October 28th, 2007 — Life
On Friday, I said goodbye to my workmates of 14 months. I was really touched by the effort everyone went into organising a great farewell, in particular Viv who did a lot of baking and organising! I was sent off with a very delicious morning tea (lots of divine homemade goodies), beautiful flowers and a fantastic present. This was followed up with drinks at Old Parliament House. I was humbled by all the comments and gestures from various people through out the day, with emails, phone calls and face-to-face conversations.
I learned a lot over my 14 months and got to work on interesting projects. Met lots of interesting people and made some good friends. I will miss my workmates and hope that people keep thinking about creating great user experiences.
As of tomorrow (Monday), I will be working at Stamford Interactive. I’m looking forward to a set of new challenges!
October 6th, 2007 — Gadgets
With a number of presentations coming up, I wanted the ability to remotely trigger my presentation slides. A quick search on eBay revealed similar remote devices at varying prices, mostly from overseas. I ordered one, but while waiting for it to show up, hubby suggested that I look into using the Wiimote as “it’s just so much cooler”.
We tried a few things…and found a solution that works.
Here’s what you’ll need to get your Wiimote to work with Powerpoint in Windows Vista:
- A Wiimote
- GlovePIE version .22 or higher
- A Bluetooth enabled PC - the standard Microsoft Windows Bluetooth stack isn’t completely compatible with the Wiimote. I ended up downloading and using BlueSoleil.
- DirectX 8.0 or higher
Once you install GlovePIE, you’ll need to set up a GLovePIE script to enable the Wiimote to function in Powerpoint. Here’s the script I’m using at the moment (just save it as a .PIE file somewhere easily accessible). As you can see, it’s really basic. I haven’t had time to play around, but there’s a lot more cool stuff you can do!
Mouse.LeftButton = Wiimote.A
Mouse.RightButton = Wiimote.B
PageUp = Wiimote.Minus
PageDown = Wiimote.Plus
up = Wiimote.Up
down = Wiimote.Down
left = Wiimote.Left
right = Wiimote.Right
At present, the Wiimote mimics the page up and page down function and up/down/left/right arrow keys.
If you want more information, check out:
October 4th, 2007 — Web, Accessibility
My thanks to Max Design for highlighting the recent court ruling in California regarding the accessibility of Target Corporation’s website.
A federal district court judge issued two landmark decisions on the 2nd of October in a nationwide class action against Target Corporation.
The first decision involved the court certifying the case as a class action on behalf of blind Internet users throughout the country under the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA). In addition to violating the ADA, the suit charges that Target has also violated two Californian civil rights statutes: the California Unruh Civil Rights Act and the California Disabled Persons Act.
In the second decision, the court stated that websites such as target.com are required by California law to be accessible.
For more information:
This is a step in the right direction, although it’s sad that it has to get to this stage before action is taken by the big corporations. Remember, accessibility is best done proactively - not reactively.
September 16th, 2007 — Conferences
With only 12 sleeps until Web Directions South 2007 (or less if you count the cool workshops!), it’s only appropriate that I get into gear and do the flickr meme started by Miles Burke. I was tagged by Gary some time ago but have been way too flat out to find the time to do this interesting meme.
The point of this meme is to find and link to as many pictures of yourself on flickr from previous years of Web Directions South. There’s definitely lots of drinking, funny t-shirts, catching up with friends, early morning breakfasts, watching others do a Ben Stiller and partying!
Gary’s right - there’s seems to be a greater amount of cameras than attendees at the conferences!
I’ll like to tag Ben and Donna but I know she’s really flat out at the moment!
September 13th, 2007 — Computers
Wanting a nice challenge on top of life’s normal challenges, I recently agreed to hubby’s suggestion of installing Vista onto the new hard drive of my Toshiba M200 tablet. For those not familiar with the Toshiba M200, let me give you a bit of context.
The Toshiba M200 has no inbuilt DVD/CD drive or floppy drive. This was our first show stopper. How do you install a new operating system without being able to boot from a CD or to install a boot disk? I even had trouble trying to get to the BIOS setup. In some frustration, I handed it over to hubby who did a bit of research and discovered the very excellent blog post about installing Vista on to the M200.
