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

for

From: Birkir R. Gunnarsson
Date: May 14, 2016 5:40AM

The survey is closed. We just never got the 4 hours it takes to remove
it and re-organize the website to display the results. It will be done
in the coming couple of weeks.
There is a list of links to examples below the text.




On 5/13/16, Brandon Keith Biggs < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
> 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
>> >>
>> >>