Peter Abrahams on IT-Analysis.com

Android: Ice Cream Sandwich Accessibliity

rss@it-analysis.com (Peter Abrahams, Bloor Research) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 07:00:00 +0100

Last Novemeber I wrote a blog about the inaccessibility of mobile apps. In it I used Apple iOS as an example of a accessible platform and then bemoaned the fact that many apps running under iOS were... [Read More...]

The accessibility bugs project - good start, more to do

rss@it-analysis.com (Peter Abrahams, Bloor Research) — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 07:00:00 +0100

A group of a11y (the accessible way to write accessibility) specialist have decided to try and get the browser manufacturers to fix browser inconsistencies that impact on a11y. There are a variety of... [Read More...]

Inaccessibility of mobile apps and ebooks

rss@it-analysis.com (Peter Abrahams, Bloor Research) — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 07:00:00 +0100

I recently wrote an article about the new iPhone 4S accessibility. Having continued to use it I am still impressed by its accessibility features. However - how often is there a however! - the... [Read More...]

Animated gifs are a turn off

rss@it-analysis.com (Peter Abrahams, Bloor Research) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 07:00:00 +0100

Amongst the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 (WCAG 2.0) is guideline 2.3 that says 'Do not design content in a way that is known to cause seizures'. This relates to fast flashing images that... [Read More...]

iPhone 4S Accessibility

rss@it-analysis.com (Peter Abrahams, Bloor Research) — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 07:00:00 +0100

The iPhone 4 and iOS 4 combined to create a highly accessible smart phone. iPhone 4S and iOS 5 have added new features that improve the accessibility and ease of use for people with disabilities. The... [Read More...]

Faster keyboard entry Open Adaptxt

rss@it-analysis.com (Peter Abrahams, Bloor Research) — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 06:00:00 +0100

The human race is spending more and more time inputting information into electronic devices of all types. So it is important that we find easier, faster and more accurate ways of transferring the... [Read More...]

Thunder in the Libraries

rss@it-analysis.com (Peter Abrahams, Bloor Research) — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 06:00:00 +0100

Why would a blind person go into a library? Maybe to borrow a book in Braille, or more likely to borrow a talking book, CD or DVD. In Lambeth the new answer is to learn to use a computer. Computers... [Read More...]

Lion Mail enhances usability

rss@it-analysis.com (Peter Abrahams, Bloor Research) — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 06:00:00 +0100

I wrote an article about new accessibility features in Apple OSX 10.7, Lion, just before it was available, I have been running Lion on both my iMac and Mac Book Air and all my comments hold. The new... [Read More...]

OneVoice announced a major web accessibility initiative at e-access 11

rss@it-analysis.com (Peter Abrahams, Bloor Research) — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 06:00:00 +0100

The OneVoice for Accessible ICT Coalition announced a new web accessibility initiative at the recent e-access 11 conference. Too many websites are not accessible and one of the reasons for this is... [Read More...]

Mac accessibility improved in Lion, the latest OS X

rss@it-analysis.com (Peter Abrahams, Bloor Research) — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 06:00:00 +0100

Apple has announced the next version of OS X, the operating system for Macs, called Lion. It has 250+ new features, including 11 specific accessibility features and several more that could have... [Read More...]

OneVoice Initiative to be Announced at e-access 11

rss@it-analysis.com (Peter Abrahams, Bloor Research) — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 06:00:00 +0100

There are a very large number of websites, both in the public and private sector, that are not fully accessible. The reasons for this sad state of affairs include: Ignorance: the web site owners are... [Read More...]

250 Good News Stories at T4G Award Ceremony

rss@it-analysis.com (Peter Abrahams, Bloor Research) — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 06:00:00 +0100

The first Technology4Good Awards attracted 250 nominations; each one a good news story showing how technology, altruism, hard work and skill combined to make life better for people who are digitally... [Read More...]

e-Access 11, 28 June, is only a month away

rss@it-analysis.com (Peter Abrahams, Bloor Research) — Tue, 24 May 2011 06:00:00 +0100

e-Access is only a month away and will be the best e-Access conference to date.The committee arranging it have brought together a stellar group of speakers. In one day you will hear from: Ed Vaizey,... [Read More...]

National Digital 11 conference - digital by default, accessible by default

rss@it-analysis.com (Peter Abrahams, Bloor Research) — Tue, 17 May 2011 07:00:00 +0100

The UK National Digital conference ND11 took place last week on 11–12 May 2011. It was run by RaceOnline and it concentrated on how to get the 9 million people in the UK, who are still not... [Read More...]

The FT Bowen Craggs Web Effectiveness Index includes accessibility checks

rss@it-analysis.com (Peter Abrahams, Bloor Research) — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 06:00:00 +0100

The 5th annual Financial Times Bowen Craggs Index was published 20 April 2011 ( http://www.bowencraggs.com/ftindex/). It is an in-depth analysis of the web effectiveness of 75 of the world's top... [Read More...]

