Posted July 24th, 2008 at 12:39 pm by Alan Brightman, Special Communities
No Comments » / Filed in: Behind the Scenes
The world wasn’t built with disabled people in mind. Too many bumps and corners and narrow spaces. Too many objects just out of reach, too high or too low. Sights and sounds hard to see and hear. And that’s just the real world. The world of the Internet, initially, was a lot worse.
But not anymore.
Back in 1984, while I was at Apple, we discovered that the just-announced and beautifully designed Macintosh computer was, in some ways, terribly designed for much of the disabled population. One way we demonstrated this to our hardware and software engineers was to have them sit together, each in front of the Macintosh they’d been instrumental in designing, and do the following: “Put your hands in your pocket, put a pencil in your mouth, and type a 2-line memo.â€
That simple simulation eventually led to the identification and fixing of more than 40 obstacles that were originally designed as conveniences for the average user. More than any lecture could have accomplished, the real-life simulation of disabled experiences led not only to the increased usability of the Macintosh, but also, in the words of one software engineer, to a new, more inclusive, way of seeing the world: “I’ll never view my work in the same way again.â€
It’s useful to mention that the fixes—what we termed “electronic curb-cutsâ€â€”were, for the most part, quite simple to make. The much more difficult challenge was to recognize that the accessibility problems existed in the first place.
And so it is with websites. Even Yahoo!.
Which is why we’ve just opened the Yahoo! Accessibility Lab, a place where engineers, designers, and product managers can experience for themselves how disabled users navigate the web. And sometimes, how they can’t.
At this point, the Accessibility Lab is in its formative stage; we’re still learning how to make it as valuable a resource as possible. As a result, it is only available—for now—to Yahoo! employees. Here is part of what we’ve said to them in announcing this new on-campus location:
No matter what your position is at Yahoo!, we invite you to wander in, look around, play a little, watch a little, try a little, borrow a little… and then come back again. And again.
Come in and be blind for a while and learn how to buy a car at Yahoo! Autos. Or be paralyzed from the neck down and use Yahoo! Mail or play Yahoo! Games. Or be deaf, or learning disabled, or non-verbal. These are the kinds of experiences you can have in the Lab.
Our goal is to help you understand what it means to design products that are accessible to all of Yahoo!’s customers. Products that are usable. Enjoyable. Delightful. And inclusive.
In addition to simulating the disabled experience, the Accessibility Lab also provides a growing collection of books and videos that we hope will help visitors become more comfortable with the culture of disability. And help Yahoos keep disabled kids and adults clearly in mind as they design and code.
Alan Brightman
Senior Policy Director, Special Communities
Alan is the author of many books about the disabled experience, including his recent “DisabilityLand” (SelectBooks, 2008).
Tagged: accessibility
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Posted July 21st, 2008 at 6:15 pm by Jerry Yang, CEO & Chief Yahoo
5 Comments » / Filed in: Trends & News
Today, Yahoo! moves past a distracting proxy contest. This morning we announced a settlement with Carl Icahn which will enable Yahoo! to put an end to this challenging chapter in our history, and allow us to get back to the business at hand – building our business and maximizing value for all stockholders.
Over the past few weeks we’ve made progress communicating with investors, helping them to better understand our roadmap for long-term growth, our valuable combination of assets, and our solid position in the converging search and display marketplaces. These discussions have been productive for everyone.
Under the terms of the settlement with Mr. Icahn, he has withdrawn his nominees for consideration at the annual meeting, and has agreed to vote his Yahoo! shares in support of the Board’s nominees. At our annual stockholder meeting on Aug. 1, we’ll ask stockholders to re-elect eight of our current directors. (In connection with the settlement of the proxy contest, Bobby Kotick has notified the Company that he will not stand for re-election to the Board.) After the annual meeting, Mr. Icahn will be appointed to our Board. We’ve also agreed to expand our Board to make room for two additional members to be chosen by the Board upon the recommendation of the Board’s Nominating and Governance Committee from a list that includes the rest of Mr. Icahn’s slate and Jon Miller, former Chairman and CEO of AOL.
We’re pleased that both parties were able to work together productively to accomplish this settlement, and we look forward to working with the new Board members and benefiting from their fresh perspective.
Yahoo! is now moving forward with one team and one voice, and we’re excited about what the future holds.
Jerry Yang
CEO and Chief Yahoo
Tagged: carl icahn, news
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Posted July 16th, 2008 at 9:37 am by Jim Bettinger, John S. Knight Fellowships
8 Comments » / Filed in: Guest Opinions, Yahoo! For Good
I respect lots of journalists. But I’m in awe of Violet Gonda, who was the 2007-08 Yahoo! International Fellow at Stanford last year. Why? Because she defies an oppressive regime in Zimbabwe that wants to shut her up. She walks the walk of speaking truth to power.
The Yahoo! International Journalism Fellowship at Stanford was established for people like Violet, journalists from countries where there are strong challenges to a free press. Yahoo! and the Knight Fellowships agreed that we needed to support journalists who were directly or indirectly under attack, and so we created the fellowship in 2006, with a generous gift from Yahoo!. (The Knight Fellowships itself has been around since 1966. A young Jerry Yang first met with the Knight Fellows in the spring of 1995.)
The first Yahoo! Fellow was Imtiaz Ali, from Pakistan, where journalism is a deadly occupation. But there could hardly be country that fits our definition better than Zimbabwe, where President Robert Mugabe’s regime has systematically and brutally cracked down on anyone who disagreed with it — opposition politicians, the press, human rights activists and others. Violet Gonda has been banned from the country (actually, the justice minister said the country would welcome her back — but only in prison) so she works in exile, at a small radio station, SW Radio Africa, in London. This station broadcasts uncensored news about Zimbabwe back into the country by any means possible, including text messaging. (Want to get a taste of her work? Listen to these two interviews, one with a Mugabe spokesman and the other with Desmond Tutu.) We were proud to have her for the year at Stanford, where she studied the development of news media in emerging democracies. Now she is back in London. If there’s a God in heaven, someday she will someday be able to return to her homeland.
And as she leaves, we are ready to welcome Abebe Gellaw, of Ethiopia, who will be the 2008-09 Yahoo! International Fellow. Like Violet, Abebe is in exile. He left after the Ethiopian government started rounding up and arresting journalists in November 2005. He is editor-in chief of Addis Voice, a London-based website devoted independent news about Ethiopia. He will arrive in August for his year.
Journalists are under attack around the world, and organizations like the Committee To Protect Journalists make sure that those attacks are brought to light. It makes me feel proud that the Knight Fellowships and Yahoo! have teamed up to provide a fellowship at Stanford every year for someone who is bearing the brunt of those attacks.
Jim Bettinger
Director, John S. Knight Fellowship for Professional Journalists
Stanford University
Tagged: Guest Opinions, human rights, Yahoo! For Good
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Posted July 15th, 2008 at 5:20 pm by Connie Chan, Yahoo! for Good
1 Comment » / Filed in: Yahoo! For Good
With gas prices soaring to new heights every day, who can afford to drive? At Yahoo!, we are lucky to have a Commute Alternatives program that allows us get out of our cars, save money on gas, and fight global warming all at the same time. So to help folks outside of Yahoo! take public transportation, we asked Yahoo! employees to give away 100 commuter checks to encourage their friends and family to go green.
As part of Yahoo! for Good’s Purple Acts of Kindness program, a monthly initiative that surprises and delights our local community with random acts of generosity, we reached out to Yahoos all over the country to invite them to share a story about someone they know who could put a $50 commuter check to good use. In just a matter of hours, we gave away commuter checks to 100 deserving individuals. Here are just a few of their inspiring stories:
“I’d like to get commuter checks for my girlfriend. She commutes every day from San Jose to Oakland on the Capitol Corridor train. She wakes up at 5am every morning to catch the limited schedule. She doesn’t get home till 7:30. She could take the easy way out & drive everyday to save time, but she really wants to help the environment by taking another car off the road.†“My girlfriend currently commutes back and forth from Fremont to Oakland. She is a single Mom who is a nurse for the Children’s Hospital in Oakland. She has to be at work at 5:00 to 3:30.I know she could use the pass to save on both money and sleep. =)†“I’d like to give my dad a commuter check because at age 58, he has taken up riding Caltrain and his bike to and from work (3 mile bike ride to the station, Caltrain from Hillsdale to San Jose, and then an 8 mile bike ride to his office).â€
To find out how you can deal with high gas prices and help the environment at the same time, check out these tips on Yahoo! Green.
Connie Chan
Associate Manager, Yahoo! for Good
Photo from richardmasoner
Tagged: environment, purple acts of kindness, Yahoo! For Good, yahoo! green
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Posted July 12th, 2008 at 11:31 am by Nicki Dugan, Blog Editor
5 Comments » / Filed in: Product Pulse
Forty-six years ago today, a guy taking classes at the London School of Economics grabbed some friends and performed at a small jazz club in London. They didn’t get paid a dime. Two years later, they outranked the Beatles in popularity. After you hum a few bars of “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” see what wild horses dragged out of us this week:
Be the BOSS: We’re sitting on a goldmine of search infrastructure and thought it was about time we shared. Enter Yahoo! Search BOSS (short for Build Your Own Search Service), a new open Web services platform that brings DIY to one of the most valuable assets on the Web. If you’re a developer or owner of a site of any size, we’re giving you the keys to creating unlimited search mashups for the search experience of your dreams. If you’re a user, be prepared for searching to take on a whole new dimension when you’re visiting your favorite sites. We’re leveling the playing field and want everyone to play ball. More here, here, and here. Beta be gone: It’s official. The old My Yahoo! is being sent to Sunny Acres Farm on Monday, to be replaced with the *new* My Yahoo!. You’ll find a pile of new content like third-party (gasp!) modules from Netflix, Facebook, and Gmail, as well as custom-designed modules with more of the best stuff from select publishers (Entertainment Weekly, Forbes, People, Salon, Wall Street Journal, etc.). You also get more flexibility and control over page layout and easier customization tools. What’s more, the team has launched the My Yahoo Content Gallery, which presents cool cherry-picked modules that you can add with one click. And they’ve improved the search capabilities to surface content that’s related to your query. More here. Mine, mine. All mine! Pinpointing your peeps: Ever wondered where all those people you’ve met in your favorite Yahoo! Group are from? Now you can get a visual representation through People Map Beta, a new “grouplet” launched by our new “Groups Lab” team. Group owners and/or moderators fire off a form to their members, who voluntarily complete it with information that puts them on a map and becomes a dynamic mini-profile. More here. Stay tuned for more cool hacks from the Lab. I’m busy but this is really funny: If you’re an avid user of Yahoo! Messenger status messages, you know what a bummer it is when you have to tell people you’re busy, on the phone, away from your desk, etc. That’s because it means your friend won’t be able to click on your latest favorite video link. Or see that you’re peeved by coffee grounds. Or see what song you’re listening to. In the latest Yahoo! Messenger 9.0 Beta, you’ll notice your days of sacrifice are now over. You can have your cake and eat it, too. More here on how to mix work with pleasure.
Subscribe to the RSS feed (or add it to My Yahoo!) to get this Product Pulse every week.
Tagged: groups, messenger, my yahoo!, open source, Product Pulse, search
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Posted July 9th, 2008 at 10:37 pm by Prabhakar Raghavan, Yahoo! Research
3 Comments » / Filed in: Trends & News
When the Web first appeared, people browsed for the sheer serendipitous kick of it, but soon the Web became a place to get things done. Web search has witnessed a similar transformation: search engines have graduated from fielding ego queries to becoming the starting point for being productive. While search engines have evolved with these changing needs, we think search technology is far from mature.
What if your favorite news site had a search engine you could turn to when news breaks that not only surfaces the best articles on that topic, but also the most relevant content from across the Web? Or what if your search engine understood your social relationships or your site preferences and presented results with that in mind? When you’re searching for new music, wouldn’t it be nice if there was a search engine that knew your and your friends’ taste in music, drew in reviews from across the Web, and recommended songs you might enjoy?
Today we’re announcing a service that brings ideas like these a bit closer to reality.
Yahoo! Search BOSS, which stands for Build Your Own Search Service, is a new open Web services platform from Yahoo! Search that will allow developers and companies of all sizes to leverage one of the most valuable assets on the Web, the Yahoo! Search infrastructure. It lets them realize their own vision of what a search experience should be, enabling unlimited mash-ups and disrupting the search landscape.
