A11y Squared

I know this post has a rather unusual title - hopefully that's part of what's gained your attention. Because it has such an unusual title, I should spend a moment or two talking about it and why I chose it before continuing.

First, for those unfamiliar, A11Y is the numeronym used when we talk about accessibility. In this instance, I'm playing off how the word resembles "ally" because a one looks like a lowercase L...which means A11Y squared is really an "Accessibility Ally".

So, what is an Accessibility Ally?

Merriam-Webster defines an “ally” as “one that is associated with another as a helper”, so a short answer to the question “what is an accessibility ally” is “someone that helps improve or enable accessibility”.

Why is that important? In First World countries, roughly 10 percent of adults under the age of 65 have a speech, hearing, visual, or motor impairment that significantly affects their life. That number increases to approximately 25 percent for adults between the ages of 65 and 75. Having a website that is not accessible impacts that group significantly.

At this point, organizations generally use the reasoning that no one is complaining about the accessibility of their website, so there are no problems. The lack of complaints in the business world has a long history of being a poor indicator of performance. We know that roughly 10 percent of customers who experience an issue complain to the organization and the other 90 percent are drops. In the UK, it's estimated that 90 percent of users who experience an accessibility issue and do not complain but drop instead represent nearly £12 billion (GBP) in lost revenue.

If the loss of revenue were not enough, there are legal ramifications to be considered as well. In the US, the number of cases regarding web accessibility filed in a Federal Court increases nearly four-fold every year. In 2016, there were approximately 200 cases identified as having been filed, so look for around 800 cases to be filed in 2017.

If legal cases and loss of revenue were not enough to make an organization reconsider lack of accessibility, there are ethical issues as well as a matter of fairness and equal access.

There is a lot to accessibility on the web. It sounds simple enough to make a web page accessible - and that false impression is not helped by the general concept that anyone can make a web page - but there are a host of issues with which designers and developers must become familiar and there are a number of places in the design and development process where we can get off track. However, as we know from other development activities, writing code the right way is always less expensive than fixing it later.

So, become an Accessibility Ally - learn what needs to be done and do it. In the long run, learning what needs to be done and doing it takes less time than going back and fixing it (which you would have to do if a court case were filed), and it may even increase your revenue.

Happy coding.

What Isn't Said

If you're a follower of this blog, you'll notice that my posts tend to fall into three general categories. There are posts about how do something, like put PayPal on your Facebook page, build a slider toggle, or include reference notes, posts that show a different side to things in technology industry news that catch my eye, and posts that are general career advice from someone who has spent a few years in a very turbulent industry. I'm not sure if this post fits in any of those three categories, or if I'm starting a fourth after reading the blogs written by two men I consider to be, at the very least, something more than acquaintances (http://www.thejourneyismydestination.com/ and http://www.codercowboy.com/). I should point out, I suppose, that neither of these has the reputation in the industry of Eric Meyer (http://meyerweb.com/) or Nicholas Zakas (http://www.nczonline.net/), but I suppose that gives them a little more influence in my estimation because they are writing, not because they need to but because they need to, and I see something of myself in that, and besides, their year-end posts were good.

In addition to the inspiration from other bloggers, this time, as I looked back on the past year and looked forward to a new year (as many of us do at the start of a new year) I came across interviewing tips from recruiters and one in particular caught my eye as I read through the post, asking myself the interview questions as part of my year-end self-reflection. The question caught my eye, in part because as someone who has conducted several interviews and 'phone screens', I find it to be a question that I've been asked, but have never asked - it's simply what is your greatest weakness.

This time, perhaps I found insight that has eluded me in previous years or perhaps I have rediscovered a forgotten truth, but I recognize that there are those who see my greatest weakness only as a weakness, while I see my greatest weakness as a strength as well. This difference in perspective likely comes about because we all expect that other people to not only understand our actions - because they're based on beliefs that spring from rational thought - but to share those rationality-generated beliefs our actions are based upon. However, that universally-held, unspoken belief is false - there are those who do not understand our actions and do not share our beliefs, and likely never will - their perception is fixed and the die is cast.

Here's where I offer a bit of advice. When this happens to you, and it's extremely likely it will, at some point although you will not fully realize what is happening you will attempt to cast what others see as your greatest weakness as a strength. This is a Sisyphian task, and no matter how many times you roll that boulder up the hill, scrabbling for every inch of dirt, it will roll back down, and all the while, none of us acknowledge or challenge our perspective unless we trust each other - really trust each other - and remember that we're human, doing the best we can with any given situation.

