Getting the Word Out On Web Standards and Accessibility October 20, 2006
Posted by ptvGuy. Comments: 6 comments
…otherwise intelligent business people are entrusting their entire web presence to such as these…
Let's face it, we live in a world where any high school kid with a semester course in "web design" (if even that much training) and a copy of Frontpage can hang out a virtual shingle calling himself (or herself) a "webmaster." Factor WordPress into that with its five-minute install and innumerable themes and you have a job title glutted with people who don't know the first thing about what they're doing. An amazingly large number of otherwise intelligent business people are entrusting their entire web presence to such as these. The general public's lack of knowledge in this area only serves to exacerbate the problem.
Without any foreseeable way to prevent this practice from continuing and growing exponentially, those of us who care are left with the onus of attempting to educate these fledgling webmasters about the need for good coding practices, accessibility, and web standards. I know, many of you have been doing that for years already, but this is an ongoing problem requiring constant reminders.
To help out in this endeavor (and to provide professional web developers with yet one more way to stand out from the crowd,) I've created a document called the "Declaration of Standards Compliance." The style and wording may sound a little familiar to you.
When in the course of online events, it becomes necessary for web developers to ensure access to the content over which they have so meticulously labored and to assume among the powers and tools available to them, the basic responsibility to ensure proper markup and accessibility, a decent respect for their site’s users regardless of their browser, platform, or possible disabilities requires that they should declare their document type for proper page rendering and their assent to basic web standards.
–ptvGuy, Declaration of Standards Compliance
…need for web standards and accessibility cannot be understated…
Now, before anyone gets in an uproar and thinks that I am perhaps mocking the document upon which this is based–The Declaration of Independence–I'm not. I don't know of a clearer way to outline an ongoing problem and then express the need for action and the conviction to carry it out. As a pure study in writing, it's one of the greatest essays ever written. I humbly borrow from the masters.
The need for web standards and accessibility cannot be understated. If you're putting content out there for the world to see, use, and interact with, then there is a certain underlying responsibility to do it correctly. That requires some extra work and study. Fortunately, the web is full of people willing to share that knowledge. I've put together a list of such resources on my Anal Coding page to serve as a beginning point. The very abundance of this information made freely available to everyone everywhere is what makes the practice of bad coding so pointedly shameful.
…standards are themselves evolving and subject to change…
One important thing to remember, however, is that the web is not a static technology. It is constantly growing, expanding, and evolving. New people, ideas, and technologies will come along and suddenly change everything we've taken for granted. (That may even include the aforementioned high school student.) The standards, therefore, that guide us in the creation of accessible and well-coded pages are themselves evolving and subject to change.
I encourage you to read the document itself, comment on it, and, if you agree with it, go to the declaration page and find out how to become a signatory of this important declaration and thereby further get the word out on the need for web standards and accessibility.
Thank you all, code well, and good night.
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Frontline's Frontline Video August 13, 2006
Posted by ptvGuy. Comments: 5 comments…forever changed the way we look at and what we expect out of the World Wide Web…
It was a turning point in Internet history, and it happened in October of 1995. Frontline had been investigating the 1993 Waco siege for an upcoming report when David Fanning, the Executive Producer of Frontline, made the decision to put a good deal of the material derived from their research and reporting (photos, FBI surveillance audiotapes, reporting notes, interviews) on the web for everyone to see. It was their very first website and done with a staff of just two people. That single act not only created the concept of open (or transparent) journalism but forever changed the way we look at and what we expect out of the World Wide Web.
Frontline, still led by David Fanning, has continued that tradition of being the first to bridge Internet technology with program content. Having taken an early lead in streaming their programs after the broadcast, there are now 60 to 70 hours of programs streamed and viewable on the Frontline site making it one of the largest of its kind with literally millions of viewers visiting regularly. Frontline/World is gradually being added to that incredible resource as well.
