[Accessibility_sig] question: are there any "safe" access keys?

[Jon Gibbins (dotjay)]

Amy Gelfand wrote:
> While I am no AT guru (I joined this contest for a learning 
> experience--and, boy, has it ever been one), I made one of goals for our 
> site to implement "accessible AJAX." It seems to me that the entire 
> Internet is (has?) moved away from Web sites as static online brochures 
> and toward asynchronous interaction. The latter benefits everyone 
> immeasurably--except for AT users. So is it the burden of AT 
> manufacturers to update their technology to function in a new online 
> environment?

At the moment, the most accessible that AJAX can get is to ensure that 
you use an approach of progressive enhancement and ensure that it is 
easy for your visitors to switch the AJAX functionality off. AJAX is 
fundamentally inaccessible to some visitors.

1) ensure static methods of interaction work
2) if javascript is available, use unobtrusive javascript techniques to 
add in the AJAX functionality
3) provide an obvious way for people to switch that javascript feature 
of your site off

Mozilla, IBM et al are working on new standards for dynamic methods of 
interacting with Web pages a la AJAX, only accessible. It would be down 
to browser and AT vendors to adopt these standards.


> Some site, of course, are just fine as online brochures, and a lot of 
> dynamic content is a gratuitous pain in the neck. But developers are 
> starting wise up and use AJAX for good and not for evil. It seems a 
> shame that it's all evil when ATs are concerned.

It's not necessarily true that AJAX is evil when it comes to AT. AJAX 
can certainly improve usability, just as Flash can actually improve 
accessibility for some users. There is, however, a problem with 
communication between browsers and AT when it comes to techniques like 
AJAX. It's a case of working towards improving the situation.

As a side note, I honestly believe that innovation can work both ways 
when talking about accessibility. Consideration for accessibility can 
inspire one to innovate, while innovations (like the AJAX technique) can 
inspire people to improve accessibility.

Jon

-- 
november5th.net
dotjay.co.uk