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Announcement ICT Accessibility News and Events

Excellent Resources from the AT3 Center

by Arlene Lugo, Program Director, CTTAP

The National Assistive Technology Act Technical Assistance and Training Center, also known as AT3, offers a wide array of resources on the AT3 Center website.

If you haven’t had a chance to take a look around I encourage you to do so. I’d like to call out two of the newer and very helpful resources:

  1. Free, self-directed Digital Accessibility Courses – three courses are now available with more to come! The courses include: 
    • “Accessibility in Microsoft Word,” 
    • “Web Accessibility Testing: Basic” and 
    • “Accessible Web Design & Content Authoring”

2. Explore AT – “a clearinghouse for information and resources on many different assistive technologies. You can find useful resources arranged by activity and disability.” 

Hope you will take a look around!

 

Categories
News and Events Product Spotlight Smart Home Tech

8 Ways to Turn a Traditional Home Into A Smart Home

Written by Pam Fields, ATECH

smartphone showing smart items in room and ATECH logo

With advancement in technology improving every day, assistive technology keeps getting better and better, providing more seamless integration into our lives. As direct-care givers, what’s the best, and easiest way we can use the new and emerging smart-home devices to assist in providing better care? Even if the current living environment is a traditional home or apartment, there are 8 easy-to-install and easy-to-use assistive technology tools that can greatly improve any home.

We live in a connected world; many new technologies are controlled using an app on a smartphone or tablet, are wifi accessible, and many are voice enabled, allowing you to make changes by simply speaking a voice command. For example, using a voice-controlled Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, or Apple’s Homepod or Siri, you can lock doors and windows, adjust the lighting or air temperature, or turn appliances on or off.

Reposted from www.assistivetechtraining.org/8-ways-to-turn-a-traditional-home-into-a-smart-home/  

Categories
ICT Accessibility News and Events

Digital Accessibility Tip! Hashtags, Email Addresses and Usernames

Written by Adam Kosakowski, M.Ed., ATP

A hashtag is a metadata tool used to easily compile and cross reference digital content on the web. Hashtags also make it possible for posters to share a love of cats on social media with bigger audiences. Email addresses and usernames are, well, mostly used to receive junk mail and messages from people in high school you don’t want to reconnect with. Still, what do they all have in common, and what does that have to do with digital accessibility?

They all use words with no spaces between them! Today’s tip will focus on how you can type hashtags, email addresses, and usernames in the most accessible way possible.

Hashtags: Print Disabilities and Screen Reader Users

Whether you have useable vision or use a screen reader, try reading the following hashtag:

#catsarethebestanimalsever

It isn’t easy! Where does one word end and the other begin? Does it say, “Cats are the best animal sever” or “Cats are the best animals ever?” Depending on the person reading or the screen reader and its settings, either way is possible. When I tested it with NVDA (a popular free screen reader) it said, “animal sever”; if I am trying to post a cat picture, why would I try to convey that message? It’s nonsense!

To help everyone more easily read this, try using camel case. Camel case is the practice of writing with no punctuation or spaces, but using capital letters for the first letter in each word within. With camel case, the hashtag above becomes:

#CatsAreTheBestAnimalsEver

I bet most people would agree, even those without print disabilities, that this is much easier to read. Also, it ensures the hashtag says “animals ever” and not “animal sever.” The same goes for screen readers; this helps screen readers correctly identify the intended words.

Email Addresses and Usernames

The above case is becoming slightly more well known in the circles that focus on accessibility, but what about email addresses and usernames? I have noticed next to no one use camel case with these and yet it is just as important!

For example, my email address is obnoxiously long. I have a ten-letter last name and the text after the “at” symbol is “Oak Hill CT.” Without camel case it looks like this:

adam.kosakowski@oakhillct.org

Unless someone is familiar with Oak Hill or is employed in the same organization, the address is confusing when all lowercase. And when read with NVDA it says, “Adam dot Kosakowski @ Oak Hill dot org.” NVDA says something after “Oak Hill”, but it is not discernible. It sounds like it straight up skips the “CT”! This could make the difference between people knowing my email address and not. And while I’d like less spam, I want to help people with accessibility!

The solution is simple: use camel case. And when it comes to acronyms, make all the letters capital.

Here is my email without camel case vs with:

Adam.kosakowski@oakhillct.org vs Adam.Kosakowski@OakHillCT.org

And here is my Twitter handle without camel case vs with:

@neatwithadam vs @NEATWithAdam

The capital “W” after the all-caps NEAT acronym may look weird, but this follows the two rules that ensure screen readers will read it perfectly:

  1. Capitalize the first letter of each word.
  2. Capitalize each letter in an acronym.

I hope you find this helpful!

