Calimera Guidelines

Cultural Applications:

Local Institutions Mediating Electronic Resources

Accessibility

for disabled

people

Calimera Guidelines

Accessibility for disabled people

SCOPE

The guideline on Social inclusion deals with the need to make services accessible to everyone, including disabled people, and with the management, planning, financial and staffing issues; and the guideline on Multilingualism deals with access in different languages.

This guideline deals with the technological aspects of making services accessible to disabled people, and includes:

Disabled people and their needs

Physical access

Access to information

Intellectual access

Virtual access

Web accessibility

Legislation and guidelines

POLICY ISSUES Back to Scope

There are estimated to be 37 million people with disabilities in the EU, and the number of older Europeans is steadily increasing. Disabled people are people who have difficulty using facilities provided for the general public because of physical or sensory impairments, print disabilities, or learning difficulties. This includes people who are temporarily disabled through accident or illness, those with long-term disabling illnesses such as arthritis, those with age-related disabilities, and learning disabled people. The term physical impairments refers to reduced mobility, reach, balance, stamina and/or height. Sensory impairments include reduced vision and/or hearing. The term “print disabled” covers people with a visual, mental or physical impairment which makes it difficult for them to read conventional print, and includes dyslexic persons.

The EU is committed to making all services available to disabled people (see the European Union Disability Strategy [1]) and accessibility has been included in EU research programmes for more than ten years:

· in the TIDE initiative (“Technology Initiative for Disabled and Elderly”, 1991-1997);

· in the 4^th Framework Programme of the Information Society Technology Programme (“Disabled & Elderly Sector” of the Technology Application Programme – TAP);

· in the 5^th Framework Programme (“Applications for Persons with Special Needs including the Disabled and Elderly”);

· in the 6^th Framework Programme, under the Strategic Objective “e-inclusion”;

· in the Leonardo da Vinci Programme (ACCELERATE - Access to the Modern Library Services for the Blind and Partially Sighted People was a project involving 2 academic libraries in Greece and Cyprus. A very useful handbook was published. [3]

· in the Culture 2000 Programme (“Access to Cultural Heritage: Policies of Presentation and Use” (ACCU) is a three-year international project which started on 1 September 2004. It will promote co-operation between operators in the field of heritage management and offer new tools for accessibility issues. Cultural institutions from six European countries are participating in the project, led by the Finnish National Board of Antiquities (Helsinki, Finland).

Many member states have national legislation and/or guidelines regarding accessibility and these are noted in the Appendix to this guideline.

GOOD PRACTICE GUIDELINES Back to Scope

Services provided can be categorised in three main areas:

· physical access (to buildings, service counters, workstations, exhibition areas, display cases, reading rooms, shelves, etc);

· access to information (e.g. the availability of accessible formats, adapted workstations, assistive and inclusive technology and web accessibility);

· intellectual access (to the content of collections).

Physical access Back to Scope

Most issues concerning physical access apply equally to museums, libraries and archives. In many cases removing all physical and structural obstacles is difficult if not impossible, but it is essential that the environment is made as barrier-free as is reasonably achievable. This includes, for example:

· clear signs outside the building;

· well marked and lit reception areas, with desk space available at a suitable height for wheelchair users;

· entrances with suitable, clear openings or automatic doors (preferred door width 900mm);

· ramps outside and within building;

· stairs: no open treads, handrails on both sides, tactile markers; ideally: speaking elevators;

· barrier-free hallways (no floor mats or furniture);

· colour contrast in carpets and on walls (also to function as warnings near stairs and doorways; textures, smells, vibration, movement or air currents can also be used for this purpose);

· effective lighting;

· accessible tables, computer stations and public service desks (table height and width, turning spaces, ergonomic chairs, lighting);

· accessible public areas such as toilets and public telephone;

· shelving and display cases: should ideally fall within 750-2000mm from floor level;

· clear and consistent signage throughout using plain typeface (sans serif such as Helvetica, Univers or Arial) on spaces and websites;

· accessible parking;

· visually cued alarm systems.

Access to information Back to Scope

Access to information can be facilitated on a variety of levels requiring both technical and human solutions. The following are examples of what should be considered, and is not an exhaustive list. Institutions should consult their national organisations for the disabled for further advice.

Human solutions:

· bold felt-tip pen and notepad at enquiry points;

· staff available to read aloud from written materials;

· staff trained in helping disabled people. Ideally this could include staff trained in lip reading, sign language, the deaf blind alphabet, finger spelling etc.;

· information in plain language and/or symbol systems e.g. Blissymbolics [4], Picture Communication Symbols [5];

· accessible formats e.g. large print, Braille [6], audio formats, subtitled and signed videotapes;

· information in clear print using suitable fonts;

· events, videos and websites with sign language using professional interpreters and training deaf people to become guides.

