XML Web Services for Accessibility and Usability EPA Section 508 Exposition: Road to Accessibility J

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XML Web Services for Accessibility and
UsabilityEPA Section 508 Exposition Road to
AccessibilityJune 5-6, 2002, EPA East,
Washington, DC

• Brand Niemann, XML Web Services Evangelist,
  Office of Environmental Information, U.S.
  Environmental Protection Agency
• Janina Sajka, Director Technology Research and
  Development Governmental Relations Group,
  American Foundation for the Blind
• Susan Turnbull, Senior Policy Advisor, Office of
  Governmentwide Policy, US General Services
  Administration

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Overview

• 1. Some Background
• 2. Some Issues
• 3. Some Solutions
• 4. Some Contact Information

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1. Some Background

• What are XML Web Services?
• XML is a standard for preserving and
  communicating information encoding, tagging,
  and internationalizing that will be everywhere.
• Web Services provide communication between
  applications running on different Web servers
  that will bring the Internet to its new level.
• XML Web Services are applications running on
  different devices that communicate XML data using
  XML messages.
• XML Web Services for geospatial data use the
  OpenGIS Consortiums GML (Geography Markup
  Language) and OWS (Open Web Services) standards
  and specifications.

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1. Some Background

• Why are XML Web Services Important?
• The eXtensible Markup Language became a World
  Wide Web Consortium (W3C) standard in 1998 as the
  universal format for structured documents and
  data on the Web (http//www.w3.org/XML/).
• The CIO Council created the XML Working Group in
  2000 to facilitate the efficient and effective
  use of XML through cooperative efforts among
  government agencies, including partnerships with
  commercial and industrial organizations
  (http//xml.gov/).
• GAO report to Congress urges government to adopt
  XML (http//www.gao.gov/new.items/d02327.pdf).
• XML Web Services is what OMBs Mark Forman is
  encouraging in the E-Gov Initiatives and
  especially for the collect once, use many
  knowledge management projects like the Geospatial
  Information One-Stop.

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2. Some Issues

• 2.1 PDF and Public Documents.
• 2.2 Public Goods and Services that Work for All.
• 2.3 Bridging the Digital Divide and Providing
  Universal Access.

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2.1 PDF and Public Documents

• We applaud the efforts that Adobe has made to
  embrace XML technologies that provide open
  source, non-proprietary formats. We call on Adobe
  and other developers to commit to accessible XML
  practices, as defined by the XML Accessibility
  Guidelines (XAG) currently in public draft.
• Janina Sajka, Director, Technology Research and
  Development, American Foundation for the Blind,
  and Joe Roeder, Senior Access Technology
  Specialist, National Industries for the Blind,
  PDF and Public Documents A White Paper, Version
  1.1, published April 25, 2002.
• http//www.afb.org/AboutPDF.asp

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2.2 Public Goods and Services that Work for All

• American governments must communicate with all of
  us. To reach Americas large, diverse population,
  all government must stay at the forefront of
  communication technology. Standards from the
  alphabet to XML increase the efficiency and
  effectiveness of information transfer. This year,
  using a proposed new standard, the American
  Foundation for the Blind and TimeWarner Talking
  Books released an audio e-Book on CD, an excerpt
  of which can be downloaded (http//www.afb.org/tal
  king_books.asp). You will see the familiar words
  as text on screen or in Braille, synchronized
  with the narrators voice. You can navigate
  forward and backward in the speech using computer
  keystrokes. We have moved from standardizing the
  alphabet to standardizing book formats.
• Extending Digital Dividends Public Goods and
  Services that Work for All, September 2001, GSA
  Office of Governmentwide Policy, 36 pp.
• http//www.gsa.gov/attachments/GSA_PUBLICATIONS/ex
  tpub/11-STurnbull_1.htm

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2.3 Bridging the Digital Divide and Providing
Universal Access