This column is written by Adam Kosakowski, M.Ed., ATP

Adam works as an Assistive Technology Specialist at New England Assistive Technology (NEAT), an Oak Hill Center.

He can be contacted at Adam.Kosakowski@OakHillCT.org and followed on twitter at @NEATWithAdam

Categories
ICT Accessibility News and Events

Digital Accessibility Tip! Link Text

Written by Adam Kosakowski, M.Ed., ATP,  New England Assistive Technology (NEAT) Center

Links are everywhere and are used in every type of digital content. As such, making links accessible is incredibly important. But, how to do so is not common knowledge, and there are many wrong ways to do it that will make the experience worse for people using assistive technology. Thankfully, doing it right is fairly easy once you know how.

Proper Link Text

The worst way to provide a link is to copy and paste the URL into your writing. Imagine a screen reader reading an amazon link with countless numbers, special symbols, and slashes; it does not make an accessible reading experience. Instead, create proper link text. To do this in Microsoft Word or Outlook, do the following:

  • Put your text cursor where you want the link and right click.
  • Choose Link to open the Insert Hyperlink window.
  • In the “Address” field, paste that URL.
  • In the “Text to display” field, type in a few words to describe the purpose of the link. Do not put the URL here.
  • Click OK.

The result is a link that looks like this, Candy on Amazon, rather than a garbled mess that any one wouldn’t enjoy reading let alone people using assistive technology.

Best Practices using Proper Link Text

Like Alternative Text (see my previous column), proper link text is easy to learn but a bit tricky to master because of the question, “What should I use as the link text? The general idea is that link text should be concise and describe where the link will bring the user. Here are some best practices and things to avoid:

  • Avoid “Click here”, “Read more”, “link to [some link description]”, etc.
    • Reason: Screen readers will inform the user that a link is a link even if the text on screen does not say so. “Click here” does not inform where the link goes and is not meaningful.
  • Links can be standalone or be a part of a complete sentence, just make sure the text is meaningful.
    • Standalone example: Amazon Products.
    • Part of a sentence: Read more about Amazon Products. Notice how I used “Read more,” that is OK here because it is not part of the link text, instead it is put in context of a meaningful sentence.
  • Avoid creating very short link text, take the alphabetical index for example:
    • Reason: Small links like this are small targets to access, people with motor challenges trying to click on the right letter here will have a hard time!

Alphabetical Indexes

  • Links should have an underline and be colored differently than the surrounding text.
    • Reason: People need a way to distinguish a link from the surrounding text. The best way to distinguish a link is by color AND a non-color indicator. By underlining a link, people who are colorblind will have an easier time distinguishing it from surrounding text than by color alone.

To learn more about color contrast, read this WebAIM article on Links and Hypertext.

Adam Kosakowski works as an Assistive Technology Specialist at New England Assistive Technology (NEAT), an Oak Hill Center. He can be contacted at Adam.Kosakowski@OakHillCT.org and followed on twitter: @NEATWithAdam

Categories
News and Events Resource

Registering to Vote & Basic Rights of Voters with Disabilities

By Melissa Cruz, Parent Advocate

Are you registered to vote?  Are you eligible? To be eligible to vote in Connecticut, you must be a U.S. citizen and 18 years of age by the day of the election.

Vote button

You must also be a resident of a town in Connecticut. That’s it!

There are many options for voter registration. One of the fastest and easiest ways to register is online through the Secretary of State’s website: https://voterregistration.ct.gov/OLVR. You also have the option of registering at the Department of Motor Vehicles, and many other organizations offer paper registration forms. Some of these locations include your local Town Clerk and Registrars of Voters Offices, colleges and universities, public libraries as well as the Departments of Rehabilitation Services, So

cial Services, Developmental Services, and Public Health.

On Election Day, if you forgot to register to vote, it’s NOT too late! You can still register and vote on the same day at your Town’s Election Day Registration location or (EDR). The EDR location is open during the same hours as the polling place, 6:00 AM to 8:00 PM.  Because you are registering to vote on the day of the Election, the I.D. requirements are more stringent. Some of the acceptable forms of I.D. include:

  • Driver’s License
  • Birth Certificate
  • Learner’s Permit
  • Utility Bill Within 30 Days of Election Day
  • Paystub
  • Paycheck
  • Current Bank Statement
  • Social Security Card

Advocacy Tip: If you are registering to vote on Election Day, check with your local Registrar of Voters about the location of the EDR and the requirements for I.D.s.  Get there early – they can be very busy places on Election Day!

