Election ‘07 was heralded as the first “online election”. For the first time, Irish politicians attempted to connect with voters through various online resources, from Bebo pages to election campaign videos on YouTube. One of the most pervasive features of the various online campaigns was the politician’s blog. All the major parties were represented in the blogosphere, from the top down. Party leaders had their say on Rock The Vote, where the musings of Bertie, Enda, Pat et al could be read. There were also several individual candidates blogging, some of whom were veterans of the online circuit (Ciaran Cuffe’s archives stretch all the way back to September 2004 at Cuffe Street).
Some may have seen this as a cynical attempt to reach the elusive “youth vote” but there’s no doubt that online channels have become progressively more influential in the political realm. This is perhaps best seen stateside, where bloggers such as Matt Drudge (The Drudge Report) have broken stories (in this case the “Monica Lewinsky scandal”) before any other news corporation, online or otherwise. Blogs can also offer an alternative to the traditional media coverage and can pick up on stories overlooked elsewhere. They also have the distinct advantage of publishing this information immediately. For example, in the run-up to May 24th IrishElection.com offered in-depth, regularly updated coverage of the election and was a valuable resource for anybody seeking information or debate.
Blogging has become so popular (Technorati currently tracks upwards of 71 million blogs) and its influence so noticeable that even Irish politicians are beginning to catch on. In theory, anybody with an internet connection can publish their own blog. The blogosphere exists and succeeds on the ideal that it offers open participation to all users. In addition, debate is opened up by the ability to comment on other people’s blog entries. Blogs can provide links to other blogs and websites, resulting in a never-ending stream of regularly updated information.
With a reputation for democratising information on the web it should be a given that all blogging sites be accessible to all users. However many users of assistive technologies encounter difficulties when attempting to contribute to these sites. The AFB recently tested six of the most popular blogging sites available to users. The tests were based on whether or not blind users could independently perform the essential functions associated with each site in order to 1) read other people’s blogs and 2) become a blogger. It found that all six had some barriers to accessibility.
The first difficulty encountered in most cases was the human verification process. The method used by services such as Blogger (and many other major websites) is known as CAPTCHA (Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart) and has become familiar to, and somewhat despised by, most internet users. It offers a distorted word which users must identify and type into a box in order to proceed. In some cases, an auditory option is offered for the visually impaired, however this is often even more difficult to decipher. No immediate alternative is offered for users who are both blind and deaf. The word verification method is also used to prevent spam in blog comments. Thus visually impaired users are also excluded from commenting on other blogs.
Some users also encounter difficulties while using the WYSIWYG editors on sites. In Blogger, some screen readers will not “see” the entry box in compose mode. In order to overcome this issue, users must use the edit HTML mode. However, the option to turn off the compose mode is only available to those with administrator privileges, posing difficulties for visually impaired users who guest blog.
There are other smaller issues that could easily and effectively be addressed in order to maintain accessibility standards. For Bloggers uploading images there is no option to input alt text. Bloggers can choose to edit the HTML of their posts, but this requires a certain level of technical knowledge. There are also issues, such as properly labeling links and buttons for site navigation, which could easily be addressed by adhering to existing standards.
Many of the solutions to problems of blogging with assistive technologies could be implemented without major difficulty. As mentioned in earlier articles (Ajax Part One, Ajax Part Two, Web 2.0), many web 2.0 sites using Ajax present accessibility issues. These issues could also be overcome by the formation of and adherence to accessibility standards specifically pertaining to Ajax.
Irish politicians are right to look to the web as another tool in an election campaign. This may have been the first online election but if trends continue, online resources will have a far greater influence on the next elections. With blogs having such an impact on many areas of daily life it stands to reason that they should be accessible to all citizens.
Tags: accessibility, blogs, government, standards, usability