Who You Calling A Jesse?

Interesting conversation today that started off with (edited for dramatic effect):

• me: “I am pretty sure what we are doing is not going to be accessible and is going to cause us grief” (me went on about Ontarians with Disabilities Act, University’s commitment to accessibility, etc)
• softeng1: “What will? AJAX? I am sure it can be made accessible” – goes to google, pulls up an article from Juicy Studio
• softeng2: “What exactly is not following the law?”

At this point I probably got annoying because the problem with accessibility is that it is an art over a science. Laws are vague for good reason—there is no black and white, if there was technology would make the law redundant quickly (thinking PDF being a ‘bad technology’ in Australia). I went into the fact screen readers have a heck of a time when things change and there is no page refresh and how stuff not working, at least a little, without js is a problem.

The conversation went on with the software developers insisting there is a software solution. Which is understandable but that is because I got annoyed with the brush off instead of going into the problem. Making a web application accessible isn’t only about using screen reader, I missed that but I am not sure that would have helped…

After the conversation dragged on for a bit we started talking a similar language although the focus was on fixing it with software and testing. I am all for testing but I certainly don’t want to go back and test it in a year and then fix it. I would much rather consider it now. Making a web application accessible is as much about a philosophy as it is the technical considerations.

This left me thinking, my approach was wrong for how these folks think and their experience. Plus I was annoyed by the number of JavaScript reliant things we have already. My concerns are that even though we are spending a lot of time on user testing and usability analysis, technical accessibility would be sacrificed. Are my fears warranted? Probably given the amount of JavaScript, however if we approach it smartly from start we should be ok—that means now.

I have run into a similar conversation quite a few years ago when the web developers on campus weren’t sure what to think about web accessibility. They were far more open to the problem though, not software engineers (or Computer Scientists) as they can build a fix—so they think. What is missing from their world is the appreciation for how annoying web browsers can be and how people interact with them. With software there is more control over presentation and the user expectations are different.

I will need to think about an approach to ensure that the issue of accessibility is more relevant to them. Taking away their mice as they navigate the app might be a good start ;) Or degrading its performance. Most web developers seem to get the problem now but they have likely spent time reading about in the context of the web. Curious as to how others have approached this situation with those that build software, not web apps.

First I think I need to get a few good nights of sleep. The lack of that lately does not help!

My role at work has me looking at a UI for a fairly complex application (known as jobmine) that has three distinct audiences with three distinct reasons for using the web app. The web application is the primary business tool for the co-operative education process at the University of Waterloo. This process sees anywhere from 10-25K people using it at least a couple times every four months. Staff in the CECS department use it for their day-to-day activities.

What is a co-op system? My definition is based on being a student and now an alumni, it is no way the ‘official’ take. Co-operative education is an approach to education that gives students a chance to learn outside of the classroom (and in the case of UW, make some good money) and gain experience in the ‘real world.’ If you are a student you look for and apply to jobs, manage your resume/CV, and find out about interview times and locations, accept and decline job offers. For an employer you post jobs, sort through applications, arrange interviews, and offer jobs. For staff you make sure this all works by supporting both students and employers, generating reports, manage a massive amount of data. Generally speaking.

It would seem easy enough if you walked up to it from a user perspective. You have your role, an idea of what needs to get done, and off you go. The expectations aren’t a whole lot different than say Workopolis or Monster.com.

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