Joe Clark, Toronto

Response to Australian government accessibility conversation

2010-01-29T13:33:00-05:00

In short, they’ve backed the wrong horse, especially in cinema captioning.

Where’s the <acronym>AODA</acronym> Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities information and communications standard?

2010-01-08T13:33:00-05:00

It’s on ice. In November 2009, I asked the Ministry of Community and Social Services the following: <blockquote> I am under the impression that the standard for information and communications, while ostensibly "final" and sent to the Ministry for "consideration," is actually completely stalled and nothing is happening on it. Also, either the committee was disbanded or its term ended, but in any event there is no committee in place to work on the standard if it needs that. Even if these aren't the exact terms you would use, do I have that more or less correct? </blockquote> I did. Their response: <blockquote> Following public review, the Committee revised the standard and submitted their Final Proposed Information and Communications Standard to the Minister of Community and Social Services on May 29, 2009. This fulfilled the mandate of the Committee.... The Information and Communications Standard is not law and decisions have not yet been made with respect to the Committee’s proposal. Upon receipt of the final proposed standard, the Minister may adopt the recommendations into regulation in whole, in part or with modifications, including timelines for compliance. [...] <ins class="ed">[Signed]</ins> Brenda Lewis Director, Standards Policy and Coordination Branch Accessibility Directorate of Ontario </blockquote>

Bluff-calling exercise

2009-10-21T14:00:00-05:00

Most of the “Real Science” campaign ends today with the Project’s submission to the CRTC and <acronym title="Canadian Association of Broadcasters">CAB</acronym>. <a href="http://openandclosed.org/docs/counteroffer/" title="A counterproposal for consumer-supported, independent captioning research">We’ve made them an offer they can’t refuse.</a> Thanks to all my <a href="http://captioningsucks.com/realscience/supporters/" title="Supporters">supporters</a>. I still have a few tasks to complete.

The Captioning Sucks! “Real Science” Campaign

2009-10-06T14:00:00-05:00

CAPTIONING SUCKS! launches its <a href="http://captioningSUCKS.com/realscience/" title="The Captioning Sucks! ‘Real Science’ campaign">“Real Science” Campaign</a>, with the primary goal of submitting a counterproposal to industry. We want to carry out legitimate scientific research into captioning. We could use your help.

Submission to Canadian copyright consultation

2009-09-11T15:53:00-05:00

My submission to the ongoing copyright consultation is all about alternate-format books, and is more or less a broadside against the CNIB.

New at A List Apart: ‘Unwebbable’

2009-07-21T15:53:00-05:00

Today my article, long in gestation, appears at A List Apart: “<a href="http://www.alistapart.com/articles/unwebbable/" title="ALA: Unwebbable">Unwebbable</a>” examines how not every document can be folded and mutilated into a “Web page.”

‘The Cranky Copyright Book’, my new project

2009-06-02T13:00:00-05:00

Launching today is my new book project, <cite>The Cranky Copyright Book</cite>. It’s all about copyright reform for creators, and <a href="http://joeclark.org/cranky/contribute/" title="Contribute to ‘The Cranky Copyright Book’">I could use your help</a>.

Some more comments filed on standards documents

2009-05-01T13:09:00-05:00

<ul> <li><a href="http://joeclark.org/access/loc2009/" title="Comments on access to literary works by people with print disabilities">Comments</a> on a Library of Congress notice on alternate-format books</li> <li>Yet more <a href="http://joeclark.org/access/crtc/AODA/April2009/" title="Comments on the Ontario accessibility spec, April 2009 edition">comments</a> on the Ontario accessibility standard</li> </ul>

<cite>Organizing Our Marvellous Neighbours: How to Feel Good About Canadian English</cite> is finally available

2008-09-25T15:09:00-05:00

Buy this electronic book on Canadian English spelling for $17.83 (Canadian)

Even more comments on the Ontario accessibility spec

2008-09-15T15:09:00-05:00

It’s as bad as last time – but in fascinating new ways!

What do the CBC captioning manuals say?

2008-04-10T13:51:00-05:00

I have them and now I can tell you.

Captioning Sucks! launches

2008-04-01T09:15:00-05:00

A garish new site about lousy captioning.

