The ATI Google Apps Accessibility Evaluation Project tested the accessibility of Gmail Chat, Google Calendar, Google Sites and Google Docs using automated, manual and user testing with screen readers.
The report showed a number of accessibility issues are present in the Google Apps suite, and based on these results made the following recommendations:
Google, which bought YouTube in 2006, has been working to improve the service, but the article highlights the huge challenges it faces. To be accurate, the software must be able to recognise a million words, the different ways they can be pronounced, and their different sounds according to context (whether a person’s voice is raised or not, for example).
It must also distinguish between speech which needs to be captioned and background noise, and the audio quality of many videos posted on YouTube is very poor.
Using a Samsung smartphone or tablet, viewers watch captions or subtitles at any session at participating cinemas via the MovieReading app, which uses the device’s microphone to recognise the audio track of a film and synchronise captions accordingly. Currently nine Space Cinema locations across Italy offer the service, including in Rome, Milan and Naples.
Dr Hollier’s presentation, ‘Getting online – accessibility tools for seniors with disabilities’, will look at the accessibility features of computers and mobile devices, including Windows, Mac, iPhone, iPad, Google Android devices and future trends.
Access to media empowers people of all ages to be independent, gain knowledge, make their own choices and be active members of our society.
Australia’s ageing population is projected to result in large increases in the number of people with a vision or hearing impairment. The most recent research predicts:
