Live blogging - Accessible Technology - Gila Gertel

The Hilton hotel, 17:30 (which is now), Gila Gertel from the Israeli Accessibility Organization is giving a very interesting lecture about accessible technology.

Do come and listen, it will open your eyes.

Gila Gertel is getting ready for the lecture.

It Started Now

Not to many people came. Maybe 10-15. This is actually quite sad for me, as this is a topic which is very close to my heart.

Gila starts with some background about accessibility - Who needs it? How many? and so on and so forth.

Now here's an interesting exercise for you, even if you didn't come to the lecture:
Try calling your best friend's full number (not from the speed dial).

BUT! Don't use your fingers.
Put your phone on a table, or on your knee, and press the buttons with your elbow...

It isn't that easy, hua?
This is what a person with an amputated hand dials...

Here's another interesting demo.
This is how a screen reader (a software that reads the screen's text from the browser), reads Microsoft Israel's first page.

Gila covers the main reasons why to make your site accessible.
People keep telling me that it's expansive. How ever, it isn't so. Not really.
If you're just starting, the added cost will sum at 5%... That's it.

Plus, the ROI is very very rapid. The amount of people who'll come to your site, the higher ranks in search engines. Etc.

For more of that, you can read my first post (Accessibility on web pages - Why?) if you haven't done it yet.

Call for Action

(Gila's words)

This is the time to do the right thing!
You're doing it for years, developing sites, content, and so on. Now is the time in which you can make a difference! Make a change that really matters.
I promise you'll sleep better at night.

And we're done.