ACCESSIBILITY INFORMATION & RESOURCES
"Congratulations! This web page contains no accessibility errors that Bobby can detect. There are, however, some checkpoints that an automatic program like Bobby cannot examine. These item(s) are presented above. You must be able to respond to these questions affirmatively in order to obtain Bobby Approval."
BOBBY, the simple web tool which assess the accessibility of websites to visually impaired visitors. The above message after the OTLNewsletter underwent Bobby accessibility testing. The procedure could not have been simpler: you enter the url for the website you want to test, and within ten seconds, your site comes back up with various question marks for parts of the site it has identified as needing redesign. For example, before running Bobby, the banner and buttons didn't have ALT-tags; now they do. There's also an anchor to skip the left navigational column on the Table of Contents page, because some screen readers tend to read across a page, rather than from top to bottom. Tiny adaptations, big results. And the Bobby results guide you through the implementation of these adaptations, along the three levels of access you wish to attain. The Newsletter has only attained Access Level 1 of 3 of the WAI standards on which Bobby is based; since many of the explanations required more HTML familiarity than this Online Editor has, it will have to suffice for now. In this case, it is evident that Bobby assists novice and master web site designers in verifying or improving the accessibility of their sites.
Special thanks to Shauna Matthes of the University of British Columbia, who compiled the following sites and their descriptions
Accessible
HTML-Matt Margolin
Matt Margolin believes
that making sites universally accessible is easy, cost effective and
in concert with Web design fundamentals. This site offers simple and
useful tips for making documents navigable by text browsers. By following
these links you can also check how well your pages already hold up by
checking your HTML at Bobby, an HTML validation service set up
by the center for Applied Special Technology, that analyzes web-pages
for their accessibility to people with disabilities.
http://www.hotwired.lycos.com/webmonkey/geektalk/97/11/index4a.html?tw=design
Current
Issues in Web-usability-Dr. Jakob Nielsen (useit.com)
Dr. Jakob Nielsen founded the "discount usability engineering"
movement for fast and cheap improvements of user interfaces and has
also invented several of his own usability methods. Dr. Jakob Nielsen
holds 48 United States Patents, mainly on ways of making the internet
easier to use. This site also has a very interesting study on Eye-tracking
of web-readers, usability heuristics and top ten mistakes of web design
and web management. This site also contains an archive of the past five
years of AlertBox: Current issues in Web Usability.
http://www.useit.com/
Disabled
Accessibility: The Pragmatic Approach- Dr. Jakob Nielsen
A follow-up from the previous site from Alertbox. This site has links
to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 and the W3C (Web consortium
) Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) Standards. This site also has a
prioritized list of web-design rules.
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/990613.html
Usability
and Accessibility for those with Special Needs
This site discusses universal access by blind deaf and other users with
special needs, including special concerns for individuals with autism.
Links on this site include, creating clear communication, usability
and accessibility for people with autism, making the Internet accessible
for persons of all abilities, web interface design issues and web content
accessibility issues. When looking at this site make sure to follow
the link to: web guidelines: a checklist for testing your web pages
for accessibility.
http://www.usableweb.com/items/access.html
Equity
and Accessibility: Digital Divide Network
Digital divide network enables people living in the inner city and isolated
rural areas to acquire new technology as rapidly as their more affluent
neighbors. Initiatives on behalf of government policies and private
initiatives that the new information tools do not widen these social
divisions based on socioeconomic status and geography. Some of the issues
at stake include:
whether disadvantaged communities obtain the tools that will enable them to thrive
This site also includes information on the world wide
web for people with visual impairments, physical impairments, multiple
sclerosis, palsy, arthritis and hearing disabilities, concerning design
issues, guidelines, cost issues and links to other sites.
http://www.digitaldividenetwork.org
IDEA: Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 1997
This site describes the law passes in the U.S. in 1997 regarding the
Human Resources Report 5, raising academic expectations and accountability
for the nation's 5.8 million children with disabilities. This law bridged
the gap between the curriculum for students with disabilities and the
curriculum for non-disabled students, including their access and the
access of educators to new technologies. When looking at this site make
sure to check out "Other Assistance Providers", under the
link to "Regulations", includes useful links on assistance
for deaf and blind users, education reform etc.
http://www.ed.gov./offices/OSERS/IDEA
National Organization on Disability
The national organization on disability is a general site promoting
full and equal participation of America's 54 million men, women and
children with disabilities in all aspects of life. When looking this
site, make sure to follow the link from "What's hot", to the
press release on how online opportunities are expanding the horizons
of people with disabilities.
http://www.nod.org
Do-it Program: Disabilities, opportunities, internetworking and technology
Do-it is people with disabilities successfully pursuing academics and
careers, programs to promote the use of technology to maximize the independence,
productivity and participation of people with disabilities and professional
development for K-12 educators and post-secondary faculty and administrators.
This site also has a link to a news release form the April 2000 conference
on Technology and Disability: Accessible Futures.
http://www.washington.edu/doit/
Instant Access Treasure Chest
The Instant Access Treasure chest, the foreign language teachers guide
to learning disabilities, includes information on assistive technology,
foreign language and learning disabilities, attention deficit disorder,
dyslexia etc.
http://www.fln.vcu.edu/ld/ld.htm
Americans with Disabilities Act Home Page
This home page includes information on this act, a guide to disability
rights laws, technical assistance materials and links to affiliated
sites, from the US Government.
http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/adahom1.htm
Create a Barrier-Free Website- Jim Heid
According to Jim Heid, the internet has the potential to broaden horizons
for everyone, including the visually impaired. The visually impaired
benefit from many sites by ordering products on-line, learning new information
and even purchasing groceries. However, the reality is that many
of these sites are cumbersome or impossible for the visually impaired
to navigate. Especially, if they contain multi-colored banners, hyperlinks
or un-labeled graphics, which can turn a elegant looking site into a
navigational nightmare for the visually impaired.
This site provides information on the difficulties encountered by blind
users, growing awareness of government and businesses that create web-enabling
devices and hand-held computers, software, screeen-readers etc. Also
included on this site are pointers on creating a site more accessible
to the visually impairede , including how to access forms, bookmarks
to other sites and how to test your site.
http://macworld.zdnet.com/2000/08/magazine/create/barrier-free.html
Distance Learning over the Internet: Access for the
Disabled
An extensive site which addresses student needs and accommodations, as well as institutional concerns.
http://www.appassionato.org/NACUA/distance_learning.htm