Accessibility and simple language: experiences with automatic compliance tools Dr. Carlos A Velasco Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Information Technology FIT http://www.fit.fraunhofer.de/ W3C-Tag: Das Web für Alle entsteht jetzt! 19 September 2011, Berlin
Agenda About us About our research Readability and accessibility The Web then and now Can we really test something automatically
The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft undertakes applied research of direct utility to private and public enterprise and of wide benefit to society Our Customers: Industry Service sector Public administration
The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft in Germany 60 Institutes More than 18,000 employees Bremerhaven Oldenburg Bremen Itzehoe Lübeck Hamburg Hannover Braunschweig Oberhausen Paderborn Halle Dortmund Schkopau Duisburg Kassel Schmallenberg St. Augustin Erfurt Jena Aachen Euskirchen Gießen Wachtberg Ilmenau Rostock Potsdam Magdeburg Berlin Teltow Leipzig Dresden Freiberg Chemnitz Darmstadt Würzburg Bayreuth Erlangen Bronnbach St. Ingbert Kaiserslautern Fürth Nürnberg Saarbrücken Karlsruhe Pfinztal Ettlingen Stuttgart Straubing Freising Freiburg Augsburg Garching München Oberpfaffenhofen Kandern Prien Efringen- Holzkirchen Kirchen Cottbus
Fraunhofer FIT Investigates humancentered computing in a business or engineering process context More than 100 scientists: Engineering, Computer Science, Medicine, Psychology, Business Administration, etc.
Fraunhofer FIT: research areas Cooperation Systems User-centered Computing Web Compliance Center Process Management Life Science Informatics
Web Compliance Center (WebCC) Interdisciplinary team: Computer science Engineering Pedagogics Linguistics
WebCC work areas Web Compliance Engineering for Web (2.0) applications, including Mobile Web Technical implementation User studies Accessibility SEO Development and commercialization of software tools (imergo ) Consultancy and training: industry and public sector Participation to international standards & recommendation bodies (W3C)
Agenda About us About our research Readability and accessibility The Web then and now Can we really test something automatically
Research on Web testing BenToWeb - Benchmarking Tools and Methods for the Web: http://bentoweb.org/ IST Programme (FP6): 2004 2007 Objectives: Support EARL Support WCAG 2.0 techniques and test-suites Feasibility of automatic testing procedures for: colour-contrast, low-vision, colour-blindness, navigation consistency Computational Linguistics: language simplicity
BenToWeb: DeLite test tool Developed by FU Hagen http://pi7.fernunihagen.de/forschung/bentoweb/index.html Validated with end users Needs a domain-specific vocabulary
BenToWeb: DeLite test tool
Research on Web testing I2Web - Inclusive Future-Internet Web Services: http://i2web.eu/ ICT Programme (FP7): 2010 2013 Objectives: Develop application Meta-models and abstractions Extend existing Mobile Device models to cope with: standard desktops, consumer electronics, Develop user models based on an analysis of user requirements for disabled and older people
imergo : http://imergo.com/ or http://imergo.de/
imergo Web Compliance Manager Compliance Framework Addressing the needs of industry and public sector portals Testing content, protocols, SEO,...
imergo ECMS integration
Agenda About us About our research Readability and accessibility The Web then and now Can we really test something automatically
Measuring readability (I) Readability ~ Simple language (for us) Linguistic phenomena that influence comprehension Morphology and lexicon the word level Syntax the sentence level Discourse the text level
Measuring readability (II) Flesch's Reading Ease Score (en-us!) number between 0 (for very difficult) to 100 (for very easy) average sentence length (ASL) average number of syllables per word (ASW) Score = 206.835 (1.015 * ASL) (84.6 * ASW) Adaptations to other languages
Measuring readability (III) Style recommendations for readable texts http://www.plainlanguage.gov/ http://www.plainlanguagenetwork.org/ Controlled vocabularies CFE - Caterpillar Fundamental English ScaniaSwedish Siemens-Dokumentations-Deutsch (SDD) Boeing Simplified English Checker (BSEC)
Simple language (accessibility)... the history Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 Guideline 14. Ensure that documents are clear and simple. so they may be more easily understood. Checkpoints: 14.1 Use the clearest and simplest language appropriate for a site's content. [Priority 1] 14.2 Supplement text with graphic or auditory presentations where they will facilitate comprehension of the page. [Priority 3]
Simple language (accessibility)... the history (II) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 Guideline 3.1 Readable: Make text content readable and understandable. 3.1.1 Language of Page: The default human language of each Web page can be programmatically determined. (Level A) 3.1.2 Language of Parts: The human language of each passage or phrase in the content can be programmatically determined except for proper names, technical terms, words of indeterminate language, and words or phrases that have become part of the vernacular of the immediately surrounding text. (Level AA) 3.1.3 Unusual Words: A mechanism is available for identifying specific definitions of words or phrases used in an unusual or restricted way, including idioms and jargon. (Level AAA)
Simple language (accessibility)... the history (III) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 Guideline 3.1 Readable: Make text content readable and understandable. 3.1.4 Abbreviations: A mechanism for identifying the expanded form or meaning of abbreviations is available. (Level AAA) 3.1.5 Reading Level: When text requires reading ability more advanced than the lower secondary education level after removal of proper names and titles, supplemental content, or a version that does not require reading ability more advanced than the lower secondary education level, is available. (Level AAA) 3.1.6 Pronunciation: A mechanism is available for identifying specific pronunciation of words where meaning of the words, in context, is ambiguous without knowing the pronunciation. (Level AAA)
Simple language (accessibility)... the history (IV) Barrierefreie Informationstechnik-Verordnung 2.0 (BITV 2.0) Hauptunterschied zu BITV 1.0 - auf Homepage von Internet- und Intranetangeboten müssen in Leichter Sprache sowie Gebärdensprache angeboten werden: Informationen zum Inhalt (z.b. über die Behörde, Anlaufstellen) Hinweise zur Navigation (Navigationsprinzipien) Verweise auf weitere Informationen, die in Leichter Sprache oder Gebärdensprache vorliegen Priorität 2
WCAG 2.0 Lower secondary education level the two or three year period of education that begins after completion of six years of school and ends nine years after the beginning of primary education
WCAG 2.0: Sufficient Techniques for 3.1.5 G86: Providing a text summary that requires reading ability less advanced than the upper secondary education level G103: Providing visual illustrations, pictures, and symbols to help explain ideas, events, and processes G79: Providing a spoken version of the text G153: Making the text easier to read G160: Providing sign language versions of information, ideas, and processes that must be understood in order to use the content
Agenda About us About our research Readability and accessibility The Web then and now Can we really test something automatically
How the Web looked like
How the Web looks like
Agenda About us About our research Readability and accessibility The Web then and now Can we really test something automatically
Practical examples...