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Podcast #70: Lots of News & Events

Download Web Axe Episode 70 (Lots of News & Events)

Chatter

In the News

Events/Conferences

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IBM interviews Judy Brewer on WCAG 2.0

IBM interviews Judy Brewer in WCAG 2.0 and the future of Web accessibility: Q and A (Part 1).

In the article, Judy explains:

  • The primary differences between WCAG 1.0 and WCAG 2.0.
  • some of the challenges your Working Group faced in developing the new standard.

The article is published under the IBM Human Ability and Accessibility Center, an excellent source of information for computer-related accessibility in general.

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Access U 2009 Conference

The Access U 2009 Conference is coming up fast! It will be held at St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas, on Monday May 11 and Tuesday, May 12, 2009 (with post-conference sessions on May 13). Pricing and registration information.

Here’s a summary of the event:

In addition to two-days of the best hands-on accessibility classes, you will hear keynote presentations, attend a captioned and audio described movie, participate in communities of practice sessions where you can share experiences, and meet hundreds of others who share your passion for accessible IT. From absolute beginners to advanced practitioners you can customize your learning to meet your specific needs.

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Screen Reader Survey and New WAVE

Can’t go too long without mentioning WebAIM. They’ve recently made two more important announcements.

Screen Reader Survey

Survey of Preferences of Screen Readers Users
Here are a couple quotes from the article which sum up all the excellent data from the survey:

Perhaps the most significant conclusion we can make from these survey results is that there is no typical screen reader user.

In general, these results suggest that following accessibility guidelines and standards, using technologies that support high levels of accessibility, and providing users with options is of the highest importance.

New WAVE (not the music!)

WAVE (web accessibility evaluation tool) is updated. Below is a brief summary of changes. For more, visit New WAVE Version Released.

  • Simplified and streamlined user interface.
  • Significantly re-engineered back-end framework.
  • Support for internationalization. Initial translations will be provided in coming months.
  • Several new WAVE rule

PS: A WAVE Firefox toolbar is also available.

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Keyboard Access for Google Maps

Google Maps is awesome, but it is not keyboard accessible. Patrick H. Lauke provides a solution by retrofitting keyboard access into google maps. Brilliant article. (Obviously JavaScript is still required.)

Also, Google Maps provides a text-only option, which is nice for those using assistive devices, mobile devices, low or costly bandwidth, etc.