Intervention in TFO licence renewal

2008-03-16T14:35:00-05:00

No, they can’t get away with less than 100% captioning. Besides, TFO was live-captioning French in 1996. “Special and exempt are two of the many things TFO is not.”

Emancipated

2008-02-06T12:15:00-05:00

As of 2008.02.04, rights to my first book have reverted to me. <cite>Building Accessible Websites</cite> will be reissued in a corrected online-only edition, and many translations will be authorized.

More on GO Transit signage

2007-12-12T16:06:00-05:00

My response in the process of the appeal of the decision not to release public documents. Yeah, it’s that complicated.

<acronym>ATypI</acronym>-TTC video now transcribed

2007-12-03T15:34:00-05:00

But not captioned. I can’t get the software to work.

Comments on <acronym>AODA</acronym> accessibility “standard” available

2007-10-22T14:32:00-05:00

The <a href="http://www.mcss.gov.on.ca/mcss/english/pillars/accessibilityOntario/what/AODA_guide.htm" title="What you should know about the AODA">Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act</a> (<acronym>AODA</acronym>) is a rather weak piece of legislation that gives businesses and other organizations in Ontario until the year 2025 to become accessible to people with disabilities. One of the tasks of the <a href="http://www.mcss.gov.on.ca/mcss/english/pillars/accessibilityOntario/what/about_ado.htm" title="Accessibility Directorate of Ontario">Accessibility Directorate of Ontario</a> is the creation of <a href="http://www.mcss.gov.on.ca/mcss/english/pillars/accessibilityOntario/accesson/business/information/" title="Homepage for the standard">a standard for information and communications</a>. And <a href="http://joeclark.org/access/crtc/AODA/November2007/" title="Comments on AODA information and communications standard">I’ve got comments</a>.

Micropatronage: This time it’s personal

2007-10-22T14:32:01-05:00

Last year, I began a <dfn>micropatronage</dfn> campaign to fund me while I fundraised for my research project, the <a href="http://openandclosed.org/" title="OC-Pro">Open & Closed Project</a>. Now I’m giving micropatronage another go. This time the goal is to lobby against closed-door “standards” and in favour of our own open standards, and to propose a radical new deregulation plan that would provide fro 100% accessibility. This time I’m trying something new. <a href="http://joeclark.org/micro/" title="Joe Clark Micropatronage">This time it’s personal. Micropatronage: THE REVENGE.</a>

Speaking notes from An Event Apart available

2007-10-08T16:33:00-05:00

<a href="http://joeclark.org/appearances/AEA/2007/" title="Why I Hate Online Captioning">Notes posted</a> from my presentation at An Event Apart (“Why I Hate Online Captioning”).

Speaking notes from <acronym>ATypI</acronym> available

2007-09-18T15:27:00-05:00

Speaking notes posted from <acronym>ATypI</acronym> (<a href="http://joeclark.org/appearances/atypi/2007/caption-subtitle/" title="Don’t show printouts to grannies and call that a test">captioning</a>; <a href="http://joeclark.org/appearances/atypi/2007/TTC/notes/" title="Speaking notes for ‘Inscribed in the Living Tile: Type in the Toronto Subway’">TTC</a>).

‘Inscribed in the Living Tile’

2007-09-16T10:14:00-05:00

Yes, it’s finally ready: “<a href="http://joeclark.org/appearances/atypi/2007/TTC/inscribed/" title="Inscribed in the Living Tile: Type in the Toronto Subway">Inscribed in the Living Tile</a>: Type in the Toronto Subway.” (Shorter version upcoming.) It’s 50 pages and 2 MB in size, so give it a while.

Appeal of licence issued to the Accessible Channel

2007-09-04T15:54:00-05:00

Because one ghetto TV station for the blind does not equate to accessibility

What is GO Transit hiding?

2007-08-14T14:20:00-05:00

Recently, GO Transit, the commuter railroad, tested some new signage designs. Why won’t they release any information about those signs, and why isn’t the government watchdog assisting with such release?