Technical solutions:

· textphones

· telephone amplifiers;

· induction loops;

· print magnification devices;

· accessible catalogues;

· alternative input devices (adapted keyboards e.g. touch sensitive overlays, large-size keys and special function keys, touch pads, adapted mouse devices such as trackerballs, joysticks, datagloves which are used to gesture commands to the computer, sensory input devices including speech);

· text-reader (text-to-speech) equipment;

· glare protective screens and high resolution, large-screen monitors;

· system options that allow the user to alter screen contrast, font size and colours;

· screen reader software;

· optical character recognition systems with read-back capabilities;

· Braille input hardware and software and Braille translation software;

· websites which meet worldwide web accessibility standards;

· haptic devices which allow virtual holding of objects giving tactile and weight sensations, and which can incidentally be used to protect fragile items;

· shutterglasses, which transform the way the user sees the image on a standard monitor;

· portable and wearable computers.

Intellectual access Back to Scope

Organisations which aim to be inclusive tailor their services to diverse groups of users and audiences and develop strategies to provide intellectual access to the content of collections, through, for example:

· guided tours, activities, audio guides, slide shows, websites etc which describe objects and exhibitions for visually impaired people, in addition to standard background information; and in plain language and using image support for people with learning difficulties;

· multi-sensory events and exhibitions;

· tactile exhibitions e.g. using 3-dimensional models and maps and tactile drawings;

· gallery interactives designed with disabled people in mind;

· head mounted displays;

· virtual environments.

People who are prevented from getting to a library, museum or record office because of a disability should not be denied access to these services. Museums, libraries and archives should consider outreach services ranging from mobile vehicles and services for people who are housebound to activities and portable collections for use in a variety of locations which are used by disabled people.

Virtual access Back to Scope

Digitisation enables services to be delivered using laptop computers with Internet access, televisions, and CD-ROMs or DVDs. It has also opened up exciting possibilities for virtual access. Museums can make exhibitions available on web sites, with the facility to move objects around and see them from all angles which is an improvement on a static display. Libraries can provide opportunities for searching catalogues, requesting and renewing books, and asking for information via the Internet and e-mail. Archives can make documents, photographs, films, and sound archives available over the Internet. What can be offered is limited only by the imagination. The links at the end of this guideline illustrate some imaginative virtual services which enhance the experience of everyone, not only disabled people. For a description of virtual reality and human interface technologies see New technologies for the cultural and scientific heritage sector. DigiCULT Technology Watch Report 1, February 2003, chapters 4 and 5. [7]

Web accessibility Back to Scope

However virtual access via the Internet is subject to web accessibility considerations. The “Charter of Parma” document, presented in 2003 to the Committee for Cultural Affairs of the Council of Ministers of the European Union, encourages the application of ten “quality principles” for cultural websites, one of which is that websites should be “accessible to all users, irrespective of the technology they use or their disabilities, including navigation, content, and interactive elements” [8]. The EU is committed to the WAI (Web Accessibility Initiative) guidelines produced by the World Wide Web Consortium [9]. These guidelines provide clear and straightforward guidance and cover issues from basic requirements such as colour contrast, to more complex requirements about how the information is structured and set out on the page, and how the site is navigated. It is recommended that the content of web pages is always separated from the presentation so that if users remove the layout and design elements they can still access the information.

User interfaces including websites should be checked for accessibility. Again, the standard against which European sites are checked is usually the one set by the WAI. The “Commentary and exploration of the ten ‘quality principles’ published by the Minerva Project and agreed at the 5th NRG meeting in Parma, draft version 11” contains a checklist and practical tests for assessing a website [8]. There are several automated tools available for checking websites, including:

· Bobby [10], which tests against the WA1 standard. This has recently become a commercial product and the free version is limited to checking one page per minute.

· HTML-kit [11], which can be used to enhance the accessibility of a website, and correct errors and inaccessible features. This is a free website.

A list of similar tools is available on the WAI site [12]. Such tools however only check the technology of the website; they do not evaluate the content for accessibility. The World Wide Web Consortium has however also developed content accessibility guidelines [13].

There is no substitute however for user testing with disabled people. However, as not all disabled people are the same, it is preferable to make it possible for the style to be over-ridden and the content accessible using any preferred style or via any device. People with different access needs should be asked to carry out and report on tasks which they need to perform. User testing can be done in-house, or contracted out to an organisation or specialist company. Ideally users should be involved from the design stage.

