About Us
About the AIA
The Accessibility Interoperability Alliance (AIA) brings companies together to collaborate on the design and delivery of solutions to long-standing Accessible Technology/Information Technology (AT/IT) interoperability challenges. The AIA may also pursue formal standardization of the resulting technologies and/or specifications, recognizing the value of adoption by standards bodies (such as ANSI and ISO) in driving mainstream use.
Early in the evolution of graphical user interfaces, a set of APIs called Microsoft Active Accessibility (MSAA) was released to support the creation of assistive tools and accessible applications. Since MSAA's advent, many additional Web and desktop user interfaces have evolved, and diverging specifications have also been developed to support accessibility of these new technologies, such as UI Automation, Linux ATK, Java accessibility API, WAI-ARIA Roadmap and IAccessible2. However, at present, no single set of specifications comprehensively supports all the new technologies, and the specifications themselves are not completely compatible.
The AIA exists to improve the lives of those people who can benefit from accessibility technologies. The AIA accomplishes this by encouraging the enhancement of current technologies, the creation of new technology, and promoting the implementation of these APIs and specifications cross-platform and across the industry.
AIA members will work collectively to create an environment where a full
set of standard APIs and other technologies enables the development of
accessible computing systems, mobile phones and other platforms.
About Accessible Information Technology and Assistive Technology
A brief overview of these technologies is provided here; for detailed information about the many aspects of IT and AT, please see the links in the Resources section of this Web site.
Technology has served as an equalizer for people with disabilities, increasing opportunities for employment and independent living while reducing social isolation. Working in concert, these technologies provide workers with the ability to personalize their computing environment and adapt it to meet their specific needs, allowing employees of all ages and abilities to realize their full potential.
The need for accessible technology is growing. As the U.S. workforce ages, along with the general population, accessibility challenges and disabling conditions will increase, heightening employers' need to accommodate people with disabilities and age-related impairments. Changes in vision, hearing and manual dexterity will directly affect aging workers’ ability to use computing devices and the Internet, tools that have become fixtures in today’s economy.
To deal with these challenges, hardware, software applications, Web sites and user interfaces must be both functionally usable and technically accessible. Focusing on accessibility will enhance usability and improve computing and Web experiences for users of all ages.
Students as well as their elders are in need of accessible technology. According to The Digest of Educational Statistics, 2001, published by the U.S. Department of Education, the total number of U.S. students being served in federally supported programs for the disabled almost doubled from 1976 to 2000, from 3.7 to 6.2 million. Much of that increase is reflected in the increased diagnosis of specific learning disabilities.
Accessible technology encompasses three elements:
- Accessibility features.
An accessibility feature is an option within a product that allows users to adjust the product settings to their personal accessibility requirements, such as vision, hearing, mobility, language and learning needs.
- Assistive technology products.
Assistive technology products (also known as “accessibility aids”) are particular products developed to work with a computer’s operating system to accommodate specific impairments. Assistive technology products are chosen specifically to accommodate a disability, or multiple disabilities, so that an individual can effectively access a computer. Assistive technology can include products such as a different type of pointing device to use instead of a mouse, or a system equipped with a Braille display and screen reader. Not all users with accessibility needs require assistive technology products.
- Compatibility.
As with any computer system, it is critical for systems equipped with AT that all components be compatible with each other – hardware, software, operating system, peripheral devices, etc. Though this requirement might seem too obvious to mention, compatibility and interoperability challenges are currently the major issues preventing widespread adoption of AT.
Working Groups and Current Projects
The AIA conducts its activities via working groups composed of representatives of member companies, each group focused on one project.
The first four AIA projects include:
- User Interface (UI) Automation
This Working Group’s charter is to conduct a cross-industry review of the UIA specification to clarify and document implementation Best Practices. The Working Group will propose extensions to the specification to address new controls, content or interaction scenarios in applications or assistive technology products.
- Mapping WAI-ARIA to UI Automation
This Working Group's charter is to enhance support of these additional specifications.
- Interoperability of Accessibility APIs
This Working Group’s charter is to align the semantics of the leading accessibility APIs in use in the industry today:- Active Accessibility (MSAA);
- IAccessible2;
- UI Automation (UIA); and
- AT-SPI and Universal Access
- Common Keyboard Shortcuts for AT Products Used
with Web Browsers
This Working Group’s charter is to:
- Enable consistency in keyboard shortcuts across browsers;
- Define common keyboard shortcuts for Web applications and Web 2.0 controls;
- Prevent or manage keyboard shortcut conflicts among browser, Web page and AT;
- Facilitate documentation and/or real-time customer discovery of keyboard shortcuts, and
- Define mechanisms for easily navigating into and out of containers in Web pages.
Additional projects, as approved by the AIA Steering Committee, will
follow.