This is the great promise of public media. This is where we hold our work for the future, our public library, our contribution to the intellectual commons.
– David Fanning, Executive Producer, Frontline
Your Local Station Website
…Frontline Video is back, and it's all grown up now…
You may be wondering what this has to do with your local station website. After all, it's been a while since we've had Frontline content available to us as local web content–not counting RSS feeds. The original Frontline Video module that some of us once utilized on our local sites was a rather short-lived experiment, and even the more long-term Headlines module (much lamented in its passing) eventually faded into history. So what is there now that could inspire a public television station web developer like myself to bring up such a sore subject? Well, you're not going to believe this, but Frontline Video is back, and it's all grown up now.
Sam Bailey, Frontline's Director of New Media and Technology, has spent the last two years developing a new, enhanced web video player designed specifically to play high-quality, large-frame video of full Frontline programs directly off of local station web sites. The new player will be able to play at a bitrate of 350k–a considerable increase over the current 220k–in a fairly large and customizable playing window, and PBS is providing the bandwidth for it. The only downside is that it's available for broadband only.
We're going for incremental improvements here. I think eventually the bitrates will go higher, but, right now, 350k is a good number for us (and for PBS who has to pay the bill.) Frankly the quality of many broadband connections and general latency is such that higher bitrates can sometimes not work so smoothly.
– Sam Bailey, Director of New Media and Technology, Frontline
One exciting aspect of this delivery system is the distinct possibility that West Coast station sites could actually receive the latest program through their website prior to the on-air broadcast. Frontline's current plan is to make the shows available online on the same day they're broadcast which means that West Coast station sites will have direct access to the shows three hours earlier in the day (in terms of local time) than East Coast stations. This aspect of the player's behavior is still under consideration but probably won't change.
But Wait, There's More…
I know it sounds like a bad commercial, but this player has a lot of other innovations that will make it indispensable to your station website. It appears initially as a small piece of page content (probably sidebar,) but what it does next is controllable by you. There are two different options that you can set up to control what happens when a user clicks the link; it can open a player window or a menu page.
The Player Window
The Player Window is the heart and soul of this new module. It's designed to open as a small, popup window over your page and begin playing a Frontline program of your choice. The real innovation, however, is that there's a space around the window that can be customized for station logo and messaging that you can control. If only CSS control could be built into the final version (which is not currently planned,) then this player could be reskinned locally as each station sees fit. Still, it's definitely going to be an important part of the local station site and yet one more really awesome service to offer to the community.
The Menu Page
The Menu Page option opens as a new page. It currently contains a selection of 16 available videos, but there are at least 10 shows in the coming season that are due to be added. For the entire archive, we'll still have to send visitors to the Frontline site, but I plan to do that with a simple, localized “More Videos >>” link at the bottom of the page pointing to the Frontline Video view page.
You get to customize this menu page as well with your information such as upcoming broadcasts of Frontline and your other public affairs programs as well as other messages you might want to convey, pledge drives, local events, appeals for membership…
– David Fanning, Executive Producer, Frontline
Other Issues
Implementation
…will come as a standard toolkit…
The implementation of the player is quite simple and will come as a standard toolkit complete with multiple templates, full instructions, and even promotional materials. Frontline's web team (in conjunction with PBS Interactive) will be available to advise and assist participating stations. My personal plans are to set up a homepage version pointing at the most current episode available for viewing and a news page version set up to open the Menu Page for the site visitor to choose from. You, of course, might choose differently.
Marketing
Frontline's marketing department will create materials customized to your station to help get the word out to your viewers. They have a vested interest in making this work, and they're willing to go out of their way to get your local station viewers to go to your site and try this out. They're offering a number of promotional materials:
- On-air promotion spot
- Member Magazine article
- Press release for local publications
- On-air tag reminder to go to your website and watch the program again any time
- Ecards or postcards for online and mass mailing promotion
It might even be worth asking for if you can think of something else to add to the list.