• Mark Forman, the Office of Management and
  Budgets associate director for IT and
  e-government, today honored five initiatives with
  awards from the Quad Council, which is made up of
  the CIO, Chief Financial Officers, Procurement
  Executives and Human Resources Managers councils.
  The Environmental Protection Agencys Natural
  Language Interface to Web Content project won a
  new award for innovation. It lets EPAs chemical
  emergency preparedness prevention office
  disseminate real-time Web content to local
  emergency planning committees and to less
  equipped groups by standard telephone.
• Government Computer News, Quad Council salutes
  five top cutting-edge initiatives, April 1, 2002
  Vol. 21 No. 7, http//www.gcn.com/21_7/news/18303-
  1.html
• Every government agency should be able to single
  out at least one service that could be
  voice-based and, therefore, could be implemented
  via the Internet using VoiceXML, Niemann said.
• Federal Computer Week, A voice from the near
  future, March 18, 2002, http//www.fcw.com/fcw/art
  icles/2002/0318/cov-tech2-03-18-02.asp

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3. Some Solutions

• 3.1 eXtensible Indexing Language (XIL) for Large
  PDF Collections.
• 3.2 Repurposing PDF files into XML Documents.
• 3.3 XML Data Island Tables.
• 3.4 Content Management for Accessibility and
  Usability.
• 3.5 Digital Talking Books with SMIL.
• 3.6 Natural Language Interface to EPA Web Content.

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3.1 eXtensible Indexing Language (XIL) for Large
PDF Collections http//www.epa.gov/owow/oceans/ncc
r/index.html

• National Coastal Condition Report
• The Problem
• Large PDF files (14) totaling 114.6 MB!
• Files range in size from 0.1 17.2 MB.
• Pages slow to render and print (200 pages)
  because of multi-colored backgrounds, graphics,
  and photographs.
• Lots of data graphics, but few data tables.
• Neither a structured table of contents PDF file
  nor in Tagged format for export to XML.
• The Solution
• NXT 3 makes search and display across the entire
  collection of files very efficient and fast
  because of XML.
• http//www.epa.gov/owow/oceans/nccr/index.html

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3.1 eXtensible Indexing Language (XIL) for Large
PDF Collections
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3.1 eXtensible Indexing Language (XIL) for Large
PDF Collections
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3.2 Repurposing PDF files into XML Documents

• Adobe PDF Document as HTML
• http//access.adobe.com/simple_form.html
• Save As XML Plug-In for Windows (B2)
• http//www.adobe.com/support/downloads/detail.jsp?
  hexID89a2
• Install and do Help and About Adobe Acrobat
  Plugins and select SaveasXML.
• Do File, Save as, XML-1.00 without styling
  (.xml) or XHTML-1.00 with CSS-1.00 (.htm).
  (Note Must be a tagged Acrobat PDF.)
• See SaveAsXML Developer Information for Creating
  and Modifying Mapping Tables (DeveloperInfo.pdf).

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3.2 Repurposing PDF files into XML Documents
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3.3 XML Data Island Tables

• One of the simplest and most powerful
  applications of XML is that of data binding to
  HTML which also illustrates how XML separates
  content from presentation
• Data binding is linking an XML document to an
  HTML page and then binding the standard HTML
  elements to individual XML elements.
• This saves time and money on delivering small Web
  databases, allows the data to have other uses
  (e.g. Section 508 accessibility, roundtrip to
  Excel, etc.), and future proofs your data
  against periodic technology changes.

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3.3 XML Data Island Tableshttp//
161.80.70.167 /tri99table1.htm
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3.4 Content Management for Accessibility and
Usability

• Requests from multiple EPA offices for help with
  XML training and pilots (financial, public
  relations, environmental information, superfund,
  research development, and water).
• Select the very best content for each office to
  be XML-ized and to be integrated into a content
  network using the best technology.
• Registered the best content with its metadata in
  the content network that is both centralized and
  distributed.
• The content network supports the new agency
  initiatives like Environmental Indicators
  Initiative and State of the Environment Report,
  Environmental Health Tracking Network (EHTN), and
  the Situation Room.
• The content network supports the agency goals of
  (1) creating the building blocks of an exchange
  network (2) enable integration of environmental
  data and (3) provide vital services to EPA and
  the public.

