Julie Howell joined RNIB in 1994, becoming the charity’s first Website Editor in 1997. In 1999 she became responsible fot the RNIB’s Campaign for Good Web Design, a national initiative to promote the creation of online web sites and services that are usable by people with disabilities. Made for All asked her a few questions to get her inside view on accessibility and the web. Interview by Anitra Pavka - March 2003.
MFA: Julie, according to your biography, you started working for the RNIB in 1994. You did not become their Website Editor until 1997. How did you get interested in the Web and make the transition to being a Website Editor? What motivation has kept you working toward making the Web universally accessible?
I joined RNIB in 1994 as Assistant Librarian in the charity’s Research Library. In March 1995, RNIB launched its web site. RNIB was one of the very first UK charities to establish an online presence. Although I have a degree in information management, the web had not been invented when I was doing my studies.When RNIB launched its site I could immediately see its great potential, both as a tool for the dissemination of information and, more excitingly, as a new means of communication. Curious to know more, but aware that I was unlikely to find the time during working hours to explore the web, I borrowed a computer and in August 1995 got online at home.
Having MS obviously motivates me to campaign in this area; Along with my internet connection I found myself with half a megabyte of web space with which I might create my own homepage. I should point out that I have MS, and my earliest web searches involved seeking out information about the condition from others who live with it. I found this experience incredibly empowering, and pondered whether there might be any interest in a webpage where people with MS could post personal profiles and locate others with the condition, to share experiences of life with the disease.
I taught myself basic HTML coding from a tutorial in Internet Magazine, and on 28 August 1995 I created Jooly’s Joint: people with MS supporting each other. Over the years Jooly’s Joint has grown into a thriving online community of over 10,000 people from 60 countries. In 2000, the site was award Best Online Community at the New Statesman New Media Awards and Best Site at the Yell UK Web Awards.
In Feb 1997 RNIB advertised the post of Website Editor. I applied, and my experience of creating Jooly’s Joint, knowledge of HTML and insight into how people with disabilities use the web helped me to secure the post.
In May 1999, RNIB created a new post for a Campaigns Officer to lobby government and industry to ensure that the digital future would be accessible to everyone. By this time I possessed a great deal of expertise in this specialist area and so was appointed to this role. During my time in this job I established and continue to coordinate RNIB’s Campaign for Good Web Design. I have produced a range of educational materials that explain the importance of accessible design to a range of audiences and have toured the UK extensively to help web designers and policy makers get to grips with the issues. I have also worked directly with organisations such as the BBC, Tesco, the British Bankers’ Association and the Government to help them formulate their own accessible e-strategies.
Having MS obviously motivates me to campaign in this area. I work in IT, and therefore it’s vital that systems are designed so that I may continue to use them, even as my condition progresses and the capabilities of my body change. But I have also seen the huge and positive impact that the internet has had on so many people with disabilities. It has brought community to people who are housebound, information to those who cannot read print and services such as shopping and banking to those who find it difficult to get to shop independently.
Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the web, believes the web is for everyone, regardless of ability or disability. I see my work as being very much in keeping with his vision.
MFA: What have you found to be the most common Web site accessibility problem and why?
Few web designers know anyone who is blind and assume for a web site to be accessible it must be provided in text only. This is one of the greatest myths about accessibility.
In terms of our campaign I define accessibility as follows: ‘Accessible web sites and services are those that can be used by everyone, regardless of ability/disability, technology and circumstance’. Accessible design then, is about ensuring that web content can be accessed by everyone, whatever their impairment, whatever technology they are using and wherever they are. It’s about increasing reach, and exploiting revenue streams, not lowest common denominator design or segregating people.
RNIB encourages designers to apply a set of guidelines issued by the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative: the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. Application of these guidelines should lead to content that can be accessed by any person using any technology. So designers don’t need to wonder how to make content readable by a particular version of a certain blind person’s screenreader or how their site will perform for someone using voice recognition software. Following the WAI guidelines means their content will be accessible to all (this is known as ‘device independence).
However, it’s important to remember that accessibility is not the same as usability. While application of the WAI guidelines ensures that content will be accessible, user testing involving people with disabilities should also be employed to ensure that visitors are able to find what they’re looking for, complete a transaction in a reasonable time, etc. .
MFA: What’s the easiest thing you think Web developers can do to make their sites more accessible?
Ensure all images are accompanied by succinct, funtional alternative text descriptions, and ensure all text is scalable and colour schemes flexible.
MFA: How has the RNIB Campaign for Good Web Design initiative affected Web sites in the UK? Have you noticed its influence internationally? If so, in what ways?
I think it is reasonable to say that the campaign has succeeded in bringing web accessibility to the attention of businesses and the government. While some companies have already improved the accessibility of their sites (for a list see http://www. rnib. org. uk/digital/siraccess) many have more accessible redesigns on the way.
Our campaigning has also impacted on design internationally. We receive many enquires from overseas and I believe there is a great deal of awareness of and respect for our efforts around the world.
MFA: What has been the general reaction of private businesses in the UK to the Disability Discrimination Act? How aware of legally mandated accessibility requirements does the private sector seem to be? How do you think awareness and compliancy with accessibility standards can be increased?
Awareness could be higher. 2003 is the European Year of People with Disabilities and I think there will be many initiatives this year that will raise the profile of web accessibility.
While web sites are covered by the DDA, case law has yet to be established in this area. I would imagine that some companies are holding fire until the first high profile case reaches the court. It is a shame those businesses aren’t taking heed of the strong business case for making their web content and services available to more people.
MFA: How do you think Web accessibility standards will be enforced over the next couple years? What do you think its affect will be, especially on the Web sites of private companies?
Smart companies won’t wait for a case before they make their sites more accessible. At the moment we have no standards, only guidelines. We await an answer to the question ‘what must we do to make my web site compliant with the law’. Until case law is established in this area, we don’t know for sure, but RNIB suspects that the WAI guidelines will be referenced heavily in any legal challenge.
But smart companies won’t wait for a case before their make their sites more accessible.
Tesco saw a strong business case for making their web site more accessible. An estimated 2 million visually impaired adults can potentially use the site now. If every one of them bought just one average trolleyful of shopping (85 pounds) that would mean over 170 million pounds of business. Developing the site cost just 35,000 pounds
Interview by Anitra Pavka
Learn more about the RNIB’s campaigns at their site.