Objectionable Content
…online broadcasts (webcasts) have no such limitations…
Although on-air broadcasts of Frontline occasionally require editing for "objectionable content" and fall within applicable FCC decency regulations, online broadcasts (webcasts) have no such limitations. So Frontline is looking at the Internet as having "another level of gatekeeping," because you have to actively chose to click (or take some other action) to get to the content. Their plan is to carry an "appropriate warning" in the program description and go ahead with streaming the unedited version. There's still some discussion as to whether to create a special edited version for schools to access, but it seems to me that the easier answer to that would be to simply point schools to a more limited collection of videos, ones without such content.
Player Rollout
…multi-phase rollout with changes and updates over time…
There will be a multi-phase rollout with changes and updates to the player over time. The plan is for the first round of stations to launch at the start of next season, October 3. The first version will make use of Flash and Quicktime, and the content will be delivered via HTTP–"at least this version; the Windows Media version is another matter entirely."
I should say up front that some of this may not be set in stone yet. We're busy rebuilding part of this right now.
– Sam Bailey, Director of New Media and Technology, Frontline
Accessibility
To their further credit, Frontline (or, more specifically, Sam Bailey) actually considered accessibility issues in the creation of this player. Some of it is in place now, and some will require more work later. They're linking from the video to the existing transcript on the Frontline site and captioning is possible in the player.
This initial version will only have limited captioning, because the archived shows are not captioned at this point. We're exploring going back and having them captioned now, but there's no timeline for it. As for keyboard navigation, we're pondering that at the moment, but, other than rudimentary stuff like play and stop arrows and the return key to select a program, we don't have much in there right now. We need to talk about accessibility options with NCAM if the test goes well.
– Sam Bailey, Director of New Media and Technology, Frontline
Some Final Words
On Revolution and Renaissance
…was then a new media with infinite possibilities, television…
There's a lot happening in public broadcasting right now, and the Internet is a major part of that. Many of the current models and methods are failing to work in this 21st-century view of instant media. Strangely, many of the earliest models and methods of public broadcasting are being resurrected, dusted off, and seeing new light. They were envisioned for what was then a new media with infinite possibilities, television.
We're all witnessing an accelerating shift in the television landscape. We're in the midst of a great technological revolution in delivering programming.
– David Fanning, Executive Producer, Frontline
We may well be in a "technological revolution" as far as program (or content) delivery is concerned, but I'm seeing the effect on the programming itself as more of a renaissance for public broadcasting. Not since its very beginnings has there been such a wide open landscape of possibilities for what public broadcasting can do and be. It's being reborn and redefined almost daily–as is the station website.
We know that there are all sorts of discussions about how we're going to enter this new age of congruence between the Internet and television, but we don't want to wait around. We want to get our service out to you as soon as possible so that public television, Frontline, and your station are on the forefront of the revolution.
– David Fanning, Executive Producer, Frontline
Personally, I'm going to stick to the forefront of the renaissance. The revolution can take care of itself.
The Changing Role of the Station Website
…then that site begins to be more of a separate channel of station programming…
The advent of this player marks the beginnings of a new role for the station website as well. If more national programming follows Frontline into this model of online delivery to the local station site, then that site begins to be more of a separate channel of station programming rather than just a convenient online station brochure. That's an entirely new direction for the local station website, and it will attract a whole new audience. That, in turn, will translate into station membership.
What's interesting is that a new, younger audience is finding us on the Internet, and so too is our old audience. By harnessing the Internet's simple technology to send your viewers what they want, when they want it, freely available and accessible, we are trying to build that audience and deliver for the future on the great promise of public broadcasting.
– David Fanning, Executive Producer, Frontline
I don't know about you, but I think that that future is looking pretty bright, and I can't wait to make this new tool an integral part of my station websites. I think that it brings a whole new resource to the local communities I serve and adds to the overall value of the stations themselves. Watch for it to be available. Check it out immediately. I know that you'll agree.
