AJAX Accessibiliy
My clients used to pay me for what I could do on the backend. Now, they seem most impressed by what I do using JavaScript. They seem to want rich interfaces, but what does that mean in terms of accessibility? I have written that asking a developer not to use AJAX is like asking Spielberg not to use a camera because some people are blind.
Basically, Steve King does not write novels for the blind, but someone comes along later to produce a Braille version, or to record the book. A producer of TV content does not have to think about closed captioning – somebody else does that. Why is this my problem? If I send an email, the technology supports me. Why don’t I have more support from the people who build special readers?
My first feeling, when I read that someone thinks I should not be using AJAX is that I am being limited and held back. My clients are asking me to work on applications that are not accessible as things stand, and they will not be accessible even if I avoid AJAX in the piece of work I do. Why shouldn’t I use AJAX?
However, now I have to think about accessibility. One day, I will be asked to work on a web application that is accessible. How do I continue to build usable, responsive apps? I cannot answer all of these questions right now, but here is part of the solution, as outlined by Simon Wilson, in a presentation of JQuery: Unobtrusive JavaScript with jQuery.
Stop Using Ajax! (Not)
I was interested by a recent post by a writer who is not fond of Ajax. He seems to feel that we should stop using AJAX, or at least avoid it. I am trying to be sympathetic, but I would like to register the following thoughts. I do not mean to disagree so much as I mean to make some general observations.
- I am currently working on an application that is intended for sighted people. It uses a map component and a GIS database. This application will never be used by blind people, and I am using AJAX. I do not believe that this is a bad choice.
- I believe that information should accessible, but an application in more than just a web page. A web application composed of web pages held together with hypertext is an unsatisfying experience.
- Making a building entrance wheelchair accessible in no way diminishes my access to the building. However, I feel as I have to give up functionality to meet the special needs of others. Asking developers not to use AJAX is like asking Spielberg not to use a camera because some people are blind.
- Perhaps it is time to point a finger at the people who design and build readers that cannot cope with AJAX. Why aren’t they keeping up with the web?
- The writer of the article I reference above repeats several times that AJAX is immature. AJAX used to be called “remote scripting”. AJAX is a new name for a technology I have been using for almost 10 years. When can we call it mature?
I would be upset if I found out that my blog was inaccessible.I mean to reach an audience, and I hope to reach any interested person.
On the other hand, my clients rarely ask me to build completely accessible applications. I do not know how to create menus for blind people or how to build forms that deaf people can fill out, nor do I have any illusions that it is easy. I feel hampered, and unfairly faulted.
If there were a framework that I could use to make my application accessible in an alternative format, and my clients were willing to pay me to do the work, I would use it. However, I have become good at developing highly usable applications for sighted people – that is a lot of people! A heck of a lot!
Give me an alternate means to interact with people who struggle with various challenges, and I would be happy to do it, but let me use my AJAX. Please.
I promise to learn more, and to come up with strategies. We should all learn more. Developers are always learning – many find they cannot keep up. I will learn. But, give me time. The so-called accessible web may be accessible, but AJAX enabled pages are so much more usable. Doesn’t that matter?
The Cottage Industry Stage Is Over!
Ok, let’s admit it. There is a gap between the promise of the Internet and the way most organizations use technology. Maintaining servers, and the software that runs on them is expensive, and training the teams that do the work is prohibitively expensive. I have watched people tie themselves in knots to solve problems that I thought were easy.
I am learning about new ways of doing things, and I am excited. During the day, I provide code in old style shops for clients who are often doing things the hard way. I may think I know a better way, but who asked me? Last night I stayed up too late, looking at the exciting work that Google is doing, including the App Engine.
It strikes me that my clients are paying me too much to do things that could be more easily done in other ways. In fact, to be honest, I am beginning to notice that other people are doing what I do, they are doing it better and they are doing it for less. It is time to change. I am running the risk of becoming obsolete.
I suggested to a client a year or so ago that she did not need a mail server. Just use Google mail, I said. This small association was not ready for that idea. However, Arizona State University was. Check this out!