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We write about Digital Accessibility. This includes topics related accessibility news, accessibility events, accessibility techniques, reviews of websites and applications, tips related to accessibility and in simple words all possible things about digital accessibility.

Posted in

September

2018

September 23: International Sign Language Day

Sign Language Pic Source: Google
September 22, 2018 Srinivasu Chakravarthula Leave a Comment Accessibility, General ,

It’s great to learn September 23rd is observed as International Sign Language Day. (Thanks to Akhil Paul of Sense International India for tweeting about it). 

International Day of Sign Language is observed every year on 23rd September along with the International Week of the Deaf. The choice of 23rd September as a date is same as the date when World Federation of the Deaf was established in 1951. 

While sign language is the communication language for people with hearing impairment, everyone takes benefit of it indirectly. In fact, communication of every human being starts with sign language. Let’s notice how a two year child communicates of his / her needs; while some children at the age group start to speak, but many just gets started to speak and they do a lot of signals to communicate. For instance, they show a thumb towards their mouth when they needs water. They show their fingers towards credal or bed, when they want to sleep etc., 

Even when people grow up, use of hand gestures to communicate is quite common. Often people show their fingers to a direction to indicate a location (though that’s not the right way to communicate). But that help sometimes. Even if we do not know to communicate in sign-language, since we do a lot of signs in our routine life, it enable us to communicate with people who are hard of hearing. 

Through this day, let’s raise awareness about sign-language and its importance. It’s great to see Braille and sign-languages are being introduced as subjects by CBSE for children with disabilities.

Resources:

#RPDAct2016 – norms for physical infrastructure

September 19, 2018 Srinivasu Chakravarthula Leave a Comment RPWD Act 2016 , ,

The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016 (India) is a game changer and aim to eliminate barriers in the lives of people with disabilities. Here is what the act has improve accessibility of physical infrastructure. 

Mandatory observance of accessibility norms
44. (1) No establishment shall be granted permission to build any structure 
if the building plan does not adhere to the rules formulated by the Central 
Government under section 40.

(2) No establishment shall be issued a certificate of completion or allowed 
to take occupation of a building unless it has adhered to the rules 
formulated by the Central Government.

Time limit for making existing infrastructure and premises accessible and 
action for that purpose
45. (1) All existing public buildings shall be made accessible in accordance 
with the rules formulated by the Central Government within a period not 
exceeding five years from the date of notification of such rules:

Provided that the Central Government may grant extension of time to the 
States on a case to case basis for adherence to this provision depending on 
their state of preparedness and other related parameters.

(2) The appropriate Government and the local authorities shall formulate and 
publish an action plan based on prioritisation, for providing accessibility 
in all their buildings and spaces providing essential services such as all 
primary health centres, civil hospitals, schools, railway stations and bus 
stops.
Here is the relevant section from RPD Rules, 2017:

CHAPTER VI: ACCESSIBILITY
15. Rules for Accessibility. — (1) Every establishment shall comply with 
the following standards relating to physical environment, transport and 
information and communication technology, namely:–

(a) standard for public buildings as specified in the Harmonised Guidelines 
and Space Standards for Barrier Free Built Environment for Persons With 
Disabilities and Elderly Persons as issued by the Government of India, 
Ministry of Urban Development in March, 2016;

Thanks to Amiyo Biswas for extracting this specific information on Access India. Let’s spread the word and work towards implementation of RPD Act. 

Upcoming Accessibility Events in Bangalore

September 16, 2018 Srinivasu Chakravarthula Leave a Comment Accessibility , , , ,

In next few weeks, there are a series of interesting accessibility events are happening in Bangalore, India. These are some interesting events that not only brings platform to gain/share knowledge but also make a lot of friends. 

Design @ Business

This is a by invitation only event taking place on 21st September, 2018 at Informatica. While discussions are focused on design related topics, there is also one quick talk by me titled “Accessibility practice at Enterprise product companies”.  Visit Design@Business website for details. 

Bangalore Accessibility and Inclusive Design meet-up for September 2018

Image result for bangalore design for accessibility meetup

As part of initiatives to raise awareness about accessibility Prakat Solutions organizes Bangalore Accessibility and Inclusive Design meet-up once in two months.  This month event is hosted in partnership with PayPal India on 27th September, 2018. Agenda for this months event is:

  • Welcome Address by Guru Bhat, General Manager, PayPal India
  • Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act: What’s in for corporate? – Srinivasu Chakravarthula, Lead Accessibility, Informatica
  • HTML 5 API, AI and People with disabilities – Nawaz Khan, Accessibility Evangelist, PayPal
  • Accessibility and Aesthetics ByPrakash Ramamurthy, PayPal

This event is going to happen at PayPal’s new office in Bangalore. Visit Bangalore Design for Accessibility meet-up page to join the conversation.

Inclusive Design 24

Inclusive Design 24

The Paciello Group hosts fabulous accessibility talks for 24 hours on 11th October, 2018. I’ll be speaking about “Building Accessible Websites using WordPress” at 11:30 AM (Indian Standard Time). I will be speaking from Intuit Bangalore office as it falls under same day of Intuit Annual Accessibility Summit. View Schedule of #ID24. 

Intuit Annual Accessibility Summit

Intuit hosts accessibility summit with exiting series of activities followed by a dinner at their office in Bangalore. This event will happen on 11th October, 2018. Stay tuned for more details. 

New Success Criterion in WCAG 2.1: 2.5.1 Pointer Gestures (Level A)

September 4, 2018 Srinivasu Chakravarthula 1 comment Accessibility, WCAG 2.1 Checklist, Web Accessibility ,

Success Criterion 2.5.1: 2.5.1 Pointer Gestures (Level A): All functionality that uses multipoint or path-based gestures for operation can be operated with a single pointer without a path-based gesture, unless a multipoint or path-based gesture is essential.

With increase in touch devices, method of pointer gestures have become quite common. It has also become popular when users can use diverse range of gestures. 

Let’s take an example of a news app; by use of pinch, user can zoom in and zoom out the text. However, when user does not have ability to pinch, there should be alternate method of achieving the same functionality. Perhaps by using Zoom-in and Zoom-out buttons or with an option in app settings. 

That said, this success criterion does not to apply to functionality provided for the operating systems – such as swiping down to bring notification menu or functionality provided in assistive technologies; such as talk back (screen reader on Android) has its own gestures for ease of use. 

Another exception is where path based gesture is a mandatory such as drawing a signature. 

How to test?

Identify if a functionality requires use of path based gesture such as swiping, dragging or drawing. One of the examples would be “Place an order” element on Amazon app where user requires to swipe from left to right to complete the order. Another example would be zoom-in or zoom-out on maps.