Thank you all, code well, and good night.
Accessibility: WCAG 2.0 and You June 8, 2006
Posted by ptvGuy. Comments: 2 comments…new set of Web Content Accessibility Guidelines…
We interrupt our irregularly scheduled series on web accessibility for a not so late breaking news flash (sans Flash, of course.) It seems that the W3C is on the verge of releasing a whole new set of Web Content Accessibility Guidelines called WCAG 2.0. With numerous changes in place, it now seems that the whole set of guidelines that many of us have worked so hard to implement are all kind of up in the air.
In many ways, the discussions about the document reflect the disparate philosophical positions within the community on what "accessibility" means.
– Bruce Lawson WCAG 2.0: when I want a beer, don’t give me shandy
Whether this new set of guidelines is the incredibly forward-looking, non-technology-dependant vision of accessibility it claims to be or whether it's a backsliding, meaningless bunch of drivel meant to pander to corporate interests is currently the subject of much debate across the Internet by people far smarter and better informed than I. Perhaps at some point these discussions will include real people with real disabilities who, for some reason, have very little to do with this, but currently that doesn't seem to be the case.
WCAG 2 backtracks on basics of responsible web development that are well accepted by standardistas. WCAG 2 is not enough of an improvement and was not worth the wait.
– Joe Clark A LIST APART: To Hell with WCAG 2
To be fair, the new guidelines are, in fact, a work in progress and not formally approved yet. Still, it's a hard read. I mean it. I actually sat down to read the complete documentation and was only two pages into it before I found myself thinking how much I'd rather be at a dental appointment. So, I apologize for not having time to wade through the massive, unreadable documentation. I'll have to leave that to others.
I'm fully aware of the fact that not everyone who reads Joe's article will wade through several hundred pages from the 3 WCAG specifications, and who could blame you? I read them, but the specs are certainly long, tedious and, in many cases, extremely difficult to comprehend.
– Lachlan Hunt WCAG 2.0
Perhaps groups like the WCAG Samurai wouldn't have to exist if the WAI committee didn't tend to move and operate like a sumo wrestler itself. After all, there is something to be said for open discussion and actual accomplishment.
…simply a matter of good design and usability…
The simple fact of the matter is that I actually have to work for a living. I build real websites that serve real needs in real communities and are used by real people–only some of whom have disabilities. Frankly, I don't get paid for any of this. Not one client of mine has ever asked for or even commented on having an accessible website. It's something that I do on my own because I consider it to be part of the job. It's simply a matter of good design and usability.
The only ray of hope I can find in the whole thing is that perhaps this will encourage website owners (especially those in the public sector) to think beyond checking the WCAG checkbox. Maybe this will make them think about how to really make their site more accessible rather than simply concentrating on covering their collective arses.
– Paul Boag Body blow to web accessibility guidelines
What do we do in the face of all this debate? Quite simply, those of us that actually make websites and care about making them useful and accessible to real people are just going to have to go on doing the best we can on our own–as, in fact, we've pretty much been doing. We will continue to use our own brains to think about what we're doing and how we can make it as useful as possible to all users. That's all there is to it. We're already going above and beyond the requirements of our sites.
…underlying budget and time limitations…
So, before we get too carried away, keep this in mind. Even the home page of the W3C itself only claims WCAG 1, level 1 compliance. Yes, we can and should go above that. Section 508 alone gets into levels 1 and 2. However, lets not lose track of our underlying budget and time limitations. We don't expect an accessible building to have a hospital built into it. We don't have to go that far with our websites either.
WCAG 2.0, like WCAG 1.0 before it, is a set of guidelines. It's not a wall or a fence. If it leads you where you need to go, great. If not, then you gotta find your own way. After all, it's you that your clients and users depend on, not the W3C.
Thank you all, code well, and good night.