As the past year closes and a new one is begun, I am also reminded that good leaders know the strengths of those on their team, and beyond that, great leaders see strength where sometimes even team members see only weakness. As we work together, maybe we should take Peter Drucker's words to heart and listen for what's not said - search for those points of weakness - and talk about why we see them as weakness but to then use our trust of each other to move beyond that to see them - really see them - not only as weakness but as a hidden strength, because whether we're the team captain or just one of the players, we can all benefit from the humanity that comes from trusting each other.

The Danger of an Adult-oriented Internet

A friend of mine directed my attention to an article about web users over 65 years of age, and it highlighted something that has been a concern of mine for some time. It's also something I've commented about previously on this blog, but something worth discussing again.

First, in grand philosophical tradition, I want to make sure that we understand the terms, and in this case there are three to which we should attend: cognitive overhead, adults, and older adults. Cognitive overhead is the number of logical connections or 'jumps' your brain has to make in order to understand or contextualize the thing you're looking at, or to put it another way, it's what your brain has to go through to assign meaning and purpose to what you see. Older adults, at least in the manner it's used here, refers to people 65-years-old or older, while adults will refer to people between 21 and 64.

From numerous studies, we know that one of the most significant factors that affects response time is age. At least one study^[1] has accounted for possible computational error and still found significant evidence that response time (for choice reaction time^[2]) is almost twice as long for older adults than adults. Going beyond the simple studies that measure reaction to stimuli, we find even more evidence of cognitive changes related to aging^[3], changes that should profoundly impact how we create human computer interfaces of all kinds, but especially those on websites. The only viable solution to reducing the impact these changes have is to reduce cognitive overhead, and while web designers have long been aware of the need for application of the Hick-Hyman Law to site navigation, it must - as at least one other author has noted^[4] - be applied to more.

Beyond the issues of cognitive overhead, however, there are also more simply-defined issues related to physical concerns - design issues such as font size and color contrast and usage issues related to dexterity - concerns that significantly impact older adults.

All of these issues - cognitive overhead, physical accessibility, and usage patterns - must be considered when designing an interface. Why? From one perspective, it is, to a significant degree, an accessibility issue - especially when we consider the physically-related concerns - but also because - and here's the really important part - it's the right thing to do - it's the easiest way to treat everyone with respect.

Not convinced? How about this - it's good in a capitalist community to tout business opportunity, so let's consider the business opportunity. In the past decade in the US, Internet use among adults grew about 3% each year, however, use among older adults grew 16%^[5], and the number of older adults using the Internet in the US is now estimated at 19 million.

Want still more? As I've said before (in my What I learned writing payment interfaces series), velocity matters^[6], and older adults are 43% slower than adults^[7].

It doesn't take much to combine the double-digit (or even nearly double-digit) annual growth with the vast difference in velocity between age-based user groups to see a significant opportunity, especially for e-commerce (which is generally a lagging indicator)^[8]. Yes, the number of users not in the older adults category is greater, but does that really matter? First, consider this - as a merchant, you may already have 10 customers but can you really afford to turn away the next 5 simply because they're older adults? Second, the number of older adults is increasing - as people are shouting from the rooftops, many of us are aging societies as population growth slows and lifespans get longer.

Finally, the danger of an adult-oriented Internet is simply this - an adult-oriented Internet is less usable for older adults, and likely less usable for young adults (those under 21 years of age) - especially when cognitive overhead is high. The current landscape (an adult-oriented Internet) presents a not only an opportunity to do the right thing, but a significant business opportunity as well.

You are getting older, as am I, and I don't want to just suffer through interfaces that could be better - none of us do - but as the data shows, that is not only a possibility but is also significantly likely as well. So, if you're not convinced by everything else, consider insisting on a better interface to be an act of kindness to yourself. Whatever your reason, let's work to make the Internet a more welcoming place for older adults, not just an adult-oriented playground with shopping.

Notes:

1. The Effects of Aging on Reaction Time in a Signal Detection Task
2. "Response time" can be a bit misleading because it's the combination of "reaction time" and "movement time". However, there are many different kinds of "reaction", not just one. Simple reaction time, the reaction to the presence of a stimulus, has the lowest cognitive load; recognition reaction time, the reaction to the presence and absence of a stimulus, has a slightly higher cognitive load; and choice reaction time, the distinct reactions to stimuli, has the greatest cognitive load.
3. An excellent resource regarding changes in cognition brought on by aging can be found in Brain Aging: Models, Methods, and Mechanisms, which you can access through the NCBI Bookshelf. The first chapter gives a good summary of common changes in cognitive function brought on by aging.
4. In Redefining Hick's Law, Jason Gross argues not for the redefining of Hick's Law, but a more complete application.
5. According to the Office for National Statistics in the UK, the estimated changes in 2012 were 1% and 9% rather than 3% and 16%.
6. What I learned writing payment interfaces (Part I)
7. Seniors as Web Users
8. Users generally partake of free or nearly-free services long before spending on purchases, or even online banking and brokerage services (which may entail trust/risk concerns).

