[Accessibleweb] The Impact of the iPad

[Richard B. Ells]

Apple has done a lot to push Web developers toward W3C standards Web design
methods, benefitting general accessibility. See the Apple Developer Connection's
page on "Web Page Development: Best Practices" at http://developer.apple.com/internet/webcontent/bestwebdev.html
and other pages on that site.

The introduction and explosive popularity of the iPad, with its touch screen
technology, will push Web developers some more.

Redesigning the Web for Touch Screens: A new crop of touch-based devices is changing the way users interact with Web pages.
http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/25236/?a=f
points out that a number of common Web design practices do not work so well on iPads, 
including roll-over interactions, hovering, and onclick events. Flash, of course, simply is not there on iPads.

The Apple Developer site has some suggestions too:
Tech Note TN2262: Preparing Your Web Content for iPad
http://developer.apple.com/safari/library/technotes/tn2010/tn2262.html
Plug-ins, if you use them, should not essential; use JavaScript and CSS instead. 
Be careful about how you define your viewpoint; hard coded pixel values are not good.

The potential for the iPad to be of use to people with various disabilities waits to be explored, but the rapid sales of iPads (1 million in the first month) and the approaching herd of other touch-screen tables needs to be considered when working on your Web design. Much of what Apple is asking for will improve the general standards compliance and accessibility of your site as well. 

IMHO. 8-)

   -----------------------------------
     Rick Ells
     Senior Webmaster
     UW Technology
     206.543.2875
     rells at u.washington.edu
     http://staff.washington.edu/rells