Web AxeI’ve created an Accessibility toolkit for accessibility-related Twitter applications on the website OneForty, a great directory of Twitter-related apps. A “toolkit” is a collection of apps with a theme in common. There are only four apps listed in my toolkit so far, so I’d surely welcome any suggestions. Note that the app must be listed on OneForty to be included in a toolkit.
Here are some great events relating to web accessibility that are occurring soon.
Any missing in the next month? If so, please add in the comments.
A humorous infographic was recently published and twittered about, If Web Browsers Were Celebrities (full image). I’ve noticed more than several of these in the last few months, and one big issue about them continues to nag me: there’s no sufficient alternative text! (Also a good case for the longdesc attribute!)
So I decided to to my typing skills to work and provide the alternative text. Hopefully there will be more of these to come on this blog. So here it is, the alt text from the If Web Browsers Were Celebrities infographic:
Browser Compatibility; If Web Browsers Were Celebrities
[Each item includes a nice, large browser icon and a cartoon-style avatar of the celebrity’s face.]
Firefox – Can do no wrong, though not as spry as it once seemed. Would be: Morgan Freeman.
Chrome – The new hotness. People love it so much they’re nervous it will go wrong and embarrass them later. Would be: Christopher Nolan.
IE6 – Everyone thought it died a long time ago, but still seems to crop up all over the place. Would be: Betty White. [LOL!]
IE7 – After years of giving it chance after chance, performance never gets better. Would be: Matthew McConaughey.
IE8 – Trying desperately to stay relevant, even though it’s still the same thing. Would be: The Shatner. [William Shatner]
Safari – Reliable performance, seems to be everywhere. Would be: Samuel Jackson. (Just wait til he collaborates with “Chrome”)
Flock – Hip, but people don’t take it seriously anymore. Would be: Michael Cera.
Netscape – When it died, everyone said “Oh yea, that one!” and then forgot all about it. Would be: Walter Matthau.
Opera – Only ever used if you already have 100 tabs open in IE, Firefox isn’t available, and you have no toher choice. Everyone agrees it looks nice, though. Would be: J-Lo. [Jennifer Lopez]
IceWeasel – Who? You mean that weird one? Would be Kristen Schaal (AKA Mel on Flight of the Conchords)
Requires No Browser – Is unquestionably Keanu Reeves. [Avatar of Keanu says “Wo”]
A few nights ago, I submitted a comment to a recent article on Lifehacker, Navigate the New Twitter Like a Pro with Keyboard Shortcuts. My comment wasn’t approved. I also tweeted a reply about the article to @Scobleizer and Twitter employee @rsarver. Received no response there either.
The article to which I was responding glamorizes New Twitter’s keyboard shortcuts. I take offense to this so-called “feature” because the Twitter.com website itself is not accessible to users of keyboard-only input devices (which includes many types of assistive technology). And like all websites, Twitter.com should be accessible to anyone, not just to those who are able to use a mouse (device independence, see WCAG 2.0 Guideline 2.1). Does everyone see the irony here?!
So what my argument boils down to is this: if a website offers special keyboard shortcuts, it should first ensure that the it is fully keyboard accessible.
Here is my comment and Tweet below. Did I overreact?
Unapproved article comment:
This sickens me. Twitter isn’t keyboard accessible, period. Users of assistive technology can’t access the website. People who use a screenreader (visually impaired) or another type of keyboard-only input device (mobility impairments) are nearly completely blocked and makes Twitter.com useless. New Twitter is even worse than the old Twitter site. The so-called keyboard enhancements are an insult to those with disabilities. Fortunately, there is a web-based Twitter app that pays attention to everyone (and web standards, too). It’s called AccessibleTwitter.com.
My tweet reply:
.@Scobleizer Not valuable to users of keyboard-only devices; Twitter.com isn’t accessible to assistive tech. /cc @lifehacker @rsarver #a11y