Hubby followed through the instructions but it still took about a bit of trial and error to get Vista installing. When hubby got it up and running, it was time for all my software installations and the Windows updates (quite a few Important Updates that had to be downloaded, installed and rebooted multiple times). That took a while.
Next thing I tackled was the driver and specific Toshiba tablet functionality issues. I probably should have done this straight after the Windows Updates had been completed.
On the bottom of the Installing Vista on your Toshiba M200, there were some links about downloading various packages to get the tablet functionality working properly (functions like screen rotation, etc). Unfortunately, the links on the source website had been moved. So here’s the updated links and instructions. Download and install the following:
- nVidia GeForce driver - locate the M200 downloads page. It states that this display driver is for Windows XP but it works on my M200 running Vista. Download and install this first. If you don’t, the rotation facility just won’t work until you have a working display driver to support it. You’ll need the pm200sp2vidx.exe file from the pm200sp2vidx.exe page.
- Toshiba Value Added Package V1.1.3 for Windows Vista (v1.1.3; 09-07-2007; 38.79M) - this it the Toshiba Utility. It’s for the M400 but will work on the M200. Get it from the M400 util_tvap_os2007252a.exe page.
- TOSHIBA Tablet PC Extension for Windows Vista (v1.0.0.1; 12-08-2006; 12.89M) - this helps to specify what the Tablet buttons do, i.e. the rotation facility and accelerometer functions. Get it from the M400 util_tablet_extension_25334D.exe page.
So far so good. I haven’t tested the accelerometer function yet but rotation is definitely working. Sound and wireless are both working. I’m also running dual monitors which is great. Response from the tablet has been good too with not too many sluggish waits when running applications. Admittedly, I haven’t been running full blown with my applications, but things are looking well!
Update 2 February 2008: You may want to check out Ryan Adam’s post How to Boot From the Network (PXE Boot) with TFTP And Windows PE, where he has posted simplified instructions for booting from the network and has provided a zip file containing the files needed.
Update 18 April 2008: You may find that your bluetooth device does not work very well. If that’s the case, download the Bluetooth Monitor for Windows Vista and the Bluetooth Stack for Windows Vista. You may also want to download the BlueSoleil bluetooth stack, especially if you are going to use your wiimote with powerpoint.
September 6th, 2007 — Information Architecture, Conferences
What happens when you get a bunch of Information Architects in a room, throw a bunch of technical presentations, case studies, panels, and interactive workshops at them, along with food and wine (or beer if you’re that way inclined)…? That’s right - it’s Oz-IA! There’s heaps of passionate discussions, lots of interesting people to meet and many new and interesting ideas to learn.
I attended the inaugural Oz-IA conference last year and had a great time. I even discovered a fabulous Thai restaurant (thanks to Stephen Hall and Andrew Boyd) which I’m looking forward to visiting again this year.
I’m glad that this year’s Oz-IA conference is held before Web Directions. Last year, I was a bit too exhausted from all the social activities associated with Web Directions and was a bit more introverted than I normally am. Anyhow, I’ve bought my ticket, and told all my friends and workmates about it. It’s a great value so why not check out the program and register for it? If you get in early, before 11th September, you’ll even get the early bird pricing.
August 29th, 2007 — General, Accessibility
Meet Glenda Watson Hyatt - she is an author, blogger, podcaster and she runs her own accessibility business called Soaring Eagle Communications in Canada. By the way, she has cerebral palsy.
Glenda shares her life story in her book I’ll Do It Myself to show others that cerebral palsy is not a death sentence, but rather a life sentence. Having previously visited Australia where she chatted with Jacqui Dalling at her blog Terrible Palsy, Glenda is back in the land down under. As part of her virtual book tour, she answers my questions about living with cerebral palsy and web accessibility.
Starting at the beginning…You mentioned being integrated into a regular classroom when going through school, plus going on to earn the highest award in Girl Guides, the Outstanding Junior Student Award and a gold medal in horseback riding! What was it like going through “mainstream” school with cerebral palsy?
To be honest, I preferred regular class to special ed class. For the most, I felt part of the group, albeit the fairly quiet part. I think I was challenged more and more was expected from me. I’ve probably accomplished much by being mainstreamed than I would have by staying in special education.
