LL-L "Technica" 2003.05.21 (02) [E/LS]

[Lowlands-L]

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L O W L A N D S - L * 21.May.2003 (02) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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From: Kenneth Rohde Christiansen <kenneth at gnu.org>
Subject: LL-L "Technica" 2003.05.21 (01) [E]

Here is also a site that might be of use:

http://www.hicom.net/~oedipus/wai/ua/tests/

Ha' det, Kenneth

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From: "Ben J. Bloomgren" <godsquad at cox.net>
Subject: LL-L "Technica" 2003.05.21 (01) [E]

Ron, I have some gripes. Too many web pages try to "LOOK" pretty, and it
screws everything up. They use those Macromedia flashes that move
constantly. Jaws, the speech programme, cannot do them! It stays on what
it
thinks is one character when the [bleeping] thing has moved. It floors
me
when they put essential links in them. The key to remember is that looks
are
not everything!!!!!!!!!! You have to consider how it is navigated more
than
how it appears. Graphics are fine, but you want to use the various ways
of
explaining them, as Jaws cannot interpret them. It says something like
"Graphic 121) or simply "Graphic."

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From: Sandy Fleming [sandy at scotstext.org]
Subject: "Technica"

> From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
> Subject: Technica
>
> Here is a request for Ben, Sandy and whoever else is knowledgeable about
> the needs of sight-, hearing- and otherwise impaired people.  Among a

The main problem I have with web pages is when music is
presented but there's no visual representation. This
could be done as sheet music, or even better as abc
format, which is a simple text format which can be
converted by appropriate software into either sheet
music or audio files. The abc homepage is at
http://www.gre.ac.uk/~c.walshaw/abc/

Of course, Web language teaching materials suffer the
same problem as most language course books on paper -
no IPA representation of the sound.

Sandy
http://scotstext.org/

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From: "Wim" <wkv at home.nl>
Subject: LL-L "keyboard fixed" 2003.05.22

Moi,

Laaglanders,  mien komputer döt 't weer! Noa völle gesüük en gepröts.
Gien virus..  't totsen böd was kaput. Dös bin ik noar een Kringloop
winkel ehgoan, en ép vör ien fieftg... een "nye" ekocht... alle  letters
bin't d'r weer!
Ajü hè!


Wim.
[Wim Verdoolt]

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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Technica

Thanks a lot for the responses (so far) to my accessibility design
question, folks.

Ben:

> Ron, I have some gripes. Too many web pages try to "LOOK" pretty, and it
> screws everything up. They use those Macromedia flashes that move
> constantly.

Thanks for letting us know, Ben, just a day after I enrolled in a number
of classes teaching Macromedia Flash and related programs ...  Ah, well,
they do have their uses, especially for creating interactive visual
aids.  However, I can see the problems they can create if a site
*relies* on them and uses them merely for looks.  Perhaps in such cases
one needs to either add a caption explaining the "graphic" or offer an
alternative no-graphics route, i.e., parallel series of pages.  Also,
one always ought to embed a brief description in any web graphic.  (They
are the ones that temporarily show up in a small flag if you rest the
cursor on a graphic without clicking.)  Perhaps JAWS can read those.

Ben, how does JAWS cope with those "smilies" and others types of
character-based "emotica", such as :) or :-) representing a smile?

Sandy:

> The main problem I have with web pages is when music is
> presented but there's no visual representation.

Thanks, Sandy.  As you said, this can be easily remedied.  It also
reminds me to add the sheet music to my Klaus Groth site
(http://www.geocities.com/grothwarken/).  (We do have the sheet music on
the "Auld Lang Syne" page: http://www.sassisch.net/auld_lang_syne.htm)

Since in our case we deal with language and oftentimes want to
demonstrate phonetic realizations, we are tempted to add audio files
only, assuming (probably correctly) that the majority of people prefer
those and cannot read the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA).
However, for the sake of deaf people we ought to add this visual aid
anyway, and/or descriptions of the sounds in question for people
unfamiliar with IPA.  The advantage of phonetic transcription is that it
can be learned and at least theoretically understood even by those deaf
people who have never had any hearing.  This is not to say that audio
files are bad.  I would like to see more of them, but the ought to be
well labeled and accompanied by visual aids for the benefit of people
without hearing (and for others who have a hard time picking up details
in the audio versions).

Wim:

> Laaglanders,  mien komputer döt 't weer! Noa völle gesüük en gepröts.
> Gien virus..  't totsen böd was kaput. Dös bin ik noar een Kringloop
> winkel ehgoan, en ép vör ien fieftg... een "nye" ekocht... alle  letters
> bin't d'r weer!

Goud, dat Du düt perbleem achter d'n rüg hest, Wim.  Vaken sünd sey
lichtfardig un billig löyst, sükse perblemen, sünd gaarnich so "high
tech".  Tastaturen [totsenböde] gaat vaken eyrder in dey wikken [kaput]
as dey kompjuters.  My is dat al twey maal malöyrd, un dey prys vun dey
tastatuur speelt daar by mannig maal keyn rul.

Gröytens/Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

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