Berman Blog

Article on Choosing an Accessible CMS

Wed, 21 Mar 2007 21:34:00 -0500

Juicy Studio has an excellent article on Choosing an Accessible CMS by Joshue O Connor Senior Accessibility Consultant CFIT. Several content management systems including Drupal, Joomla, and Mambo were tested.

Links for Information on Captioning

Fri, 20 Oct 2006 13:12:00 -0500

In preparing for a podcast on captioning, I found several great links. WebAIM has some great articles on Rich Media Accessibility including the article, Web Captioning Overview . The National Association of the Deaf also has some very good information on Web Captioning .

Interview with Steve Faulkner

Fri, 28 Jul 2006 09:53:00 -0500

Web Standards Group Interviews Steve Faulkner

The Web Standards Group has done an interview with Steve Faulkner.

Steve Faulkner has many years experience as a web developer and accessibility consultant. As well as his ongoing consulting work, he presents & runs workshops at conferences, and guest lectures at universities on the practical implementation of web accessibility. He is also leading the development of Web Accessibility testing software in collaboration with organizations and individuals from around the world.

Steve talks about accessibility, the Web Accessibility toolbar, the Web Accessibility Tools Consortium, title attributes, AJAX and WCAG2.

The interview can be found at http://webstandardsgroup.org/features/steve-faulkner.cfm.

Even the thriller becomes accessible to all

Thu, 22 Jun 2006 18:56:00 -0500

Summary: Even the thriller becomes accessible to all

This posting is an English translation of an Italian book offering posted by OMNIA OFFICE on March 10, 2006 entitled "Pax Tibi, Avogador Meus." It is the first non-technical book to be offered in TetraLibro format.

Even the thriller becomes accessible to all

Pax Tibi Avogador Meus is the first detective book distributed in an innovative format accessible even to people with disabilities

To read is a right for all. With this spirit OMNIA OFFICE, already engaged in the Web field with the promotion of standards and accessibility with thematic portals (through which issues the Portal of Venice), and with the development of Web-based solutions, has decided to start publishing in order to produce innovative and accessible works. Thanks to the use of the TetraLibro format, a first-time utilization from the Italian International Webmasters Association (association of expert developers in accessible materials), OMNIA OFFICE has been able to achieve a text with a CD-ROM that contains three different digital versions to guarantee the readability even to people with visual (visually handicapped or blind) and motor disabilities, as well as those users that use mobile peripherals (hand-held computers).

"The use of this mystery", says Sonia Tommasini owner of OMNIA OFFICE, "demonstrates that it is possible to guarantee with a single work the right of reading to all, without having to differentiate the channels of distribution of the book. With this work we answer to the appeal to make more parts, like the Cavazza Institute and the Association of Bolognesian writers chair of the thriller Carlo Lucarelli."

To show the uniqueness of the initiative, the first ten copies of the book - numbered and autographed by the authors - will be placed for auction on E-bay to favor collectors of mysteries who surely will want to have the first exemplary to the world of such work.

The Book

Venice, winter of 1579. The Avogador de Comun, Sier Paul Priuli, of noble lineage, Magistrate of the Most Serene Republic, inquires into a series of crimes that have occurred in the city, assisted by his doctor - Hebrew astrologer Abraham of the Veronese, poet Veronica Franco and courtier Tiziana Orio. The conspiracy develops between intrigues of state with an unexpected dramatic turn of events in the Venice Renaissance, to the height of its own economic and political power.

The return of the Avogador, after successfully obtained from the published publication from Hobby & Work, marks the beginning of a new series of historical thrillers in TetraLibro modality: Pax Tibi, Avogador Meus is the first thriller in the world accessible to all, independent of the disability.

In appendix of the book is presented a historical Venician recipe "Flavor of Grape with White Garlic served with Sturgeon" drawn from Antonio Bufi, Chef of "The Bistrot de Venise", so readers can get a taste of the dishes served to the Venician nobles of the time.

The Authors

Barbara Zolezzi: Venecian mystery writer, already winner of the MystFest di Cattolica with the story "From woman to woman", in collaboration with Mrs. De Pieri, among the thirty best Italian thrillers published by "Killers & Co." (Sonzogno Publisher), author of several romantic historical thrillers let alone numerous novels.

Elisabetta De Pieri: Venecian, lives and works on Venice Lido. She has collaborated with Barbara Zolezzi from 1984 to 2000.

The book has obtained the moral sponsorship of the City of Venice, which is actively engaged in innovative publishing in the field of accessibility of texts, and can be considered the first non-technical text in accordance with the law of the 22 previewed technical requirements from law 4/2004; the accessibility of the digital versions has been verified through the OSI (Observatory of Internet Sites) commission of the Italian Union of the Blind.

For more information: http://edizioni.omniaoffice.com

The First TetraLibro is Born^™

Thu, 22 Jun 2006 18:05:00 -0500

Summary: The First TetraLibro is Born

This posting is an English translation of an Italian press release first posted by International Webmasters Association Italia on November 30, 2004 entitled "Nasce il primo TetraLibro(tm): i testi accessibili diventano realtà."