BOSS will enable developers and companies to easily enter the search industry –- without large capital or resource expenditures — unleashing a wave of search innovation beyond any one of today’s search principals. Now anyone –- your favorite shopping site, an entrepreneur with a great idea or a start-up developer –- can tap into Yahoo!’s technology to create their own Web search experience without the infrastructure or talent resources needed to create one from scratch.
The result is that you’ll have more choice and flexibility in finding whatever you’re looking for on the Web –- just as you now have far more programming options with cable TV than when there were just three networks. (For examples of how BOSS technology can be used or to get started building your own search engine, visit the Yahoo! Developer Network.)
Stay tuned for more to come on how we are fundamentally changing the way you search.
Prabhakar Raghavan
Chief Strategist for Yahoo! Search
Tagged: BOSS, open source, search
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Posted July 8th, 2008 at 3:05 pm by Andy Saunders, Getty Images
2 Comments » / Filed in: Guest Opinions
Getty Images has always been interested in discovering, championing and marketing great imagery. The availability of economical digital cameras and the dramatic evolution of distribution technologies over the last five years have changed the landscape of our photography industry in exciting ways. It has had a hugely democratizing effect and now image makers all over the globe are able to share and develop their imagery within global communities such as Flickr.
We recognise that the many designers, art buyers and art directors that make up our client base visit sites like Flickr to find daily inspiration for their projects. As a result of a new partnership between Getty Images and Flickr, they will now not only be able to view the imagery, but easily license it, too.
As the unrivalled experts in the licensing of intellectual property — imagery, footage, multimedia and music — Getty Images will be able to work with Flickr to easily make the commercial licensing of what is, in effect, the world’s image library a reality.
Apart from the value of the accomplished and experienced photographers that contribute to Flickr, the addition of this content also brings a new flavour of photography to Getty Images and its customers — there is another world of photography that will afford an authentic view into the daily lives of people around the world. The places they live, the food they eat, the people they love and the milestones in their lives.
Sometimes the most amazing imagery is more about moments in time and place than it is about technical expertise. This partnership gives our clients access to thousands of these moments.
We congratulate the Flickr community for its fresh collection of high-quality images, and we look forward to working closely with the community.
Andy Saunders
Vice President of Creative Imagery
Getty Images
Tagged: Flickr, Guest Opinions
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Posted July 4th, 2008 at 4:03 am by Nicki Dugan, Blog Editor
1 Comment » / Filed in: Product Pulse
Whether you celebrate with pyrotechnics, battle re-enactments, red-white-and-blue parades, patriotic ballads, or rabble-rousing barbecues, today marks 232 years of severing ties with King George and his British Empire. Take that for taxation without representation! After you pause to thank that guy with the disproportionately large signature and his fellow forefathers, check out what we declared this week:
Upcoming feels refreshed: It’s summer and you can’t afford to miss a single kite festival, music festival, puppet show, or free Slurpee day. The team at Upcoming just made it easier for you to find things to do with a sleek new interface and more types of events. Now you can browse by smaller-scale local categories like farmers’ markets, craft fairs, and street festivals. In addition to making over the front page, they’ve added “What’s Nearby” info, so you can find parking, a place to catch a bite, and even the closest cash machine so you don’t have to bum bucks from a buddy. More here and here. Heavenly headers: Scrolling is out, tabs are in. That’s why My Yahoo! has spruced up its header with a new tabbed design, letting you create additional customized My Yahoo! pages to your heart’s delight. Just click “new tab,” name your tab, add content, and set up your page’s appearance. You can have up to nine My Yahoo! tabs, compartmentalizing your many interests to specific pages. Now you can finally keep your tattoo passion neatly separated from your knitting obsession. More here. Fireworks finder: Not sure where to head for that pyrotechnic extravaganza this year? Looking for pie at a great county fair? Go visit our Fourth of July fireworks and event finder. While you’re there, peruse 100 milestone documents of U.S. history, pick up a picnic recipe or two, and see what the most popular Independence Day search terms are. Forgot the URL? Just click on the star-spangled masthead on our front page and you’re there. Happy Fourth!
Subscribe to the RSS feed (or add it to My Yahoo!) to get this Product Pulse every week.
