User:Silsilab/sandbox

History
The history of accessibility in technology started with the concept of universal design. Ronald Mace developed the term universal design, meaning all users can access all products within their environment. The term universal design is similar to accessibility in that they both focus on designing items that cater to users with disabilities. With the rapid increase in computer and mobile devices, accessibility needs are constantly changing. The growth of computers led to computer accessibility, and the growth of the Internet created the need for web accessibility. In 1999, the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) developed the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) in order to guide and improve options for accessibility on the Internet. With the emergence of mobile devices, accessibility needs were required to be modified in order to comply with WCAG. In 2011, WCAG 2.0 was developed to further the original WCAG guidelines, in order to accommodate the increasing use of web content on mobile devices. Different devices require various user interfaces and forms of navigation. Changes and improvements in accessibility improve the conditions and reliability of applications when performing tasks. Mobile devices resulted in the creation of touch screens, with gesture based interaction following soon after.

Canada
In Canada, there are laws that require the inclusion of individuals with disabilities as well as requirements that apply to applications being directly inclusive.


 * The Canadian Human Rights Act of 1985 is a non-discrimination law. It states in section 24(1) that the Governor in Council must regulate accessibility.
 * The Policy on Communications and Federal Identity of May 11, 2016, is a mandatory policy that outlines in section 6.3.5 that communications with the public must meet the Standard on Web Accessibility.
 * The Standard on Web Accessibility of August 1, 2011, outlines in section 6.3.1. that the departmental Chief Information Officer or equivalent is required to ensure web applications meet or can be modified to meet section 6.1.1 in the Standard on Web Accessibility.
 * Section 6.1.1. states that web content and web pages must meet all five WCAG 2.0 conformance requirements.

Global

 * The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 provides guidelines on how to make web content accessible for all users.
 * There are five conformance requirements that must be met for WCAG 2.0 to be fulfilled:
 * One of Level A, AA, or AAA must be completely fulfilled
 * All webpages must be accessible
 * All webpages that link to a process must be accessible
 * Assistive technologies must be used in order to meet accessibility criteria
 * Technologies that are not accessible must not prevent users from accessing the rest of the content

Applications for the visually impaired
According to the World Health Organization, an estimated "1.3 billion people live with some form of vision impairment". The Fifth International Conference on Advances in Computer-Human Interactions hosted by ACHI introduced new controls that can be implemented within mobile devices in assisting users who are visually impaired. During this conference, three important controls were developed:


 * 1) The low vision mobile portal was introduced to assist low vision users in locating applications that are accessible. It allows visually impaired users to navigate applications by using specialized controls that are modified to be accessible. These controls are tested by visually impaired users through usability tests in order to find out what needs to be modified in order to make the application accessible.
 * 2) The low vision library was also developed in conjunction with Apple, with the low vision wheel control as its main project. The low vision wheel control helps visually impaired users access data through a wheel control similar to a mouse on a computer. Visually impaired users can activate and browse wheel control through touch, in which a voice message will connect and verbally speak the selection to the user.
 * 3) In addition to the low vision library, low vision segmented controls were developed to allow visually impaired users to access secondary options within selections, through multiple tapping variations on a mobile phone touchscreen.

Mobile software is consistently being redeveloped to provide improved accessibility options for the visually impaired. There are a number of base accessibility features available on most mobile devices.

Apple
Apple has a VoiceOver feature which speaks to the user when the mobile device is in use. Filter, colour, and brightness can be adjusted to the users level and type, of vision impairment. The "Zoom" feature adjusts the size of objects on the screen of the mobile device. "Switch Control" acts like a remote to help navigate items on screen, and Assistive Touch makes using a touch screen easier through customizable tap and swipe movements. Designers can use the features supplied by iOs to make their iOs apps accessible. This extra layer added on enhances the user interface through these features.

Samsung
Samsung uses similar accessibility features as Apple, with the addition of "Rapid Key Input" which voices each letter on the keyboard when pressed, “Voice Label”, which links NFC tags to various features on the phone, and “Sound Detectors” which define important daily sounds to the user.

Facebook
Facebook uses "Navigation Assistant" to assists users with disabilities to help them navigate the Facebook app. Keyboard shortcuts, screen readers, and assistive technology are also adapted for use on Facebook with any mobile device.

Twitter
Twitter uses “Image Descriptions” in conjunction with assistive technology on mobile apps, in order to assist visually impaired users with images posted on Twitter. Twitter also has its own Accessibility account called "Twitter Accessibility" (@TwitterA11y), which provides information and updates on how users can use Twitter’s accessibility features, as well as a platform where users with disabilities can connect.