The First TetraLibro^™ is born: accessible texts become reality

International Webmasters Association/HTML Writers Guild (IWA/HWG) creates the first accessible multi-format text also for customers with disabilities

Communication Number 73 - 30 November, 2004 produced by the Printing Office

Now available, the first TetraLibro^™ produced by IWA/HWG and dedicated to the accessibility of the Web: "Accessibility: from theory to reality" [Accessibilità: dalla teoria alla realtà] (ISBN: 88-7633-000-3), a work of 816 pages containing all the knowledge regarding "Web accessibility" in which the greatest experts on accessibility and usability of the World Wide Web have participated to communicate the purpose of Web accessibility.

The innovation of TetraLibro^™ offers a unique solution, four different forms of the same text: paper-based, accessible PDF, accessible XHTML 1.0 Strict, and Microsoft Reader (for mobile peripherals like PDA).

With this method of publication, readers will be able to make use of the classical paper-based form or use the digital format which ever they prefer, as a result the reading is available also for customers who - because of disability - cannot access the paper text. For example, a visually handicapped customer will be able to insert the CD-ROM into the CD or DVD drive and the text will be read by the screen reader normally used when working on the computer. The visually-impaired will be able to use 1.0 version of XHTML Strict and reorganizing the characters according to their own requirements likewise customers with motor disabilities will be able to easily navigate the same content as in the paper version.

"It is the first example in the world of an accessible text published in 4 formats", declares the president of IWA Italy, Roberto Scano, emphasizing that "alternative formats of the text are not just useful to subjects with disabilities but also to users of the paper text."

"We consider this innovation an example of historical change in publishing", continues Scano, "remembering that all texts before being printed on paper are originally digital documents: it is therefore professionalism of the publisher to supply the alternative form along with the classic paper text." "Finally", concludes Scano, "the choice to supply all the texts in a unique (or sole) solution does not create discriminations and costs relative to the different forms of distribution: a single text with an attached CD-ROM does not demand technological innovation by the distribution chains but it makes possible the access of texts from ‘some’ to ‘all’. The editors in any case should appreciate such possibilities for publication, and are now inclined to supply our contribution and experience in matters of accessibility of the content."

The book "Accessibility: from theory to reality" is the first of a series of texts the IWA Italy, the Italian section of IWA/HWG, will make available in the tetralibro format. The texts can be purchased from the distributor, Librando.it (http://www.librando.it). More information on the texts is available on the site, http://edizioni.iwa-italy.org.

Word to XML, XHTML, or HTML Conversion Tool

Wed, 21 Jun 2006 16:34:00 -0500

qad_doc2xml is a freeware utility from Frank-IT-Beratung.de that converts simple structured Word documents to XML, XHTML, or HTML, which is very nice when you want to offer multiple file formats such as accessible HTML, accessible PDF, and RTF for a document. Unlike other tools that generate HTML markup, qad_doc2xml does not create tag soup. If the Word document is already styled to create an accessible PDF, it is very easy to convert it to accessible XHTML or HTML using qad_doc2xml.

Interview with Roberto Scano (Part 2)

Fri, 24 Mar 2006 02:17:00 -0500

Summary: Interview with Roberto Scano (Part 2)

On March 17th, I talked with Roberto Scano, an Italian accessibility expert, about several accessibility-related issues. Due to the length of the conversation, the interview is in two parts. The first part is Interview with Roberto Scano (Part 1).

[More]

Interview with Roberto Scano (Part 1)

Fri, 24 Mar 2006 01:23:00 -0500

Summary: Interview with Roberto Scano (Part 1)

On March 17th, I talked with Roberto Scano, an Italian accessibility expert, about several accessibility-related issues. Due to the length of the conversation, the interview is in two parts.

[More]

Berman Blog

Article on Choosing an Accessible CMS

Links for Information on Captioning

Interview with Steve Faulkner

Web Standards Group Interviews Steve Faulkner

Even the thriller becomes accessible to all

Summary: Even the thriller becomes accessible to all

Even the thriller becomes accessible to all

Pax Tibi Avogador Meus is the first detective book distributed in an innovative format accessible even to people with disabilities

The Book

The Authors

The First TetraLibro is Born™

Summary: The First TetraLibro is Born

The First TetraLibro™ is born: accessible texts become reality

International Webmasters Association/HTML Writers Guild (IWA/HWG) creates the first accessible multi-format text also for customers with disabilities

Word to XML, XHTML, or HTML Conversion Tool

Interview with Roberto Scano (Part 2)

Summary: Interview with Roberto Scano (Part 2)

Interview with Roberto Scano (Part 1)

Summary: Interview with Roberto Scano (Part 1)

The First TetraLibro is Born^™

The First TetraLibro^™ is born: accessible texts become reality