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3.4 Content Management for Accessibility and
Usability
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3.5 Digital Talking Books with SMIL
http//www.loc.gov/nis/niso, http//www.daisy.org

• Also called DAISY or NISO Books for the DAISY
  (Digital Audio-based Information SYstem)
  Consortium and National Information Standards
  Organization.
• Well-organized collections of computer files
  produced according to specifications published by
  DIASY and NISO
• Medium-independent information access based on
  open standards (W3Cs XML and SMIL)
• Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language.
• Three Principal Types of Players
• Computers, personal digital assists (e.g.
  BrailleNote), and specialized stand-alone
  hardware players (Victor by VisuAide and Plextalk
  by Plextor). Also Victor Trekker A GPS for the
  blind.
• American Foundation for the Blind, Special Issue
  in AccessWorld
• http//www.afb.org/aw/AW0203toc.asp

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3.5 Digital Talking Books with SMIL
http//www.visuaide.com/victorpro.html
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3.5 Digital Talking Books with SMILhttp//130.11.
44.140/afb/Daisy2-VXML/index.html
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3.6 Natural Language Interface to EPA Web Content

• Enter your zip code to retrieve environmental
  information about your community
• Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPCs)
  provide a forum for emergency management
  agencies, responders, industry and the public to
  work together to understand chemical hazards in
  the community, develop emergency plans in case of
  an accidental release, and always look for ways
  to prevent chemical accidents. Local industries
  must provide information to LEPCs about chemical
  hazards, LEPCs are required by law to make this
  information available to any citizen who requests
  it. You can make a difference by attending an
  LEPC meeting or joining your LEPC.
• Please Note Currently we have over 3000 listings
  in our LEPC Database. It is our goal to provide
  the most current and accurate information. We
  look to the LEPC community to help us
  successfully meet this goal. Please forward any
  changes or corrections to Dana Robinson. These
  changes will be incorporated and updated monthly.

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3.6 Natural Language Interface to EPA Web
Content http//www.epa.gov/ceppo/lepclist.htm
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3.6 Natural Language Interface to EPA Web
Content http//130.11.53.73/lepc/FMPro?-dbLEPC.F
P5-format-fmp_xmlzip_lepczip_code22181-find

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3.6 Natural Language Interface to EPA Web
Content http//www.voicexml.org/,
http//www.w3.org/Voice/
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3.6 Natural Language Interface to EPA Web
Content http//130.11.53.73/brand.vxml
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3.6 Natural Language Interface to EPA Web
Content 1-866-745-7735

• Welcome to the E. P. A. Local Emergency Planning
  Committee finder.
• Please speak or touch-tone your 5 digit Zipcode.
• 84040
• Here are results for the Zipcode 84040.
• The L. E. P. C. nearest to you is listed in the
  E. P. A. database as follows. Davis County. At
  Davis County Sheriffs Department located in the
  city of Farmington.
• Thank You for calling, goodbye.

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4. Some Contact Information

• Brand Niemann, 202-566-1657, XML Web Services
  Evangelist, Office of Environmental Information,
  U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA),
  niemann.brand_at_epa.gov
• XML Web Services Training Materials
• http//161.80.70.167
• Janina Sajka, 202-408-8175, Director Technology
  Research and Development Governmental Relations
  Group, American Foundation for the Blind,
  janina_at_afb.net
• Access World
• http//www.afb.org/aw/AW0203toc.asp
• Susan Turnbull, 202-501-6214, Senior Policy
  Advisor, Office of Governmentwide Policy, US
  General Services Administration,
  susan.turnbull_at_gas.gov
• Universal Access Collaboration Expedition
  Workshop
• http//ioa-qpnet-co.gsa.gov/UA-Exp