Accessibility
Resources
Websites
WebAIM (Web Accessibility in Mind)
WebAIM has fantastic resources related to web accessibility
like useful articles & tools and they do a lot of online
training related to building accessible websites. WebAIM's
site also has a comprehensive list of accessibility resources.
View
these resources at http://www.webaim.org
World Wide Web Consortium's Web Accessibility Initiative
(W3C's WAI)
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) runs this site and,
as you probably know, it is the place for information
on web standards and guidelines. The W3C's Web Accessibility
Initiative (aka W3C's WAI) is comprised of some of the top
thinkers in the world of web accessibility. There is extensive,
cutting edge discussion on a number of issues. Check out
their resource page for guidelines, checklists, "quick tips",
etc. You'll find a web content and authoring tool and user
agent guidelines. While WCAG 1.0 is W3C's official standard
for web content, there is a working group designing and
formalizing WCAG 2.0. WCAG has a more "pan disability" approach
than WCAG 1.0 which focused primarily on low vision/blindness.
Learn
more about the WAI at http://www.w3.org/WAI/.
California State University Center on Disability (C-SUN COD)
C-SUN COD holds an annual conference in
LA focused on Technology and Persons with Disabilities. There are presentations
on every facet of web accessibility and you will find a
lot of information at the C-SUN COD website. The key figures who advise
on accessibility standards attend and lecture at this conference
and their papers are listed here. Find
out more about CSUN conferences by visiting http://www.csun.edu/cod/.
Macintosh Accessibility
A web log (blog) focused on accessibility issues for mac
users; put together by Kynn Bartlett (kynn@idylmtn.com)
a guy who, among other things, helped evolve the idea of
CSS (cascading style sheets) - a key feature of accessible
sites. Learn
more about Mac accessibility at http://www.apple.com/accessibility/
Designing More Usable Websites
A subset of the Trace Center's Designing a More Usable
World site, this resource provides links to a range of reference
materials that focus on Web accessibility design. http://trace.wisc.edu/world/web/
Web Accessibility and Universal Design
This resource provides links to websites that emphasize
Web accessibility design. Visit
http://template.bsd.uchicago.edu/ for
more information.
Rich Media Home
The Rich Media Accessibility Web Site is a collection of
resources for website developers and users seeking ways
to make rich media accessible to people with disabilities.
Visit
the Rich Media website at http://ncam.wgbh.org/richmedia/index.php.
Validation (Accessibility Verification) Tools
A-Prompt
A-Prompt (Accessibility Prompt) is a free software tool
designed to help Web authors improve the usability of Web
pages created in HTML format. The tool is available for
Windows. A-Prompt was created jointly by the University
of Toronto's Adaptive Technology Resource Centre (ATRC)
and the Trace Center at the University of Wisconsin. For
more information on A-Promt visit: http://aprompt.snow.utoronto.ca/index.html.
Bobby
This popular software formerly owned by CAST (Center for Applied Special Technology)
and now owned by Watchfire allows you to scan a page of your website at a time.
There is also a desktop version for purchase which allows you to scan your entire
site at once to determine your level of accessibility compliance both 508 and WCAG.
Access the tool at http://bobby.watchfire.com/bobby/html/en/index.jsp.
Cynthia Says
A useful and free tool that allows you to thoroughly check
your site's level of accessibility. Scroll down the page
to the section called "test your site" and enter your domain.
You can view your site and its components through the eyes
of scores of browsers (and all of the versions of those
browsers). As well you can check for the base Section 508
compliance or you can see if your site goes beyond that
and complies with the more stringent regulations set forth
in WCAG.
Try the tool at http://www.cynthiasays.com.
Section508 OK
This tool from Deque Systems allows you to assess and correct accessibility errors.
It goes into detail such as helping you determine and correct the specific percentage
of color contrast that needs to exist to comply with various accessibility guidelines
and regulations. It costs money, but you can download
a trial version at http://www.section508ok.com.
UseableNet
UsableNet provides a variety of their LIFT software that automate website accessibility
and usability testing, repair and delivery. They also have a free online accessibility
tool. For more information
on UseableNet visit. http://www.usablenet.com.
WebAIM's WAVE 3.0
The WAVE 3.0 tool from WebAIM will help you determine whether or not your site
or multimedia products are accessible (and to what extent) and it is free. You will
have to load a page at a time. Also, there is a feature allowing you to add the
tool your web browser, so you can assess any page you visit. Use
the WAVE 3.0 tool at http://www.wave.webaim.org/index.jsp.
Books
Building Accessible Websites by Jim Clark
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/073571150X/ref=pd_bxgy_img_2/104-2696258-9959100?v=glance&s=books
Constructing Accessible Websites by Jim Thatcher
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1590591488/qid=1073408584/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-2696258-9959100?v=glance&s=books
Maximum Accessibility by John M. Slatin and Sharron Rush
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0201774224/ref=pd_sim_books_3/104-2696258-9959100?v=glance&s=books
Web Accessibility for People with Disabilities by Michael
Paciello
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1929629087/ref=pd_sxp_elt_l1/104-2696258-9959100
Articles
Introduction to Web Accessibility
By Paul Bohman, Web Accessibility in Mind (WebAIM) 2003
Mr. Bohman has written a primer focused on basic issues
surrounding Web accessibility for people with disabilities.
He writes: "The Web offers so many new opportunities to
people with disabilities that are unavailable through any
other medium." The Internet, he continues, "offers independence
and freedom. But this independence and freedom is only partially
a reality." Too many websites, he concludes, "are not created
with Web accessibility in mind." Whether purposefully or
not, "they exclude the segment of the population that in
many ways stands to gain the most from the Internet." To
view this primer on web accessibility visit: http://www.webaim.org/intro/.
