about that.
> >>
> >> Believe you me, I have a distinct understanding of the complexities
> >> involved with getting accessibility to work well for people of all
> >> abilities. You can also ask Birkir about that, as well. I certainly
> don't
> >> have as a clear of an understanding as you have, but enough to be
> >> conversant in this context. I have significant experience transferring
> >> theoretical accessibility knowledge to real people who need real
> solutions
> >> to do their work accessibly in the digital trenches as web/software
> >> production team members. That's why I'm shocked that so much emphasis
> has
> >> been placed on site owners and their designers and developers to get
> >> accessibility right on their own, without the strongly regulated support
> >> from the operating system, user agent, and assistive technology
> >> manufacturing industry. Granted, I'm no lawyer. However, I've studied
> >> U.S. accessibility regulatory law - and let me tell you, there is a
> >> glaring
> >> absence of guidance for the software industry, when compared to the
> >> burdens
> >> that have been unloaded on site/app owners in this country.
> >>
> >> I'm sure you have done so, but for others on this thread, take a look at
> >> the provisions of the laws that exist in the U.S. and across the globe
> >> that
> >> govern web accessibility. U.S. laws or laws-in-progress, such as the
> >> Twenty
> >> First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act (CVAA), the
> >> Section 508 refresh, and the ADA refresh go out of their way to exclude
> >> from obligations the three types of software manufacturers that have
> such
> >> as strong bearing on the ultimate accessibility of web/app based digital
> >> content. I'm not guessing about this just to have something to say or
> >> posturing for Internet karma. I've been on the hook to figure this out
> >> for
> >> some of the largest organizations on earth. And let me tell you, it is
> a
> >> darn impossible task to achieve accessibility without strong support
> from
> >> the software technology that we all depend on to get web and app data
> from
> >> the ether into our brains. Any others on this thread who feel the same
> >> way? Let your voices be heard as a follow-up on this thread. Better
> yet,
> >> let the U.S. Department of Justice know how evolving accessibility law
> >> should be handled by directly responding to the call of comments that
> will
> >> soon be forthcoming as part of the new ADA SANPRM.
> >>
> >> I've personally trained thousands (no exaggeration) of web site
> >> developers, writers, designers, information architects, rich media
> >> developers, business owners, quality assurance / user acceptance testers
> >> and c-suite executives on the ins and outs of digital accessibility. I
> >> have also personally consulted with dozens of the world's biggest
> >> companies
> >> on how to make their digital content more accessible. I've watched this
> >> industry mutate into its current state, which frankly, seems farther
> from
> >> the goal of universal access than it was 10 years ago. The answers
> being
> >> offered by those "in the know" for questions that arise out of
> frustration
> >> at how to make complicated digital interfaces accessible are
> increasingly
> >> technically obfuscated solutions that invariably involve lopping more
> >> responsibilities onto the site / app owners plate. Is that really the
> >> right direction? Look man, if we can't get site owners to write decent
> alt
> >> text, how are we going to get them to custom script complex interaction
> >> patterns, state switching, focus management, etc. for a bevy of
> JS-powered
> >> widgets they thought were plug and play ready to go? As they say in the
> >> U.S. South, I think I'm preaching to the choir here...not much need for
> >> additional persuasion on this point. These site owners need some help
> >> from
> >> software manufacturers in making standard and automatic many of
> accessible
> >> accommodations that are required to make rich Internet applications
> >> accessible.
> >>
> >> Chaals, I have a tremendous amount of respect for the work you and
> others
> >> have completed, in terms of evolving markup, defining standards and
> >> serving
> >> up resources to help folks make their content accessible. No
> complaints,
> >> only praise for that work. I am, however, deeply frustrated at how much
> >> of
> >> a gap exists between theoretical accessibility and actual accessibility.
> >> And, I think the majority of where that gap lies now has a lot to do
> with
> >> the fact that too much is being asked of site / app owners and their
> >> design
> >> and development teams, and not enough is being asked of the software
> >> manufacturers.
> >>
> >> I don't think the W3C WAI or other voluntary standards bodies have left
> >> software manufacturers out of the mix. I never said that. What I said
> is
> >> that legislators, regulators and some industry thought leaders have left
> >> them out of the mix. In my opinion, we will never see a groundswell of
> >> support for digital equality unless all of the relevant forces at play
> are
> >> required by law to do their respective parts. Software provided by
> >> OS/UA/AT
> >> manufacturers is very relevant to digital accessibility. It must be
> >> regulated to harmonize the efforts we are demanding of digital content
> >> owners.
> >>
> >> So, as Sarah kindly pointed out in her post yesterday, we are going to
> get
> >> another chance to chime on how U.S. digital accessibility law gets
> shaped
> >> as part of the new Supplemental Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
> >> (SANPRM) that has just been issued by the United States Department of
> >> Justice.
> >>
> >> http://www.ada.gov/regs2016/sanprm_statement.html
> >>
> >> This supplemental piece to the ADA relates to government agency
> >> obligations. This is particularly interesting, in terms of how we the
> >> people might be able to get our government to commit to holding software
> >> manufacturers to a high standard modern accessibility support. Let's
> speak
> >> up on this and other issues critical to driving universal access of
> >> digital
> >> content. We've got a chance to do this in the coming weeks as part of
> the
> >> ADA SANPRM public comment process.
> >>
> >> Over and Out,
> >>
> >> Brooks Newton
> >>
> >>