Developing web accessibility guidelines and a web accessibility culture

with Chris Rourke Uservision

23rdMay '126:30pm

About the event

Chris’s talk will focus on a case study of creating regional web accessibility guidelines in the Middle East where traditionally web accessibility has been poorly implemented.  It explores the issue of web accessibility in the regional context based on experience gained in leading a project for the government of Abu Dhabi to make all of their e-government websites accessible.  

Chris will cover research into the state of the region’s web accessibility and some of the regional social / cultural issues that can impede the development of a vibrant “web accessibility culture”.  It will describe the guidelines creation process, identifying web firms that understood and applied inclusive design and findings on the essential elements for creating a successful accessibility “market” involving organisations, government bodies, web developers and the population of disabled web users.

More about the speaker(s)

Chris is the Managing Director of User Vision and has over 20 year’s experience in usability, accessibility, human factors consultancy and training. He has provided UX and user-centred design services for a wide range of clients in government, financial services, retail, travel and other sectors.  Chris is Founder and Past President of the Scottish Chapter of the Usability Professionals' Association and formerly the UPA’s regional coordinator for Europe. He is a member of the British Human-Computer Interaction Group (BHCIG) and a Board Member of ScotlandIS, the trade body for the software, IT and creative technology industries for Scotland.  He is also on the Steering Committee for the world’s first Master’s degree in Design Ethnography at the University of Dundee.

Entry fee

£10 for non-members, £5 for students and free for UPA members. Pay at the door.

Venue

Microsoft Scotland, Waverley Gate, 2-4 Waterloo Place, Edinburgh, EH1 3EG


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Usability and the New EU Cookie Regulations

with Martin Sloan Associate, Brodies LLP

12thJun '126:30pm

About the event

This talk will look at the impact of recent changes to the law applying to the use of cookies on websites.

In May 2011, new regulations came into force introducing tougher rules in relation to the process for obtaining a user's consent to the use of cookies. These rules will also apply to the use of mobile apps or any other software deployed on a device that is capable of tracking or identifying a user. 

In recognition of the fact that web browsers currently do not currently provide the necessary level of control to satisfy the requirements of the regulations, the UK Information Commissioner (ICO) issued guidance on potential technical solutions that websites could adopt. 
As the 12 month grace period for compliance with the new regulations reaches a close, this talk will:
 
explain the background to the regulations and what the rules require;
explain why browser controls do not currently give the necessary level of control;
review the various technical solutions proposed by the ICO; and
facilitate a discussion on the usability of the ICO's proposed solutions and whether an alternative approach might provide a more usable approach, whilst still satisfying the requirements of the regulations.

More about the speaker(s)

Martin is a member of the Technology, Information and Outsourcing Group at Brodies LLP. Martin regularly advises clients on data protection, technology and IT law issues, and has a particular interest in law and regulation applying to social media and the internet. Martin is also an expert on the application of disability discrimination law to websites, IT and mobile apps, and has written and presented regularly on this subject.

Martin is recommended by Chambers and Partners 2012 in relation to data protection advice, and by Legal 500 2012 in relation to IT and telecoms. Martin blogs regularly at http://techblog.brodies.com and you can follow him on Twitter on @lawyer_martin.

Entry fee

£10 for non-members, £5 for students and free for UPA members. Pay at the door.

Venue

Edinburgh centre, venue TBC

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Driven to distraction

with Giles Colborne, co-founder cxpartners

2ndOct '126:30pm

About the event

Giles Colborne explores our multi device culture, what it means to live in an 'always on' world and the huge impact it has on our users.

Take a look at how many windows you have open on your computer, how many devices you have linking you to the internet, and think about how long it was since you were last offline for more than a couple of hours. Living in an 'always on' world is having a huge impact on our users - in how they plan, how they act and how they think. But practice in the field of HCI is rooted in 1970s computing - a world that seems laughably out of date. The result is our users are constantly distracted and disrupted causing real damage to their productivity, happiness and health. Sadly, most attempts to fix this problem have only made it worse. I'll look at some alternative strategies and show you how you can fix things, starting today and what this problem says about the future of our industry.

More about the speaker(s)

Giles is author of Simple and usable web mobile and interaction design published by New Riders. He has worked in usability and user centred design since 1991 and in the Internet since 1993 when he designed some of World's first commercial websites. He formed cxpartners with Richard Caddick in 2004 focusing on creating outstanding user experiences and measurable changes to projects and products.

Giles is a former President of the UK Usability Professionals’ Association and now sits on their Global Advisory Committee and International Conference Committee. He has worked with British Standards Institute in developing guidance on web accessibility and is a popular speaker at UPA, IxDA, IA Summit and many other conferences around the world.

Entry fee

£10 for non-members, £5 for students and free for UPA members. Pay at the door.

Venue

Edinburgh centre, venue TBC

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previous events

2011
HTML 5 and its impact on Usability
Engaging industry and the public sector in accessible, inclusive design - do we need to shout louder or smarter?
A Virtual Seminar: Mobile Design: Designing Tapworthy Mobile Apps
Student attitudes towards mobile library services for Smartphones
2010
Persuasion Architectures: Nudging People to do the Right Thing
Web Analytics + Usability = A Sum Greater Than Its Parts
Agile and Usability
Modeling the mobile user experience
A virtual seminar: Leveraging Search & Discovery Patterns For Great Online Experiences
Usability and Contemporary User Experience in Digital Libraries
Designing for Personas
Mementoys - usability in product design
2009
Mobile Usability / iPhone App
Election Ballot Usability
Online Qualitative Research - new ways to find out what consumers really think
Prototyping - the landscape and review of Axure RP Pro
Improving Website Usability Using Google Website Optimiser
Web Accessibility update - new guidelines and standards for web accessibility
Designing for Dyslexia
2008
Building the Usability Profession
Exchange of Ideas: Agile/XP and User Experience
Comparative Usability Evaluations: Usability testing vs Expert evaluation
Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines
Scottish Usability Showcase
Sub-groups, Deviants and Navigational Alignment: Advanced topics in card sorting
The Perpetual Super-Novice
Label placement in forms (and other time-consuming forms controversies)
Implementing usability changes on an already successful site
2007
Games Usability
Scottish Usability Showcase for World Usability Day
Interactive TV usability: Is the Electronic Programme Guide (EPG) dead?
Choosing the right technique - the right answers to the right questions
An Award Winning Usability Programme
Usability in the travel industry
Writing for the Web
Designing and Evaluating Mobile Applications for New Social Experiences
University Showcase - Usability research projects from Scottish Universities
Usability and SEO - pulling in the same direction?
Scottish Usability Showcase 2006
2006
Usability standards, the Usability Maturity Model and what they are good for
Everything you've always wanted to know about card sorting
Content Management Systems and Usability
Web Accessibility Primer on WCAG 2.0 and Including Users with Disabilities
Making search a good user experience
Presentation on usability testing software
2005
Web analytics and usability
Usability in government websites
Usability and accessibility with tomorrow's web technologies
Scottish Usability Showcase on World Usability Day
Information Visualisation
Conducting International and Cross Cultural User Research
Web accessibility
Ethnography in the 21st Century
Child centred design and computer games
Delivering a Usable Experience with Rich Internet Applications
The Power of Hindsight
Eyetracking presentation
Thinking Big - Creating usable enterprise portals
Interactive TV usability and accessibility
Insights into Information Architecture for the web
2004
Web accessibility - presentation and demonstration
Handheld Usability
Usability and Public Technology - The complexity behind the simplicity