My company has a team of accessibility impacted testers who will assess any web/device work we do. It is invaluable and they can always find things that were missed regardless of how many tools we use to help in development.
How working with a blind client revealed invisible accessibility gaps
61–70 of 88 posts
Re: How working with a blind client revealed invisible accessibility gaps
#62Earlier quoted context omitted.
Sidewalks have to be usable by people who can't hear, people moving slowly, kids, older people etc. If a cyclist is on a sidewalk and can't safely pass without the pedestrian reacting instantly, they're the one creating the problem
We can't individual responsibility our way out of systemic problems. Cyclists on sidewalks generally signals terrible bike infrastructure. There are people on bikes that ride like an asshole. There are people on cars that drive like an asshole. Both cause (different levels of) risk for pedestrians. There's only so much we can do about assholes, social ostracism works only so far and social change is much harder to ac…
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Re: How working with a blind client revealed invisible accessibility gaps
#63Earlier quoted context omitted.
We can't individual responsibility our way out of systemic problems. Cyclists on sidewalks generally signals terrible bike infrastructure. There are people on bikes that ride like an asshole. There are people on cars that drive like an asshole. Both cause (different levels of) risk for pedestrians. There's only so much we can do about assholes, social ostracism works only so far and social change is much harder to ac…
Thanks for stopping. In my experience as a pedestrian, bikes are worse than cars. Less predictable, less observant of laws, and more willing to take risks that depend on others jumping out of their way. On the plus side, they don’t weigh 3000lbs.
I don’t personally know anyone hit by a car, but my dad ended up in the hospital with a collapsed lung due to a drunk cyclist ramming him on the boardwalk.
Bicycles belong on the streets. (I bike to work most days, I take the streets)
Re: How working with a blind client revealed invisible accessibility gaps
#64It is revealing how people with disabilities are treated, just to walk on sidewalk as a deaf person. Most cyclicts assume they have a priority on sidewalks, and will ring bell to enforce it. If you do not jump out of their way in 2 seconds, you get rammed. Cyclists know I can not hear them (I am wearing big noise cancelling headphones). Yet they still insist on their imaginary priority on sidewalks. I was forced to r…
Video any such interaction. They go viral easily and the culprit learns their lesson.
Re: How working with a blind client revealed invisible accessibility gaps
#65I'm a teacher and I've had blind students, so I am aware of the barriers. But: do an honest evaluation of the costs of full, correct accessibility vs. the number of people who benefit. A cold-blooded calculation for a company putting out a project.
It honestly is not worth it. Huge costs, and you sell...maybe an additional license or two. So no one does it.
Re: How working with a blind client revealed invisible accessibility gaps
#66It is revealing how people with disabilities are treated, just to walk on sidewalk as a deaf person. Most cyclicts assume they have a priority on sidewalks, and will ring bell to enforce it. If you do not jump out of their way in 2 seconds, you get rammed. Cyclists know I can not hear them (I am wearing big noise cancelling headphones). Yet they still insist on their imaginary priority on sidewalks. I was forced to r…
WTF? Bicycles on sidewalks? At least where I am, that's illegal, and I'm not moving.
Re: How working with a blind client revealed invisible accessibility gaps
#67I'm a teacher and I've had blind students, so I am aware of the barriers. But: do an honest evaluation of the costs of full, correct accessibility vs. the number of people who benefit. A cold-blooded calculation for a company putting out a project. It honestly is not worth it. Huge costs, and you sell...maybe an additional license or two. So no one does it.
I understand your point, especially for company websites whose products/services aren't oriented to the blind.
However, there are many companies with products/services that are just as much for the blind as the sighted (government, insurance, legal, medical, etc.) and many of them don't even make an attempt. The blind are still people and they should have equal access.
Re: How working with a blind client revealed invisible accessibility gaps
#68It is revealing how people with disabilities are treated, just to walk on sidewalk as a deaf person. Most cyclicts assume they have a priority on sidewalks, and will ring bell to enforce it. If you do not jump out of their way in 2 seconds, you get rammed. Cyclists know I can not hear them (I am wearing big noise cancelling headphones). Yet they still insist on their imaginary priority on sidewalks. I was forced to r…
is this a netherlands post? because normal countries dont assume human on bike IS the default
No. In the Netherlands is not common to cycle on side walks. We have cycling lanes for that! Pedestrians and cyclists only meet at crossings. (The behaviour of cyclists in the big cities might be different though.)
Re: How working with a blind client revealed invisible accessibility gaps
#69[flagged]
Re: How working with a blind client revealed invisible accessibility gaps
#70Revealing that, after 30 years of Internet, someone's actually confronting this situation for the first time. So's the word 'gaps' ... as if the English Channel is a 'gap' for swimmers. Equally revealing is the audio quality of most CPU screen-readers (regardless of platform). Usually, not far from the crappy first attempts of 30 years ago. But then, hey, it's a small market, right?
Most people who depend on screen readers prefer the synthetic voices for their consistency which can allow them "read" at far faster speeds. I've been working for a couple of years to reach the speed one of my friend regularly works at, about 900 WPM. I topped out around 550 WPM with the human-sounding voices and then almost immediately got to 650 moving to a synthetic voices. Still a long way to go to hit 900, but I'm certain it's possible, and nearly certain it's impossible with text that's voiced to sound human-like.