SwiftWatch™

2007-07-17T08:15:00-05:00

Keeping tabs on the most expensive captioning software in the world (and its many bugs)

Save TTC Signs

2007-07-03T08:15:00-05:00

Did you know that TTC plans to remove and destroy irreplaceable old signs, including the only existing versions of Paul Arthur’s signage redesign at St. George? In response, I’ve started a write-in campaign to force TTC staff and Commissioners to preseve old signage that has to be removed – and to research and test a rational new signage system

@media 2007 notes published

2007-06-14T16:34:00-05:00

Speaking notes from @media San Francisco and London now available

WCAG Samurai Errata for WCAG 1 released

2007-06-07T22:32:00-05:00

At @media in London today, we released the <a href="http://WCAGSamurai.org/errata/" title="Errata"><acronym>WCAG</acronym> Samurai Errata</a> for WCAG 1.0. In addition two peer reviews, by <a href="http://SamuraiReview.wordpress.com" title="SamuraiReview">Gian Sampson-Wild</a> and <a href="http://ReviewSamurai.wordpress.com" title="ReviewSamurai">Alastair Campbell</a>, were developed independently and in secret and were unveiled today.

Pushing back the date of release to @media London, June 7–8

2007-05-14T15:34:00-04:00

We’re moving the release date of WCAG Samurai back to the second @media conference, in London June 7–8, 2007

We now have a newsfeed

2007-05-14T15:33:00-04:00

There’s now a <a href="http://wcagsamurai.org/feeds/wcagsamurai.xml" rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" title="RSS file; click only if you know what you’re doing">newsfeed (RSS/XML)</a> for WCAG Samurai

Looking for an agent

2007-05-10T14:10:00-05:00

But I have <a href="http://joeclark.org/agent/" title="Looking for an agent">certain requirements</a>

Transcript of my remarks to the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage

2007-05-09T14:25:00-05:00

I <a href="http://blog.fawny.org/2007/04/21/evidentiary/" title="‘Is this going on a blog site?’">appeared at a hearing</a> in Toronto on 2007.04.20 (<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/joeclark/sets/72157600103287001/" title="Flickr: Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage">photos</a>). My remarks were later <a href="http://joeclark.org/access/captioning/CBC/Heritage/transcript/" title="Transcript of remarks to Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage">transcribed</a>

Giving ‘evidence’ before a House of Commons committee on Friday

2007-04-17T17:35:00-05:00

This Friday (2007.04.20 1500), I’m <a href="http://cmte.parl.gc.ca/cmte/CommitteePublication.aspx?SourceId=200048&Lang=1&PARLSES=391&JNT=0&COM=10467" title="Committee-meeting notice">giving “evidence” before the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage</a>, Toronto, concerning CBC accessibility. (I’ve been there already – twice – in the last 15 years)

Four design articles from the <cite>Globe and Mail</cite>, 1993

2007-03-07T16:58:00-05:00

<ul> <li><a href="http://joeclark.org/design/RogerBlack.html" title="">Interview with Roger Black</a></li> <li><a href="http://joeclark.org/design/BrodyCarter.html" title="Matthew Carter & Neville Brody, 1993">Feature on joint presentation by Matthew Carter and Neville Brody</a></li> <li><a href="http://joeclark.org/design/Hel-vetica.html" title="Life in Hel-vetica">Life in Hel-vetica</a>, a quick introduction to Helvetica for laypeople</li> <li><a href="http://joeclark.org/design/DanielWeil.html" title="Old interview with Daniel Weil, designer of the Pet Shop Boys’ ‘Very’">Interview with Daniel Weil</a>, designer of the Pet Shop Boys’s album/tile <cite>Very</cite></li> </ul>

Intervention against the National Broadcast Reading Service’s claimed Accessible Channel

2007-03-07T16:57:00-05:00

Wrong in principle and for a host of other reasons

Speaking notes from Web Directions North 2007 finally up

2007-02-15T15:25:00-05:00

As a nice tidy HTML file instead of a 20-megabyte PDF

Complaint to Toronto’s Public Works and Infrastructure Committee on lack of testing of proposed streetsigns

2007-02-14T15:25:00-05:00

In short, they haven’t been tested, and you can’t roll them out until they have been

Letter to Tim Berners-Lee: Time to cancel WCAG 2

2007-02-07T19:00:00-05:00

In which I call upon the chair of the W3C to cancel the failed WCAG 2 misadventure

Presentation to TTC about their crap signage

2007-02-01T08:34:00-05:00

Yesterday I gave a presentation, lasting a whopping five minutes, to the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) about their crap signage, which you may now <a href="http://joeclark.org/design/signage/TTC/#pres" title="Is TTC signage in ‘a state of good repair”?">read</a> in various forms (with one more to come, at Sunday’s TransitCamp).