In addition, websites should be:

· accessible by different browsers (e.g. Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator);

· accessible by different hardware devices (e.g. Personal Digital Assistants, PCs);

· usable by browsers that support HTML/XHTML, Cascading Style Sheets and the Document Object Model [14];

· usable by browsers that do not have plug-ins, so technologies such as Javascript and Macromedia Flash must be considered carefully before being used;

· ideally usable by screen readers (talking browsers). PDF (Portable Document Format) should therefore be avoided. Although PDF is becoming more accessible now due to development work undertaken by Adobe, it is still recommended that an alternative HTML version of a PDF file is provided. With the advent of Acrobat Reader 6.0 (full version), Adobe has embedded a scaled-down version of a "screen reader" (more accurately referred to as a "text-to-speech synthesizer" in this instance) into the Reader software itself. This can read aloud the text in nearly all PDF files, even older files that were not created with accessibility in mind. However not everyone has the latest full version of the Acrobat Reader with the embedded speech synthesizer, the embedded speech synthesizer is not as good as the full-featured screen readers that most visually impaired people use (e.g. JAWS [15], Window Eyes [16]), the existence of the embedded speech synthesizer is not well known even among visually impaired people, and new skills need to be learned to use it. There is a useful article about this on the WebAIM website [17]. See also the Daisy Consortium website [18] for information about screen readers and Digital Talking Books (DTBs).

FUTURE AGENDA Back to Scope

Genuine e-accessibility will only come about when mainstream products are designed to be accessible by as broad a range of users as possible. The EU is supporting a “Design for All” approach [2], which will lead to IST products, services and applications being suitable for most potential users without the need for further modifications.

The European Institute for Design and Disability [19] is also working to enhance barrier-free design.

A new European communication on e-accessibility [20] is expected to address two major challenges relating to the inclusion of all in the information society: the problems associated with the ageing population and the specific problems of disabled people.

New technologies are likely to emerge which will improve the experience of disabled people. Examples of existing technologies which illustrate the direction things may go include:

· systems which provide people with hearing impairments with written word-for-word captions, or text, on a PC or laptop screen during face-to-face conversations and at conferences. Text appears virtually simultaneously with the speaker’s words and fonts can be enlarged to suit the user’s needs. The user can take the equipment anywhere where there is a telephone socket or mobile phone connection. In the cultural heritage sector this sort of equipment would be useful in face-to-face dealings with staff, in discussion groups or lectures, and when listening to sound archives;

· handheld computers, or Personal Digital Assistants, which are tailored to the needs of different groups e.g. for hearing impaired people, video clips of an interpreter using sign language to describe works or objects in an exhibition; for visually impaired people, audio descriptions can be played together with commentary; and for those with learning difficulties, a specially designed sound track can be used. For people requiring more in-depth information, PDAs can be linked through a wireless network to a central server so that more information can be requested at any time during a visit (see Poole, Nick: The future in the palm of your hand. In Museums Computer Group Newsletter, Sept 2002 [21]);

· computers which make use of all human senses as input devices.

In the future visitors will increasingly take their own handheld PC and wireless networking card into museums, galleries, libraries and record offices and access a whole range of resources through always-on internet connections.

E-books, music, illustrations, video etc. are already downloadable on to home PCs, televisions and mobile phones. Disabled people will benefit from having requested material delivered directly to their own PCs at home or elsewhere.

There is scope to research smaller and more portable devices, datagloves, agents, avatars, robots, haptic devices, etc. (See the guideline on Personalisation for more information.) It is of vital importance that real users are involved from the very beginning and consideration is given to real applications, numbers of beneficiaries and economic viability.

REFERENCES Back to Scope

[1] European Union Disability Strategy

http://europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/disability/strategy_en.html

[2] European Design for All e-Accessibility Network

http://www.e-accessibility.org/

[3] Development of Library Services to Visually Impaired People: guide for Hellenic libraries [by] Bruno Sperl. July 2001. Initially developed as a handbook "Train the trainers", a deliverable of Action 3 of the ACCELERATE project.

http://www.lib.uom.gr/accelerate/deliverables/Ttt_en.doc);

[4] Blissymbolics http://www.symbols.net/blissre.htm

[5] Picture Communication Symbols http://www.mayer-johnson.com/

[6] Braille http://www.braille.org/

[7] New technologies for the cultural and scientific heritage sector. DigiCULT Technology Watch Report 1, February 2003, chapters 4 and 5.

http://www.digicult.info

[8] Work programme to define the quality guidelines for cultural Websites. Minerva WP5 Italian Working Group.

http://www.minervaeurope.org/structure/workinggroups/userneeds/docindex.htm

[9] WAI (Web Accessibility Initiative) guidelines produced by the World Wide Web Consortium http://www.w3c.org/WAI