15 minute website accessibility test

rss@it-analysis.com (Peter Abrahams, Bloor Research) — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 06:00:00 +0100

There are many occasions when I want to be able to do a quick evaluation of a web site or a group of sites. To enable me to do this quickly and consistently I have developed a set of tests that... [Read More...]

Accessible PDF draft standard out for Public Comment

rss@it-analysis.com (Peter Abrahams, Bloor Research) — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 07:00:00 +0100

The BSI are asking for public comment on the forthcoming standard on accessible PDF, commonly known as PDF/UA. Comments must be submitted by 30 April 2011. The standard is officially known as ISO... [Read More...]

Mac App Store and VoiceOver does work!

rss@it-analysis.com (Peter Abrahams, Bloor Research) — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 06:00:00 +0100

I recently wrote a blog complaining about the lack of VoiceOver support for the Mac App Store (MAS). Apple have responded by showing me how to access the MAS using VoiceOver. So I must apologise that... [Read More...]

Searching for Firefox accessibility add-ons

rss@it-analysis.com (Peter Abrahams, Bloor Research) — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 07:00:00 +0100

About 2 years ago I pointed out to Mozilla development that it was very difficult to find add-ons that were relevant to accessibility. The basic problem was that there were a limited number of... [Read More...]

Accessibility issue with Apple Mac App store

rss@it-analysis.com (Peter Abrahams, Bloor Research) — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 07:00:00 +0100

I have written articles over the years praising Apple for taking accessibility very seriously and enthusing on how it has been integrated into Apple products to the benefit of people with... [Read More...]

UK Technology4Good awards launched

rss@it-analysis.com (Peter Abrahams, Bloor Research) — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 07:00:00 +0100

These exciting new Awards celebrate the hard work of the many charities, businesses�and individuals across the UK who use digital technologies to help change our communities for the better.... [Read More...]

Usability and Accessibility of Apple Mac App Store

rss@it-analysis.com (Peter Abrahams, Bloor Research) — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 11:00:00 +0100

I recently set up a contact group in my Apple Mac address book. I wanted to distribute a document with the names, telephones and email addresses so that all the members of the group could contact... [Read More...]

Web Accessibility Code of Practice

rss@it-analysis.com (Peter Abrahams, Bloor Research) — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 07:00:00 +0100

In December 2010 the British standards Institute (BSi) published Web accessibility - Code of practice (BS 8878:2010); this document... [Read More...]

UK Digital Champion's report on DirectGov – More Power to the Centre

rss@it-analysis.com (Peter Abrahams, Bloor Research) — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 07:00:00 +0100

In October, Martha Lane Fox, UK Digital Champion, wrote to Francis Maude, Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, with the results of a strategic review of DirectGov he had... [Read More...]

Virtual Assistants improve accessibility

rss@it-analysis.com (Peter Abrahams, Bloor Research) — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 07:00:00 +0100

For anyone with a disability, navigating a website is likely to take longer than it would for a fully able person. If you have very good eyesight, good hand-eye coordination, the ability to scan text... [Read More...]

Adobe Reader X improves usability and accessibility

rss@it-analysis.com (Peter Abrahams, Bloor Research) — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 07:00:00 +0100

Adobe have recently started shipping Adobe Reader X (pronounced ten) with some interesting new features. In previous versions of the Reader it was only possible to add comments or editing if the... [Read More...]

Fix My Web get Feedback from Users

rss@it-analysis.com (Peter Abrahams, Bloor Research) — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 07:00:00 +0100

I recently wrote a blog 'Fix The Web Campaign for reporting web accessibility issues' that describes a new method for reporting web accessibility issues on any site. It lead me to think that a good... [Read More...]

Fix The Web Campaign for reporting web accessibility issues

rss@it-analysis.com (Peter Abrahams, Bloor Research) — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 07:00:00 +0100

An ingenious new campaign called Fix the Web has been launched to tackle the problem of inaccessible websites on a massive scale. Fix the Web is an initiative of Citizens... [Read More...]

eAccessibility Plan Launched by UK Government

rss@it-analysis.com (Peter Abrahams, Bloor Research) — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 07:00:00 +0100

Plans to improve public websites, upgrade IT equipment and provide better online content to suit the needs of disabled people were unveiled by Communications Minister, Ed Vaizey today, 12 October... [Read More...]

Can anyone use audio CAPTCHA

rss@it-analysis.com (Peter Abrahams, Bloor Research) — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 07:00:00 +0100

I recently met a blind student and added him to my LinkedIn buddies. As many of my readers will know if you log on to LinkedIn the first screen you get is a CAPTCHA (Completely Automated Public... [Read More...]