List of projects for 2007

2007-01-02T16:17:00-05:00

Just what it says

Another CRTC submission and another paper on accessibility of interactive television

2006-12-20T14:56:00-05:00

<ul><li> <a href="http://joeclark.org/access/crtc/OTA-2006/2/" title="Reply comments in CRTC OTA hearings">Reply comments</a> in the CRTC’s somewhat farcical hearings on over-the-air television (and captioning) </li> <li> <a href="http://joeclark.org/access/resources/interfaces/expressvu-itv.html" title="Captioning and iTV">Another research paper</a> on onscreen menu systems for interactive television, with some discussion of caption fonts </li> </ul>

New documents from WCAG Working Group cochair on cognitive disability published

2006-10-26T14:31:00-05:00

Now posted: <a href="http://joeclark.org/access/webaccess/WCAG/cognitive/" title="WCAG 2 activity on cognitive disability"><abbr>WCAG</abbr> 2 activity on cognitive disability</a>, including a November 2006 invitation to a teleconference on the subject (complete with Microsoft Word attachments, which I have HTMLified – a case of WCAG Working Group cochair Gregg Vanderheiden’s inability to produce the accessible Web content his guidelines would require)

Quoted in the <cite>Wall Street Journal</cite>

2006-10-25T09:50:00-05:00

I am quoted in an <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article_email/article_print/SB116137109874699183-lMyQjAxMDE2NjIxNTMyNzUxWj.html" title="Deaf Web users fear being left behind as TV shows stream onto the Internet">article</a> by Andrew LaVallee (we talked about different pronunciations of his name) entitled “Deaf Web users fear being left behind as TV shows stream onto the Internet.” The piece describes the demand by deaf people for captions on online and handheld video and how pretty much nobody is meeting that demand. See <a href="http://blog.fawny.org/2006/10/25/wsj-cc/" title="Online captioning in the ‘Wall Street Journal’">blog entry</a> with minor corrections

A busy week for regulatory filings

2006-10-01T15:50:00-05:00

<ol><li> <a href="http://joeclark.org/access/captioning/Neves/" title="Comments on Josélia Neves’s captioning thesis">Comments on Josélia Neves’s captioning thesis</a>: Neves, a Portuguese researcher working in England, wrote a thesis on captioning, especially Portuguese captioning, and the thesis has a few problems </li> <li> <a href="http://joeclark.org/access/captioning/CBC/CBC-caption-reuse.html" title="CBC News Online: Reuse of TV captions onto the Web">CBC News Online: Reuse of TV captions onto the Web</a>: The original proposal for an old project to reuse TV captions on the Web. We actually made it happen for a couple of years </li> <li> <a href="http://joeclark.org/access/crtc/OTA-2006/" title="Comments on CRTC over-the-air television review">Intervention</a> in the CRTC’s review of over-the-air television </li> </ol>

Signage & wayfinding articles posted

2006-09-20T16:25:00-05:00

<a href="http://joeclark.org/design/signage/" title="Signage & wayfinding">Signage articles posted</a>, including old evaluations and typeface comparisons for GO Transit

Accessibility of visual menu systems and interfaces and video on demand (<acronym>VOD</acronym>)

2006-08-16T15:03:00-05:00

<a href="http://joeclark.org/access/resources/interfaces/" title="Accessibility of visual menu systems and interfaces and video on demand (VOD)">Three articles</a> from the 2002–2003 era on making visual menu systems (like on digital TV) accessible

Test of em, en, thin, and hair spaces

2006-07-16T13:38:00-05:00

New browser test published: <a href="/standards/spacetest.html" title="Test of em, en, thin, and hair spaces">Em, en, thin, and hair spaces</a>.

CBC captioning errors and omissions

2006-07-04T15:47:00-05:00

I’m now keeping a running tally of CBC captioning errors and omissions:. And you can even subscribe via RSS!

Response to CMP ‘Captioning Key’

2006-06-06T13:53:00-05:00

Response to <acronym>CMP</acronym> <cite>Captioning Key</cite>: A critique of the lavishly-funded Captioned Media Program’s captioning “style” guide