How People with Disabilities Use the Web
Edited by Judy Brewer, World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) 2001
This document, a working draft, is a general introduction
to the way that individuals with various disabilities navigate
the Web. It provides a background to assist in understanding
how those with disabilities benefit from provisions described
in several W3C documents, including Web Content Accessibility
Guidelines 1.0, Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines
1.0, and User Agent Accessibility Guidelines 1.0. Specifically,
this working draft describes: 1.) Scenarios of people with
disabilities using accessibility features of websites and
Web-based applications; 2.) General requirements for Web
access by individuals with physical, visual, hearing and
cognitive disabilities; and 3.) Various types of assistive
technologies and adaptive strategies used by individuals
with disabilities when accessing the Web. You
can find this article at http://www.w3.org/WAI/EO/Drafts/PWD-Use-Web/Overview.html
Accessible Web Design: A Definition
By Chuck Letourneau, Startling Access Services 1998, 2000,
2002, 2003
According to the author, web accessibility means "that
anyone using any kind of Web browsing technology must be
able to visit any site and get a full and complete understanding
of the information contained there, as well as have the
full and complete ability to interact with the site." He
concedes that "there are circumstances under which meeting
these conditions would be difficult and perhaps even seemingly
impossible. But difficulty shouldn't preclude effort and
a barrier that seems impassable when viewed from one perspective
might be reduced or eliminated when seen from another."
Read
Accessible Web Design: A Definition at http://www.starlingweb.com/webac.htm.
Visual vs. Cognitive Disabilities: Graphics for the Blind?
By Paul Bohman, Web Accessibility in Mind (WebAIM) October
2003
Individuals who are blind access Web content by using software
that converts text into synthesized speech. The software,
known as a "screen reader," reads the test in the Web content
out loud but cannot automatically interpret graphics. At
most, writes the author, "[the screen reader] can read the
text description of the graphic (alternative text, or 'alt'
text) provided by the person who created the Web content.
With this in mind, some people advocate creating a text-only
version of websites. These people often assume that 'text-only'
and 'accessible' is the same thing. In the case of blind
users, this may be true, but the problem with this assumption
is that it ignores other types of disabilities." Read
about these issues at http://www.webaim.org/techniques/articles/vis_vs_cog
Making Your Website Accessible to the Blind
By Curtis Chong National Federation for the Blind 2003
Written by the National Federation of the Blind's (NFB)
Director of Technology, this article supplies guidance to
website designers who want to ensure Web page accessibility
and usability by the blind. The author focuses strictly
on aspects of non-visual access. A highlight of the article
is the author's description of the processes blind computer
users go through as they negotiate their way around the
Web. Learn
more about making your site accessible to the blind at http://www.nfb.org/tech/webacc.htm.
Fact Sheets
Designing and Understanding World Wide Web Pages
This resource provides links for those who design and construct
Web pages. Learn
more accessible design at http://www.ataccess.org/rresources/webaccess.html
The Rehabilitation Act Amendments (Sec. 508)
On August 7, 1998, President Clinton signed into law the
Rehabilitation Act amendments of 1998. These amendments
cover access to federally funded programs and services.
They formed the bedrock for many Web accessibility
initiatives and guidelines that have emerged in the ensuing
years. Learn
more about Section 508 legislation at http://www.access-board.gov/sec508/guide/act.htm.
WAI Quick Tips reference Card
The Web Accessibility Initiative has produced a thumbnail
guide to the concepts of accessible Web design. The editors
caution that these tips "are not complete guidelines but
only a memory prompt" for concepts from the W3C Recommendation
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 that include information
vital to understanding and implementing the Quick Tips.
This resource features an easy-to-use checklist, a detailed
document describing techniques for implementing the guidelines
and a curriculum that explains how to use the guidelines.
Find
the Web Accessibility Initiative's quick tips at http://www.w3.org/WAI/References/QuickTips/.
Web Accessibility Issues
This fact sheet stresses the Web usage characteristics
of blind and deaf computer users and enumerates their difficulties
in achieving Web accessibility. It provides basic
guidelines for designers to follow in order to meet the
needs of users who are blind and deaf. View
this web accessibility fact sheet at http://www2.ucsc.edu/ada/accessibleweb.html.
Videos
Keeping Web Accessibility in Mind
This 11 ˝-minute video from WebAIM provides a user perspective
on Web accessibility. The
video is an overview of the difficulties faced by users
with disabilities and can be found at http://www.webaim.org/info/asdvideo/.
Introduction to the Screen Reader
Featuring instrumentation specialist Neal Ewers of the
Trace Center, this video is a six-minute short demonstrating
how screen readers can assist the blind in navigating the
Web and in accessing electronic documents. You
can find Introduction to the Screen Reader online
at http://www.doit.wisc.edu/accessibility/video/intro.asp.
Screen Magnification and the Web
Also featuring the Trace Center's Neal Ewers along with
John Klatt, a University of Wisconsin grad student, this
video illustrates how screen magnification software works
and discusses ways that Web designers can increase Web access
for a variety of users. Learn
more about Screen Magnification for the Web at http://www.doit.wisc.edu/accessibility/video/screen_magnification.asp.
Learning Modules
Web Accessibility Learning Modules
California State University/ Fresno's Center for Distributed
Learning has produced a series of teaching modules geared
to provide training for university faculty and staff Web
authors in the creation of accessible Web pages. Topics
covered include the following: "What is Web Accessibility?"
"Legislative and Legal Issues," "Assistive Technologies,"
"Tips and Techniques," and "Checkers and Validators." View
this web accessibility learning module at http://www.csufresno.edu/webaccess/learningmodules/
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