1808: First typewriter

• Invented by Pellegrino Turri (incl. ink paper)
• For blind friend Countess Carolina Fantoni da Fivizzano
• Could write, but not read
  • Proofreading impossible

1824: Braille

• Tactile writing system
• Invented by Louis Braille (at age of 15)
• Could read, but not write
  • Until invention of braille typewriters
  • Not readable by most  other people

2000: 3 job opportunities (for blind people)

• Basket weaver
• Piano tuner
• Massager

Until 2010: Early digital accessibility

• Stable working screen readers and OS (desktop)
  • ​Scan papers (OCR)
  • Navigate the web
  • Read and write emails
• Not so many services available
  • But simple ("traditional")
    and accessible
     
• Sophisticated and expensive
  hardware/software

Today: Opportunities...

• How important is to YOU...
  • The Internet?
  • Your smartphone?
    ​
• Mobile screen readers
  • Free & easy
• Control virtual and physical world
  • "Internet of things"
    ​
• Endless possibilities (?)

...vs. obstacles!

• Modern apps and websites are "fancy"
  • Visually oriented
  • Complex
• A lot of basic requirements are prone to be "forgotten"
  • Valid (semantic) HTML
  • Keyboard-only navigation
  • Standard controls vs. custom JavaScript
  • Image text alternatives

Forms of disability

• Visual, up to blindness
• Hearing, up to deafness
• Motor (ie. no arms)
• Cognitive and neurological (ie. attention deficit)
   
• Age related (we will all be disabled some day)

Problems with vision

• Colour blindness / dischromatopsia
• Colour contrasts
  • Also relevant on mobile
• Visibility of keyboard focus

Problems with hearing

• In videos:
  • No subtitles available
• In audios (ie. podcasts):
  • No text transcript available

Problems with movement

• Rely on keyboard only (no mouse)
   
• Elements not focusable
• Keyboard focus not visible
• Drag & drop
• Interactive elements very small
  • Parkinson's, tremor
• Not enough time
  • Checkout process

So much can be possible!

• Daniele Corciulo (accessibility expert, 1.5% eyesight)
  • Former employee of
    foundation «Access for all»
  • Now working at Fachstelle
    Studium und Behinderung
    at University of Zürich
     
• Song "Take my hand"
  • https://youtu.be/1vJtAGu1Wqc

Daniele is enabled to...

• Use public transport
  • Electronic time table, Braille
    handles, guidelines for white stick
• Read paper mail
  • Scan, then OCR and text-to-speech
• Identify objects
  • Scan bar codes
• Operate coffee machine
  • Smartphone app (through
    Bluetooth) and screen reader

Unlocking human potential

• Creating accessible products means...
  • Equality, regardless of physical differences
• It's not about creating "social welfare state"
• It's about including & unlocking human potential
  • Stephen Hawking
  • Disabled people think outside the box!
     
• Remember the typewriter?
  • Would we have smartphones today?