Developers Working to Overcome AJAX Accessibility Issues
From: eWeek - 07/11/2006
By: Darryl K. Taft

Though it offers many advantages over conventional Web-application
techniques, AJAX poses accessibility issues for certain users. The dynamic
changes that occur in AJAX-based technologies, which enable dynamic
interactions without reloading a page, can take place undetected by users
with site impairments or other disabilities, though several developers are
working to address those issues. MB Technologies, for instance, spent over a
year modifying its Bindows application to improve its accessibility. "It was
nothing short of a huge undertaking for Bindows to build an AJAX framework
that enabled the construction of AJAX and Web 2.0 sites that support
accessibility," said MB Technologies CEO Yoram Meriaz. One of the main
challenges that MB Technologies faced was getting the platform to support
multiple browsers and assistive-technology tools. Microsoft has also been
working to improve accessibility in its set of tools for Web-application
development, and IBM is planning to donate critical intellectual property to
the open-source community to deal with AJAX accessibility issues. Through a
variety of assistive technologies, IBM is working to improve the
accessibility of the Dojo toolkit for both international and disabled users.
With numerous lawsuits having recently appeared when users found their access
to AJAX restricted, accessibility is becoming an increasingly important
issue, according to Dion Almaer, co-founder of Ajaxian.com. Despite the
increased attention that AJAX accessibility has been receiving lately, Almaer
notes that complete accessibility is difficult to achieve. Compatibility with
non-AJAX browsers and the accessibility of the AJAX interface are the two
main barriers to the accessibility of AJAX applications, said Nexaweb
Technologies CTO Coach Wei. 

Read the entire article at:
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1987300,00.asp

MB Technologies
http://www.mbtechnologies.com/main.htm

Bindows
http://www.bindows.net/

Bindows - First Framework to Support Accessibility for Ajax and Web 2.0 Applications
http://www.paciellogroup.com/pressroom/bindows.html

Ajaxian.com
http://ajaxian.com/

AJAX Accessibility
http://ajaxian.com/by/topic/accessibility/

Nexaweb
http://www.nexaweb.com/

Can AJAX find harmony on agency Web sites?
http://www.fcw.com/article95257-07-17-06-Print