AIA Structure
The AIA is run by a five-member Steering Committee, which consists of two IT members, two AT members, and one At-Large member as Chair of the group. At the formation of the AIA, the initial three-member steering committee was selected followed by an election in June 2008 to add two additional seats. After the initial (spelling/grammar correction) terms expire on January 31, 2010, the IT and AT steering committee members will be elected by their respective industry sectors; all members will participate in the election of the At-Large member. Steering Committee members serve two-year terms.
- IT Member: Adobe - Andrew Kirkpatrick, Corporate Accessibility Engineering Lead; IBM – Richard Schwerdtfeger, Distinguished Engineer, SWG Accessibility Architect/Strategist, Chair, IBM Accessibility Architecture Review Board
- AT Member: GW Micro – Doug Geoffray, Co-Owner; QualiLife - Claudio Giugliemma, CEO
- At-Large Member: Microsoft - Rob Sinclair, Director of Accessibility
Steering Committee Biographies
Doug Geoffray
Doug Geoffray is co-owner of GW Micro, Inc. and leads the software development and product support groups. Doug has been developing assistive technology for more than 25 years. Doug first started as lead developer for Computer Aids Corporation, a pioneer in assistive technology. Doug has self authored many major accessibility projects ranging from dedicated self talking applications for the Apple 2 in the early 80's to software for the first portable accessible computer, synthesized text to speech and the leading DOS screen reader Vocal-Eyes. Doug now overseas a team at GW Micro focusing mainly on Window-Eyes which is a leader in Windows screen readers.
Claudio Giugliemma
Claudio
Giugliemma is the founder and CEO of QualiLife Inc., a Swiss company specializing
in the development and distribution of award-winning software solutions.
With over 20 years of experience in IT development, in the past nine years
he has focused on accessibility and usability. In the year 2000, he founded
QualiLife; its main goal is to provide a new generation of software solutions
that can make all technologies fully accessible to anyone, regardless
of age, ability and knowledge.
This new approach has measurably increased the use of computers in several areas, including the home, the work environment, in hospitals, retirement homes, and so on. Claudio Giugliemma believes that technology should serve the people, not the opposite.
Andrew Kirkpatrick
Andrew
Kirkpatrick is Senior Product Manager for Accessibility at Adobe Systems.
His team attends to accessibility issues with product teams across the
Adobe product line and works with customers and standards groups, including
representing Adobe on the Section 508 refresh committee and W3C accessibility
working groups. He is a frequent speaker and writer on accessibility including
contributing chapters to Web Accessibility: Web Standards and Regulatory
Compliance, a new book by Friends of ED. Kirkpatrick joined Macromedia
in July 2005 from the WGBH National Center for Accessible Media, where
he was Director of Technology with a focus on accessibility research and
consulting.
Richard Schwerdtfeger
Richard Schwerdtfeger is a Distinguished Engineer, the Software Group Accessibility
Strategist and Architect, chair of the IBM Accessibility Architecture
Review Board, and a Master Inventor. His responsibilities include overall
accessibility architecture and strategy for IBM Software Group. Richard
participates in numerous W3C standards efforts including HTML, WAI Protocols
and Formats, Ubiquitous Web, and previously the User Agent Accessibility
Guidelines. Richard chairs the W3C WAI-ARIA accessibility effort for Web
2.0 applications as well as OASIS and IMS GLC Access for All accessibility
standards efforts. Richard joined IBM at the Watson Research Center in
1993 where he helped design and develop IBM Screen Reader/2. He, later,
led numerous accessibility efforts at IBM, including: the collaboration
with Sun on Java accessibility where he co-architected the Java Accessibility
API and the IBM Self Voicing Kit for Java; the Web Accessibility Gateway
for seniors; the IAccessible2 strategy; and the Linux accessibility strategy.
He authored or co-authored numerous publications including: Secrets of
the OS/2 Warp Masters, “Writing Accessible Java application in 100% Pure
Java,” and “Making the GUI Talk” for Byte magazine.
Rob Sinclair
Rob
Sinclair is one of the chief architects of Microsoft User Interface (UI)
Automation, Microsoft's innovative accessibility model. Sinclair's team
focuses on helping Microsoft and partner companies create technology that
empowers individuals with disabilities and other difficulties, yet the
benefits of those solutions are not limited to those who experience physical
or cognitive impairments.
Sinclair joined Microsoft in 1997 as a developer support engineer in the Premier Support Group, where he provided technical and business support for some of the company's largest customers. In 1998, he transitioned to the Accessibility Business Unit (ABU) (formerly the Accessible Technology Group) as a program manager. Over the next five years, he held a variety of roles in ABU, eventually becoming group manager in charge of development, testing and program management. A talented nature and wildlife photographer, Sinclair left ABU in 2004 to join Microsoft's digital photography group, a job that allowed him to combine his personal love of photography with his professional passion for technology. A year later, an opportunity arose to return to ABU as director.