Enhancing Web 2.0 Accessibility Via AxsJAX: A Tutorial at Google - Charles L....

Google Tech Talks July 15, 2008 ABSTRACT Google is the Web's premier creator of user-friendly Web 2.0 applications, and we have long viewed it as part of our mission to do for users in the long tail (AKA users with special needs) what we've achieved for the mainstream user see this Google I/O talk entitled Design Patterns for Enhanced Accessibility for background. Accessibility 2.0 is now a hot topic on the Web and we would like to move from a world where AJAX applications were a straight No-No with respect to blind users to a world where these same technologies are used to enhance their usability for everyone. Google-AxsJAX is an Open Source framework for injecting usability enhancements into Web 2.0 applications. In this talk, Charles Chen and T. V. Raman will give a hands-on tutorial on using AxsJAX. The tutorial will cover the following: A brief introduction to the additional opcodes introduced by W3C ARIA to the assembly language of the Web (AKA HTML+JavaScript). AxsJAX library abstractions built on the above that help Web developers generate relevant feedback via the user's adaptive technology of choice. Steps in creating fluent eyes-free interaction to Web applications, including enabling rapid access to parts of a complex Web page. The tutorial will provide a step-by-step walk through in defining AxsJAX enhancements to a Web page including: An overview of the developer tools we use. Discovering pain-points in Web interaction and designing improvements iteratively. And time permitting, we might even demonstrate how Raman now makes up for all the time he save thanks to an efficient eyes-free auditory user interface by playing JawBreaker and reading XKCD via their AxsJAXed versions. Note that writing AxsJAX enhancements to Web applications can help you win cool swag and bragging rights! The goal of this hands-on tutorial is to help you get there faster! Speaker: T. V. Raman T. V. Raman works on auditory interfaces and Web applications at Google. Speaker: Charles L. Chen Charles L. Chen is the author of Fire Vox -- http://www.clcworld.net -- an Open Source extension to Firefox that turns Firefox into a talking Web browser.