Web Accessibility

Harriette LaVarre Spiegel

Ph.D. Student, Instructional Technology

IS 592Summer, 2004

Accessibility

The user should be able to use the product (restroom, sidewalk, information on a Web page) as easily as anyone who does not have an impairment.

Accessibility?

Merriam Webster online: 2 a : permission, liberty, or ability to enter, approach, communicate with, or pass to and from b : freedom or ability to obtain or make use of c : a way or means of access d : the act or an instance of accessing; - ac·ces·si·bil·i·ty /-"se-s&-'bi-l&-tE/

Symbols

closed captioning

descriptive video

http://main.wgbh.org/wgbh/hire/symbols

web access

Background

10% of online population is disabled http://www.watchfire.com/products/webxm/accessibilityxm.aspx

Section 508: purpose, who is covered, what is covered, what are the technical standards, important dates http://www.access-board.gov/sec508/brochure.htm

Background

Web Access Considerations under Section 504 & Title IIhttp://uwctds.washington.edu/ocr_slides/index.htm

Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)

The Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) develops guidelines for accessibility of Web sites, browsers, and authoring tools, in order to make it easier for people with disabilities to use the Web. http://www.w3.org/WAI/

How People With Disabilities Use the Web

Introductionhttp://www.w3.org/WAI/EO/Drafts/PWD-Use-Web/Overview.html#intro

Blind Accountant:http://www.w3.org/WAI/EO/Drafts/PWD-Use-Web/Overview.html#accountant

Screen Reader Simulationhttp://www.webaim.org/simulations/screenreader

Guidelines

Section 508 Standards– http://www.access-board.gov/508.htm– http://www.access-board.gov/sec508/508standards.htm

W3C WAI Guidelines– http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10/

Tools

iCITA (Accessible Web Publishing Wizard)– http://cita.rehab.uiuc.edu/software/office/

A-Prompt– http://aprompt.snow.utoronto.ca/

Publishing Accessible Materials on the Web– http://www.dssc.org/frc/pubs/Access.pdf

Evaluating Accessibilityhttp://www.sapdesignguild.org/editions/edition4/joelle.asp

Web Accessibility Validators

Bobby http://bobby.watchfire.com/bobby/html/en/index.jsp

Doctor HTML http://www.doctor-html.com/RxHTML/

WAVE - http://www.wave.webaim.org/index.jsp

LIFT evaluation

http://www.usablenet.com/

Web Sites of Interest

Designing More Usable Websites http://www.trace.wisc.edu/world/web/

The National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR): http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/osers/nidrr/index.html?src=mr

Web Sites of Interest AccessIT

http://www.washington.edu/accessit/index.php

National Center on Low Incidence Disabilities: http://vision.unco.edu/AccessibleDesign/

Harriette’s Online List of Web Sites about Accessibilityhttp://web.utk.edu/~hspiegel/su04/592Page.htm

Whose Responsibilty is Web Accessibility?

Web User Education Guidelines: http://www.wats.ca/articles/educationguidelines/57

User Responsibility for Web Accessibility: http://cookiecrook.com/sxsw/2004/demo/