Doing the impossible (with Robert's Rule #31 & #32)

This post is not going to be a 'how-to', or an example of critical thought applied to a current topic, but rather a prosaic reflection with career advice mixed in - somewhat like earlier posts.

When I was a young child, we were discussing poetry in primary school and I pulled a book of American poets off the shelf and found It Couldn't Be Done by Edgar A. Guest^[1]. I still recall the note my schoolteacher sent home saying how much the poem reminded her of me, even though I cannot find the note - of course that was quite a number of years ago.

I would not encourage anyone to be excessively optimistic (I would say pollyannaish, but I believe that unfairly associates optimism with feminism), there have been a number of credible studies that demonstrate the benefits of positive thinking^[2]. Yet,  there is something beyond even positive thinking that I feel is crucial to our survival in a corporate environment - an indomitable will. For some, an indomitable will manifests as an "incorruptible patience" or "a destructive pursuit of perfection"^[3]; for others, there are other ways - but they have this in common - they are not skill related and won't be found on the Programmer Competency Matrix^[4] - in fact, it's those times that we're faced with a situation that we know is beyond our bounds that this applies, and it's what made Bert Bell's belief that on any given Sunday any team could beat any other team in the league real. (Robert's Rule #31 - success is about more than skill - is based on that belief.)

A personal story - several years ago I was preparing to fly to California for an in-person interview for a position that I considered a dream job when I found out that my sister, who lived 2000 miles away, was critically ill, and a few hours before I was to leave for my day-long interview, I learned she had died. My grief was beyond anything I had borne before, but I also recognized that the only thing I could do at that point was request PTO and book a flight - and one more day would make little difference in the grief or support that I, or anyone else in my family, could offer.

Even though I knew a rigorous interview process was beyond my bounds in that circumstance, I went and did my best. After I returned home, I contacted my employer and booked a flight, and left the next day. After I secured the job (yes, I did get it), I discovered that some who interviewed me noticed (what they interpreted as) a lack of enthusiasm - several commented to me that interviewing in that situation was something they thought couldn't be done, yet it was done - and well enough to secure the job.

So, here's the lesson I learned that day - if you want something enough and your will is indomitable, you will likely succeed - success is not guaranteed, mind, but very likely.

There was another lesson I learned that day - one that's probably more important
that I carry with me, especially every time I interview a candidate - on any given day we see only a part of a person, and like in jazz, the important bits might be those not heard, so make allowances for what you don't see (Robert's Rule #32).

Or, in the words of Bill (in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure), "be excellent to each other".

Notes:

1. If you've never read this poem, do so. I recognize as a (more cynical) adult that it's a bit trite, but it's somewhat uplifting and motivational, and there are times we all need that.
2. The article How the Power of Positive Thinking Won Scientific Credibility is an interesting read regarding the evolution of thought and research in this field, and has links to a number of those studies.
3. These are two traits of a fantastic programmer from Signs that you're a good programmer.
4. http://sijinjoseph.com/programmer-competency-matrix/

Silence and neutrality enable oppression (Robert's Rule #11)

[Tweeted 2011-05-09]

Today's post isn't directly related to work experience...at least not for most people.

I grew up in the middle of blue-collar union country at a time when unions were strong. Members of my family would have never considered crossing a picket line. Why? In part because it feels good to know that someone has your back. Of course there's always the collective bargaining thing too...after all, it's usually difficult, not impossible but difficult, to oppress a large group of committed, active people.

History is full of examples of people who have stood up to those who oppress them. One of the most famous in American popular culture is the Molly Maguires (if you haven't watched the Sean Connery/Richard Harris movie you really should). I understand that the real history of the Mollies is a bit clouded, and also that history is written by those who win. However, instances of the oppressed standing against those who oppress them provides a valuable lesson that applies to all of life, both working and non-working life.

Because this lesson applies to both work life and non-work life, it's become one of the rules I strive to remember every day. Every day, silence and neutrality enable oppression (Robert's Rule #11), and every day we must combat it, because oppression brings everyone down to the lowest common denominator.