Fixing Alt - 6 Reasons Bacon Is Better Than True Love

This is the next blog in a series titled "Fixing Alt" where I supply alternative text to graphics on the web that badly need it (cartoons and infographics).
The Oatmeal has great comics, but badly needs alt text. One of their most successful comics is 6 Reasons Bacon Is Better Than True Love (you can even order a poster) and deserves to be enjoyed by everyone! So here is the text version:

6 Reasons Bacon Is Better Than True Love

Illustration: 3 strips of bacon, greater-than symbol, heart.

1. True love happens once in a lifetime. Bacon can happen seven times a day, if you want it to. Illustration: Man, drooling, with bacon in hand says "You are my everything".
2. Bacon you can keep in the fridge. True love you cannot. Illustration: Woman trying to get out of fridge says "Oh God oh God, let me out of here! Man holds door back with heart in a thought cloud.
3. Love is fleeting, but bacon stays in your arteries for all eternity. Illustration: Man laying down with bacon strips falling in his open mouth.
4. It will always be there for you. Illustration: Man with tears in eyes says "nobody loves me except my bacon".
5. Bacon won't divorce you over a little misunderstanding. Illustration: Wife gasping; man in skimpy underwear with goat on leash and 2 nearly naked women says "This isn't what it looks like. These aren't hookers, they are my 'consultants'".
6. Bacon does not nag or complain. Illustration: Woman says "You've been sitting in that goddamn chair for 8 weeks, go mow the lawn! Soiled man in lounge chair says "Shut up, more bacon please".

Disney & Other Recent Web Accessibility Lawsuits

It's unfortunate that soon after Disney Parks & Resorts receives an award for accessibility from the AFB, an announcement is made for a Class Action Lawsuit Against Disney Alleges Inaccessible Websites. The lawsuit cites Disney's failure to accommodate blind persons in violation of ADA. Read more in this article by Nic Steenhout (@vavroom): Lawsuit Against Disney For Lack Of Accessibility.
Here are more headlines involving law and accessibility over the last few months, mostly web accessibility:

• Delta hit with $2M DOT disabilities violations fine (February 2011)
• Scarborough woman wins accessibility challenge against federal government (December 2010)
• Accessibility Lawsuit Filed Against JetBlue Airways - Law Office of Lainey Feingold (October 2010)
• Court orders Ottawa to make websites accessible to blind - The Globe and Mail (November 2010)
• NFB files complaints against 9 law schools for inaccessible web site (May 2010)
• Unfriendly Skies? Blind Passengers Sue United : NPR (October 2010)
• NFB files complaint against Penn State University for accessibility problems (November 2010)
• Blind MBA to have her day in court over inaccessible government websites (September 2010)
• Blind Students Sue Law Schools Over Online Applications - Wired Campus - The Chronicle of Higher Education, Wired Campus - The Chronicle of Higher Education (June 2010)

Accessible Twitter Receives AFB 2011 Access Award

Congratulations to Accessible Twitter which has been honored with the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) 2011 Access Award. Other recipients are CBS, Lexmark, and Walt Disney Parks & Resorts.
An Access Awards Ceremony will be held Friday, March 11, at the 2011 Josephine L. Taylor Leadership Institute (JLTLI) conference in downtown Seattle, Washington.
Accessible Twitter is a web application which serves as an alternative to the Twitter.com website. It is designed to be easier to use and is optimized for disabled users. In addition to all modern desktop browsers (and IE 6), Accessible Twitter runs on virtually any user-agent such as Lynx (text browser), screen readers, the Kindle, Braille displays, and web-enabled mobile devices.

Music About Web Accessibility!

Here's a great list of music about web accessibility! Includes the premiere of the full Web Axe theme song.

• WCAG 2.0 Theme Song by David MacDonald (YouTube).
• Assistive Technology Boogie - fun, and it's accessible Flash! (direct Flash link)
• "Man With Small F" (The Inaccessible PDF Song) by Terrill Thompson. Listen at end of Web Axe Podcast 77 (Interview with Terrill Thompson) or from Terrill's album Flavors.
• inaccessible song by Daniel Davis.
• Listen to the Web Axe theme song! (MP3) composed by my good friend Jeff Ensign.

Anyone have a song to add?!

Podcast #89: CSUN 2011 Preview

Dennis and special guests Jennison Asuncion (@Jennison) and Jared Smith (@jared_w_smith) discuss the upcoming CSUN conference in San Diego, California, at the Manchester Grand Hyatt Hotel, March 14-19, 2011. The official title and website is: 26th Annual International Technology & Persons with Disabilities Conference.
NOTE: Apologies for the poor quality. (But the content is outstanding!)
Download Web Axe Episode 89 (CSUN 2011 Preview)
Transcript of podcast 89

Sponsor:
Project:Possibility is a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating open source software that benefits the disabilities community, and educating students on accessibility and universal design concepts. This is accomplished with the SS12 Code for a Cause: an opportunity for students to make a profound difference by developing innovative, empowering projects for persons with disabilities, as well as the chance to work with industry professionals.

Jennison presenting:

• Building IT Accessibility Awareness and Community Using the Barcamp/Unconference Format. Wednesday, 9:20.
• Do We Need to Change the Web Accessibility Game Plan? Panel with John Foliot, Sandi Wassmer, and Jennison. Thursday, 3:10.

Jared presenting:

• HTML5/ARIA pre-conference workshop w/ Steven Faulkner and Hans Hillen of TPG. All day Tuesday.
• Screen Reader Web Accessibility Face-off. Wednesday, 3:10.
• Do We Need to Change the Web Accessibility Game Plan? Panel with John Foliot, Sandi Wassmer, and Jennison. Thursday, 3:10.
• WebAIM's Screen Reader User Surveys: Data and Trends. Friday, 8am.
• Preview of WAVE 5 on Friday, 10:40.

More info:

• There is a (now annual) CSUN Tweet-up Thursday at 6pm. Lightning talks, food, and fun! (Contact Jared if you want to sponsor.)
• The Twitter hash tag for the event is "#CSUN11".
• Exhibit Hall-Only entry will be free once again.
• CSUN On Lanyrd
• CSUN11 on LinkedIn
• CSUN11 on Facebook
• Saturday morning: Dennis on a panel of judges (Sat morn) for the SS12 Code-A-Thon finals!
• Register for CSUN11

About Cognitive Accessibility & Related Articles

Cognitive accessibility is closely tied to WCAG 2.0 Principle 3: Understandable which states that "Information and the operation of user interface must be understandable". (WebAIM does a great job in explaining what Cognitive Disabilities actually are.) The guidelines under this principle are:

• Guideline 3.1 Readable: Make text content readable and understandable.
• Guideline 3.2 Predictable: Make Web pages appear and operate in predictable ways.
• Guideline 3.3 Input Assistance: Help users avoid and correct mistakes.

There's been an increase in articles about cognitive accessibility which is great because it's the most difficult and typically least discussed. Here's a great list of them below. Feel free to comment with any that were missed.

• Cognitive Accessibility Online (Yahoo)
• Cognitive Disabilities and the Web: Where Accessibility and Usability Meet?
• Cognitive accessibility testing
• Supporting comprehension for everyone
• Cognitive Web Accessibility Assessment: First Attempt, Part 1 of 3 (Clear Helper)
• 10 Organizations That Promote Cognitive Web Accessibility (Clear Helper)
• Plain Language dot gov
• How the cloud can improve the lives of those with cognitive disabilities
• Web accessibility for cognitive disabilities and learning difficulties (Dev.Opera)