WebConnect - system design
Project: WebConnect
Project team: n/a
Class: PDI Studio I (Fall 2007)
Objective: What do the elderly need from professional designers? Conduct research on users' needs and circumstances using an "Outside-In" Design Methodology. Then design an assistive system or an assistive device for the elderly.
Project summary: WebConnect will simplify and revolutionize the validation system as a whole. By employing professional developers who understand the criteria and how to implement WCAG 2.0 guidelines, WebConnect can ensure that each site that goes through the process is accessible to most, if not all, elderly and disabled people. This regulation of the system would be much smoother and efficient, so more websites would be willing to go through the process. This would lead to more accessible and better coded sites, which would benefit the visually impaired and elderly, as well as the public as a whole.
WebConnect - abstract
There are approximately 10 million people in the United States with blindness or low vision, a visual impairment that cannot be fully corrected with surgery, therapy, or aids such as eyeglasses and contact lenses. This means that there are 10 million people in the world whose vision is so bad that they cannot read a newspaper at a normal distance, let alone access the internet. Out of this number, there are 5.5 million visually impaired victims that are over 65 years old (AFB). One of the largest causes of low vision among people over 60 years old is Macular Degeneration, which affects the middle of the retina and makes it difficult to focus on details and small objects (Lighthouse International, 2007).
It is becoming a great issue that the elderly and visually disabled are having problems accessing websites. To rectify this problem, the Web Accessibility Initiative Committee (WAI) implemented the Web Content Accessibility Guide (WCAG) in 1999, setting standards towards designing for web accessibility. WCAG 1.0 created a set of guidelines to make websites more accessible to the elderly and disabled by requiring for the coding to be simple, standardized, and straight-forward to make them compatible with assistive technology such as screen readers and text browsers.
While the guidelines helped make more web pages accessible in the past, the system is now outdated. In the past 5 years, the WAI has been working on the new version, WCAG 2.0. However, the standards are inefficient, unclear, and difficult to implement. WCAG 2.0 comes in 3 documents: the actual document, a document explaining the new system, and a list of techniques for using it. However, all three combined at 450, and considering that the understanding WCAG 2.0 document is twice as long as the actual document, there is a serious issue in efficiency. Also, the process of validating a website is too long and confusing. There are way too many online websites that offer validation services, and each is different. They need to be standardized.
The process of coding a web accessible site is tedious and the system to get it validated is confusing and inefficient. The complicated system of web validation and its vague guidelines lead up to one general solution: WebConnect.
WebConnect is a nonprofit organization funded by the federal government that employs professional developers of all ages that work together to improve the validation process. The employees clearly understand the guidelines set in WCAG 2.0 and work with designers from other websites to help them create accessible websites. Afterwards, they help to certify the websites and provide each site with both the original W3C button as well as the WebConnect certified button. The WebConnect button links back to the WebConnect website where visitors can choose to make a donation to support the site. Also, when some websites begin to gain that button on their webpage, their competitors will want that as well, leading them to make their sites accessibly (Accessible Web Design, 2006). After the site has been validated, the WebConnect employees constantly keep track of the site to make that that it stays continually accessible to the visually disabled and elderly.
The WebConnect website also contains many resources. One of the main ones is a database with links to reliable sites that provide assistive technologies. This will help to standardize programs to ensure maximum compatibility with WCAG guidelines and accessible websites. Also, there will be a search engine and index of certified websites to make it as easy as possible for the users to find what they’re looking for. Also, every site that they find through the search engine will be guaranteed to be accessible.
WebConnect is a feasible solution because it simplifies the validation process, which leads to the creation of more web accessible sites. This in turn helps to make it easier for the elderly and visually impaired to access more websites on the internet using assistive technology. Also, since the employees are keeping a close watch over already validated sites, they are able to keep track of if the site continues to be accessible and fix it quickly if it fails. It has the potential to increase traffic to accessible sites, and promotes the idea that web accessibility is something that all federal sites should aim for.
WebConnect - important sources
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Lighthouse International: A non-profit organization that works to aid those with low vision to promote independent and productive lifestyles. The Lighthouse website provided valuable statistics and information on vision health and causes of vision loss.
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WCAG Guidelines 2.0: Online version of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0. This was a resource that detailed the content so far of WCAG 2.0, which is currently still being edited.
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WebAIM Introduction to Web Accessibility: Provided a quick and simple introduction to web accessibility. WebAIM listed important bullet points of the laws and standards concerning web accessibility, and listed a few principles of accessible web design.
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© Copyright 2007
Tiffany Hu
Product Design and Innovation 2011