You recently coined a neat phrase - “Disability 2.0 - Nothing about us without us”. Are you able to expand on what you mean by this?
So many decisions, policies and such are made that affect people with disabilities, yet we are not part of the process. Some of these decisions and policies are absolutely ridiculous, yet we need to abide by them to get the services we truly need. By Disability 2.0, I mean a greater emphasis on self-determination – on people with disabilities being actively and equally involved in the decision-making process, and being present when information regarding them is shared and discussed.
It’s amazing reading about using your left thumb to type. Do you use a standard keyboard to type and navigate around websites? Are there any other technologies that you may use?
Yes, I plunk away at on a standard keyboard with only my left thumb; my four fingers glide along the top of the keyboard to steady my unsteady hand. However, it is becoming more difficult to find keyboards without an extra row of keys along the top.
In place of a mouse, I use a Traxsys (formerly Penny + Giles) joystick. Definitely not an inexpensive alternative at approximately $700 Canadian. OUCH! But I have much better control with the joystick than with the mouse. With the mouse, one involuntary or jerky hand movement and the mouse pointer goes flying across the screen. How frustrating!
I also use EZ Keys software for word prediction and abbreviation expansion. As I begin typing, the six most frequently used words starting with those letters appear in a small blue box on the screen. Different words appear as I continue typing. When the word I want appears, I simply hit the corresponding number and the computer completes the word. It does save me quite a few keystrokes! Although, even with this handy software, I still only type approximately ten or twelve words a minute, give or take.
Communication has always been a key message in your blog. With web 2.0 bringing new and fascinating ways of interacting with people around the globe, what are some of the key opportunities and challenges that you have faced with web 2.0 technologies?
These technologies have expanded the ways I can interact with people. The new opportunities to connect with people are truly amazing! I am eagerly waiting time to explore Second Life and to see what it is all about.
However, I am reluctant to fully embrace some of these technologies because they aren’t accessible to people with some types of disabilities and, if my business is about web accessibility, I feel I need to walk the talk as much as possible.
It has been interesting reading about your accessibility work for the Canadian Government and encouraging to see the growing awareness of accessibility and the W3C WCAG 1.0 in both the government and private sectors. To some extent, there seems to be a perception that web accessibility is mainly for people with visual disabilities. Developing websites for people with motor related disabilities is not often covered to the same depth as say, visual disabilities. Have you got any tips for our readers on some things to consider when developing websites for people with motor disabilities?
I agree that there is a misperception that web accessibility is mainly for people with sight impairments, and the barrier facing people with other disabilities are discounted. For me with limited hand function, I find those pop-out menus difficult to navigate – they either disappear before I can click or I end up clicking the wrong link and going somewhere I didn’t want to go. It would help if those menus were keyboard navigable so that I could tab through the links if necessary. Equally frustrating are tiny clickable areas; redundant text links are helpful. Also, timed tasks are some times difficult for me to complete before the session times out. A way to increase time would be appreciated.
Many thanks to Glenda for taking the time to satisfy my curiosity and for the opportunity to be part of her Summer Sojourn virtual book tour. Don’t forget to check out her Do It Myself blog where you can read and purchase her inspiring autobiography I’ll Do It Myself You can also help out by voting for Glenda in the “blog for a year” competition.
August 19th, 2007 — Web
Photo credit: FullCodePress
FullCodePress is finally over! It was a very close call, but congratulations to the Code Blacks who won the inaugural FullCodePress competition with their website for the Grampian’s disAbility Advocacy Association.
I was really fortunate to work with an absolutely fantastic Aussie team where we produced The Ripple Effect website for a bunch of absolutely well deserving and fantastic clients. I love the true collaborative nature of our work, with the lovely Laura and Emily (our clients) spending quality time with us through out the design and development process.
It was a very fun, rewarding, and yes, exhausting experience. Both teams did really well in producing two great websites in such a challenging time frame.
Many thanks to the organisers for a very well run event, the judges, sponsors (Google, Adobe, Sitepoint, Red Square, and Mort Bay Communications), supporters and volunteers who made this stuff all happen.
You can check out all the goss and hot action on the FullCodePress Twitter feed, Flickr and YouTube.
Time to hit the sack as I need to catch up on some valuable sleep time!