Voters with Disabilities – What are your rights?  All polling places must be physically accessible to persons with disabilities. The route from the accessible parking to and through the polling place must be able to be navigated by individuals using mobility devices such as wheelchairs, canes, and crutches. The process or methods of voting must also be accessible to voters with disabilities.  Some of the other rights of voters with disabilities include:

  • Access to a sample ballot in large print.
  • Any videos for use by voters must be closed captioned.
  • Voting privately and independently – voting equipment for voters who cannot use a paper ballot to vote privately and independently.
  • Moving to the front of the line if the disability prevents the voter from waiting.
  • Unlimited time in the polling place to complete the ballot.
  • Have someone assist you with marking your ballot – there are some exceptions to this rule.
  • Vote using any method at the polling place. Currently, voters can manually complete a paper ballot or use the ballot marking device that must be available at all polling places and the Election Day Registration location.
  • Bring a service animal into the polling place.

If you are a person who has a guardian or conservator of person, you cannot be denied the right to vote unless a probate court has issued a specific order stating that your right to vote has been taken away.

Advocacy Tip: If your polling place is not accessible – on Election Day, contact t

he Elections Division of the Office of the Secretary of the State at (860) 509-6100.

After Election Day, you can file a complaint with State Elections Enforcement Commission at:

State Elections Enforcement Commission

55 Farmington Ave

Hartford CT 06105

Phone Number: 860 256-2940

Website: https://portal.ct.gov/seec

Categories
ICT Accessibility News and Events

Digital Accessibility Tip! Headings

Written by Adam Kosakowski, M.Ed., ATP, Assistive Technology Specialist at New England Assistive Technology (NEAT), an Oak Hill Center

Headings are an incredibly important accessibility element on websites as well as digital documents such as Microsoft Word, Google Docs, and Microsoft Outlook emails. Visually, headings are those big bold words on screen at the top of every section of text. Think of them like chapter or section titles. They draw in the eyes of sighted users and give them a sneak peek of what they’re about to read below. But, if you’re blind or otherwise use a screen reader, unless headings are created correctly, they’ll just be read like normal text. This column will help you do Headers right!

Screen readers don’t announce to the user the size of text, so if a heading is only a heading due to its visual size, that’s considered an accessibility fail. Accessible headings need to be tagged as a heading, behind the scenes, in the coding of the document or website. If tagged appropriately, a screen reader user will know it is a heading and will be given access to a plethora of screen reader shortcuts empowering the user to navigate the document by those headings similar to how sighted readers do so with their eyes.

Creating Headings

Luckily, you do not need coding knowledge to create tagged headings in documents and websites. You just need to know where to look:

Styles Ribbon from Microsoft Word screen shot with Normal text style highlighted.
Does this screen shot look familiar? If not, open up Microsoft Word, go to the Home tab and look for the “Styles” ribbon. Normal, Heading 1, Heading, 2, and Heading 3, etc. are all selectable options that change your visual text upon selection. Not only that, if you choose one of the Heading options and start typing, behind the scenes and in the coding your typed text will then have that associated heading tagged! It’s that easy! Many word processing applications have the ability to apply heading tags, you just need to find it! If you’d like to learn how to do headings in your favorite word processor or website builder, you can Google something like “labeling headings in <insert application name here>”

Heading Order

Creating headings is half the battle. Next, headings must have appropriate hierarchical ordering. Heading level 1 is usually reserved for the title of a document or webpage. If there is a section title on that same document or webpage, that would then be a heading level 2. Heading level 3 could be a subsection title that logically belongs under its associated heading level 2, and so on. The idea is to use headings as you logically need them, but do not skip levels, i.e., don’t have a level 3 without having a level 2 associated with it.

Here’s an example to help you think through this and get hungry (for headings)! Think of your favorite restaurant menu and think of how they order their heading text. I love breakfast, so we’ll write a breakfast example:

  • Adam’s Breakfast Nook (This is the title of the restaurant, so this should be a Heading level 1, it would be at the top of the page, big and bold AND tagged as a heading 1)
    • Egg Dishes (This is a type of breakfast dish served at the restaurant, it’s a Heading level 2)
    • Pancake Dishes (This is another type of breakfast dish, it’s also a Heading level 2)
      • Savory Pancakes (This is a “subtype” of pancake dishes, so it’s a Heading level 3)
      • “Healthy Pancakes” (This is also a subtype of pancake dishes, so it’s also a heading level 3)
        • Banana Pancakes (This is a specific dish; it could be Normal text or a Heading level 4)
        • Strawberry Pancakes (Another specific dish, same as above)

This column is written by Adam Kosakowski, M.Ed., ATP. Adam works as an Assistive Technology Specialist at New England Assistive Technology (NEAT), an Oak Hill Center. He can be contacted at Adam.Kosakowski@OakHillCT.org and followed on Twitter: @NEATWithAdam.