Dr. Ehud Reiter, Computing Science, University of Aberdeen1 Internet for All l Internationalisation beyond English l Accessibility for disabled

Dr. Ehud Reiter, Computing Science, University of Aberdeen 1

Internet for All

Internationalisation beyond English Accessibility for disabled


Internet for All

Internet/Web should be available for everyone, including» People who don’t know English» People with disabilities

Be aware of this when designing websites and software!


International Internet

Character sets Localised web sites Computer translation


Character Sets

ASCII – only English» Standard in USA?» Still used for Internet names

Latin1 – also other W Euro Latin alpha» French, German, Swedish, …» Accented chars, eg é ß å æ» Other, eg £ ¿» Standard in UK


Unicode

Unicode» Add support for Japanese, Chinese,

Russian, Hebrew, Arabic, …– Also Linear B, Cherokee, hieroglyphics, …– http://www.unicode.org/charts/

Unicode is just a character set, need to install font as well» Complete Unicode font came with Office

2003


Unicode

In principle supported by all major programming languages, web browsers, operating systems, etc» In my experience problems can arise,

though» Java support for Unicode is not perfect


Bidirectional texts

English written left-to-right Hebrew, Arabic written right-to-left

» But embedded English left-to-right» Does strange things to page layout


Java and Unicode

Notes for Java programmers» Use Character methods

– isDigit, isLetter, etc– Don’t assume letters between “a” and “z”!

» Don’t assume chars take one byte


International Domain Name

Internet software/standards assume names are in ASCII» www.abdn.ac.uk -- OK» www.uquébec.ca -- not OK

– www.uquebec.ca instead

Unfair ….


International Domain Names

International Domain Names (IDN)» Allow Unicode in names» Based on encoding Unicode as ASCII

Spread is slow» Standard now agreed, but not yet

universally implemented.» ICANN will allow Unicode top-level

domains


Localisation

Web sites “localised” for different places» Language, currency, text direction, etc

– Spelling: eg, colour vs color

» Local news, offers» Culturally differences

– Images: modestly dressed women for muslims– Names: Icelanders don’t have last names


Example

In-depth: office.microsoft.com» Requires a lot of work!

Shallower: google.com


Internationalisation

Making one web site (or Java app) which is maximally useful worldwide» Language: simple English» Forms: allow Unicode, don’t assume

people have last names or postal codes» Avoid images that might offend some


Java again

Java Locale class specifies info about local formats, char sets, etc» Locale.UK , Locale.JAPAN

Use Locale-aware methods» Collator for string comparisons» NumberFormat for number input/output» etc


Translation

Ultimate goal is to let people read web pages in other languages» translate.google.co.uk» Quality variable, (slowly) getting better» Widely used by many non-English speakers


Accessible Internet

Not everyone uses mouse and screen to access the Internet!» Visual, motor, cognitivie disabilities

How can we help such people use the Internet?» With a little bit of effort, developers can

really enhance accessibility


Visual Disabilities

Colour- blind» Developers: don’t assume people can see

when something is red! Poor vision

» Need large fonts, screen magnifiers» Developers: DO NOT HARD-CODE

FONTS IN WEB PAGES!!!– It may “look nice” to you, but means someone

with poor vision cannot use it


Visual Disabilities

Blind» Screen readers: speak out web pages» Braille displays: display text in braille» Embossed printers: print braille

Screen readers most common» Essentially scan through a web page» Developers:

– Include ALT tags for images– Remember that blind user will not “see” entire page!


Motor Disabilities

Poor hand control» Use keyboard instead of mouse» Developers: allow keyboard control!!

No hand control (or no hands)» Scanning interface, controlled by switch

– Head switch, sip/puff

» Need special interface


Example: Scanning interface


Cognitive Disability

General» Keep things simple and clear

Dyslexia» Avoid white backgrounds, don’t justify

texts, avoid italics


Disabilities

Plenty of guidelines exist» http://www-03.ibm.com/able/guidelines

Following them makes websites more useful to disabled people, probably helps normal people as well» Helps mobile access in particular

Just need to make the effort!


Legal Aspects

Increasing legal requirement that websites be accessible to disabled» Especially for (quasi-)govt sites, such as

Aberdeen University Good business sense as well

» Biggest disabled group is elderly, and they have lots of money to spend


Internet For All

Developers (us) have moral duty to make our products available to all» People with limited English» People with disabilities

Also legal duty, sensible business Tools exist, we need to use them!


Recap: Helping *Everyone*

Internet should benefit ***everyone***, not just middle-class non-disabled English-speaking Westerners

Essential for true e-society!


Helping *Everyone*

How should Internet be used in third-world countries» Bangladesh vs India vs Chile

How can Internet help people at “bottom of heap” in UK» Will growth of Internet hurt people who

cannot or will not use it?


Helping *Everyone*

How can we make websites universally useful» Non-English speakers» disabled

How should the Internet be controlled (governed)» So that it helps everyone!

Documents

Dr. Ehud Reiter, Computing Science, University of Aberdeen1 Internet for All l Internationalisation beyond English l Accessibility for disabled