Tagged: my yahoo!, Product Pulse, upcoming
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Posted June 30th, 2008 at 6:37 pm by Dominique Dawes, Yahoo! Sports
2 Comments » / Filed in: Guest Opinions, Trends & News
With the 2008 Olympic Games just around the corner, this is a nostalgic time for many Americans. After all, who can’t remember their favorite Olympic moment?
I’m no different, except my favorite moments were spent atop the Olympic medal podium. My formative years were with the U.S. gymnastics team, and for three unforgettable Games, I got to compete with and against the best in the world.
Needless to say, a lot has changed for me since I last wore the red, white and blue. Instead of worrying about my next floor exercise, I’m worrying about how I’ll be able to stay up late enough to watch the women compete. I’m a spectator now, and I want to make sure my next favorite sports moment isn’t happening while I’m sleeping or driving to the grocery store!
This made me realize I needed to be in Beijing this year, but I haven’t forgotten how it feels for everyone back at home. That’s why I’ll be joining fellow Olympians Gretchen Bleiler and Mike Powell to cover the 2008 Games on the Yahoo! Sports Summer Games site. We’ll work alongside Yahoo!’s experts to give every fan a minute-by-minute account of what’s happening with the world’s greatest athletes, day or night.
I know, you’re thinking that still won’t help when your favorite sport isn’t covered in the papers, or is only on Channel 390 at 3:25 a.m. But Yahoo! is offering some new features to help you stay on top of all the sports – like the Watch List, which lets fans track results, news and medals for their favorite countries, sports and athletes. You won’t even need to worry about staying next to your computer, because Yahoo!’s mobile Web site gives fans the option of tracking the medal count, getting the latest news, and seeing photos right on your mobile phone.
So while you’re half way around the world from the Games this summer, don’t wonder what it’s like to be there. Just visit Yahoo! Sports Summer Games and look for me and my friends; we’ll tell you – anytime you want. It’s not a trip to the podium, but it’s pretty close!
Dominique Dawes
Yahoo! Sports
1992, 1996, 2000 U.S. Olympic Gymnastics Team
Tagged: guest opinion, mobile, olympics, yahoo! sports
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Posted June 26th, 2008 at 3:09 pm by Drew Geishecker, Network Services
4 Comments » / Filed in: Trends & News
Last week, when Yahoo!’s home state of California joined the state of Massachusetts, as well as Canada, the Netherlands, Norway, South Africa, and Spain in extending legal recognition of marriage to gay and lesbian couples, the annual June Pride events immediately took on a special meaning to many, including Yahoo!’s LGBT employees, friends, families, and supporters. The civil rights changes we’ve all been witness to recently inspired us to learn more about how people celebrate Pride, not just in our own backyard, but throughout the diverse world in which Yahoo! users live.
The results surprised even us, as we discovered official Pride celebrations in all 50 U.S. states and in 64 other countries. From the world’s largest LGBT Pride Parade – that would be in Sao Paulo, Brazil, with an estimated five million attendees in 2008 – to the more understated Rainbow Kite Flying day in cities throughout China, celebrations of our community’s diversity occur in many different flavors.
With Pride events scattered around the globe and throughout the year, we thought our local festivities would be the perfect opportunity to re-launch Yahoo!’s annual Pride site with some fun new additions at its first permanent destination: pride.yahoo.com.
Features of this new site include:
The World Map of Pride – A resource for locating and browsing the breadth of LGBT Pride celebrations around the globe. Search the world map for festivals, parades, film fests, and other major events near you … and invite your friends to join in. The Past Century in LGBT History and Civil Rights – An interactive timeline exploring many of the key milestones for the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community over the last 100 years. Visions of Pride on Flickr – Photos from Yahoo! users of the various Pride celebrations around the world. And easy access to the latest LGBT-related news, sports, entertainment, and community resources.
If you’re in the area, please also plan to join the 500,000+ people at San Francisco’s 38th annual LGBT Pride Celebration and Parade this Sunday, June 29. We’ll be demo’ing our shiny new Pride site and handing out some fabulous gifts at Yahoo!’s booth on Grove Street between Larkin and Polk. We’re also a sponsor of the 32nd annual San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival which runs from June 19-29. We’d be thrilled to see you there.
Happy Pride!
Drew Geishecker
Yahoo! Network Services
Co-chair, Yahoo! Pride
Tagged: news, pride, trends
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