[10] Bobby http://bobby.watchfire.com

[11] HTML-kit http://www.chami.com/html-kit/

[12] Web Accessibility Initiative: Evaluation, Repair, and Transformation Tools for Web Content Accessibility http://www.w3.org/WAI/ER/existingtools.html

[13] World Wide Web Consortium: Web Content Accessibility Guidelines http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT/

[14] World Wide Web Consortium: Cascading Style Sheets, level 2. CSS2 Specification. W3C Recommendation, 12 May 1998

http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-CSS2

[15] JAWS http://www.freedomscientific.com/fs_products/software_jaws.asp

[16] Window Eyes http://www.gwmicro.com/products/

[17] WebAIM: Adobe Acrobat Accessibility Techniques

http://www.webaim.org/techniques/acrobat/

[18] Daisy Consortium http://www.daisy.org/default.asp

[19] The European Institute for Design and Disability

http://www.design-for-all.org/

[20] Commission Communication on eAccessibility in 2005

http://europa.eu.int/information_society/topics/citizens/accessibility/com_ea_2005/index_en.htm

[21] Poole, Nick: The future in the palm of your hand. In Museums Computer Group Newsletter, Sept 2002.

http://www.museumscomputergroup.org.uk/newsletters/sept2002.htm

LINKS Back to Scope

International

Daisy Consortium

The DAISY Consortium has developed a Digital Talking Book standard (ANSI/NISO Z39.86, Specifications for the Digital Talking Book http://www.loc.gov/nls/niso/) to ensure access to information for people with print disabilities.

http://www.daisy.org/

Australia

Web Accessibility Toolbar

Free software for checking web site accessibility provided by the Accessible Information Solutions (AIS) team at the National Information and Library Service (NILS) , Australia. Available in English, French, Italian, Spanish and Japanese.

http://www.nils.org.au/ais/web/resources/toolbar/

Czech Republic

Education and Research Library of Pilsener Region

There is a Library for the Blind on this website. http://www.svkpl.cz/

Handy

Database for disabled people containing information about health care, therapy, etc., prepared by a disabled member of staff. The website has a “Blind Friendly” certificate. http://www.knihkm.cz

National Archives (formerly the State Central Archives)

As from 1st January 2005 the National Archives is housed in newly built facilities which meet the requirements for access without barriers. http://www.nacr.cz. Information is also available via Archives Direction Division of the Ministry of Interior of the Czech republic http://www.mvcr.cz

Ireland

Making Access Happen

Booklet exploring practical initiatives to accommodate library users with disabilities. It is based on four pilot projects in Cavan, Dublin City, Kildare and Mayo public library services which tested out new approaches to ensuring accessibility. The booklet is available free or can be downloaded from the website.

http://www.librarycouncil.ie/policies/making_access.shtml

Norway

Fetsund Lenser (Fetsund Timber Boom Museum)

Content-rich website with text and multimedia elements with a strong focus on accessibility. The website is in conformance with Level A of the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. Users are presented with a choice of different user interfaces, e.g. a choice between sound- and text-based information.

http://www.fetsundlenser.no/

Slovenia

Državni portal Republike Slovenije (State Portal of the Republic of Slovenia)

This portal provides a single access point to many government services online, and provides user friendly access to visually impaired people, enabling them to fill in various forms and make transactions like completing a tax return, applying for a passport, etc. http://euprava.gov.si/e-uprava/en/portalPage.euprava?pageid=34

Turkey

Braille Teknik

This company brings the latest technology devices and products to Turkey for the use of visually impaired people, making it possible for a visually impaired person to work as a sighted person does, and provides solutions in Turkish for a large number of products. http://www.brailleteknik.com/ingdefault.htm

UK

Ask Chris

An online and interactive source of reading advice, launched by Essex County Council Libraries. There is an option to select reviews of books available in Large Print or audiobook format, which significantly extends reading choice for visually impaired readers and removes the frustration experienced with other sites where books actively promoted are not then available in the required format. The site has been built to be compatible with screen readers. http://www.essexxcc.gov.uk/askchris

RNIB (Royal National Institute of the Blind) Web Access Centre

The Web Access Centre site has been developed as a free online resource centre for designers and managers.

http://www.rnib.org.uk/xpedio/groups/public/documents/code/public_rnib008789.hcsp

Talking Newspaper Association of the UK (TNAUK)

TNAUK has developed a program which can convert a newspaper into electronic format and e-mail it to users in about 6 minutes.

http://www.tnauk.org.uk/Pages/digital_service.html

APPENDIX Back to Scope