Grouper Developers Forum

[Tom Barton <>]

Keith, thanks for the tip. Yes, if that wouldn't overload your agenda, I
think it'd be great to have a couple of grouper devs join that conversation.

Tom

On 10/26/2011 9:17 AM, Keith Hazelton wrote:
> For other reasons some of us (COmanage) are looking forward to a chat
> with Colin Clark mid-November.  He's lead software architect at:
>
> http://idrc.ocad.ca/
>
> where Fluid activity is strong.  Perhaps a shared AdobeConnect session
> with him?
>
>             --Keith
> ______________________
> On Wed, 2011-10-26 at 08:10 -0500, Thomas Barton wrote:
>> Thanks Gary. One organization that might offer us the service of
>> helping our accessibility conformance is Fluid. If not today, then for
>> our next call let's decide how we will ensure conformance for the 2.2
>> UI.
>>
>> Tom (mobile)
>>
>> -----Original Message----- 
>> From: GW Brown, Information Systems and Computing
>> []
>> Received: Wednesday, 26 Oct 2011, 3:16am
>> To: Emily Eisbruch 
>> [];
>>  Grouper Dev
>> []
>> Subject: Re: [grouper-dev] Draft Minutes: Grouper-dev Call 12-Oct-2011
>>
>> --On 19 October 2011 13:06 -0400 Emily Eisbruch 
>> <>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> [AI] (Gary) will email the Grouper-Dev list with specifics on UI
>>> accessibility issues
>> Apologies for the delay:
>>
>> The original admin UI aimed to be accessible and deliberately avoided
>> the 
>> use of Javascript, partly because of cross-browser compatability
>> issues, 
>> but also because of accessibility constraints. We have subsequently
>> added 
>> Javascript for tooltips, and the Lite UI is AJAX-based.
>>
>> With the Grouper UI redesign slated for v2.2 extending Javascript use,
>> it 
>> is important to ensure that the UI is accessible. This is mandated by 
>> legislation in various countries and, in particular, is an important
>> factor 
>> for adoption in some HE institutions.
>>
>> Fortunately, accessibility standards have developed, and there are
>> many 
>> cross browser Javascript libraries which are designed to facilitate
>> the 
>> creation of accessible applications. So, in addition to the original
>> W3C 
>> standards <http://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG1AAA-Conformance>, the new UI
>> should 
>> aim to comply with WAI-ARIA  (http://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/aria).
>>
>> It looks like validation tools are a bit thin on the ground - partly 
>> because WAI-ARIA is supported in HTML 5 which is still being
>> finalized, 
>> however, <http://about.validator.nu/> and <http://validator.w3.org/>
>> have 
>> some support.
>>
>> I've always thought that there are two parts to accessibility:
>> 1) the box-ticking conformance with standards
>> 2) actual usability by real individuals who rely on accessibility
>>
>> Even if we make the effort during the re-design to ensure conformance
>> with 
>> standards it is hard to know how 'successful' we have been. Also, 
>> compliance often drifts over time as new features are added (as has 
>> happened with the current UI). Ideally we could do with some external 
>> agency (or someone with a real interest) to check our compliance and
>> its 
>> effectiveness.
>>
>> Gary
>>
>> ----------------------
>> GW Brown, IT Services
>> 
>>
>