Web sites, just like buildings, can be designed to meet the needs of all people, including those with disabilities. Unfortunately, most current web pages contain major access barriers. This site was created to promote awareness about the need for accessible web design and to steer those who wish to learn more about the topic into the right direction. The audience for this resource guide include public school teachers and administrators; college and university instructors, administrators, and policy makers; distance educators; librarians; and disability professionals.
Special conference announcement:
Disability Services at the University of Colorado at Boulder presents
11th Annual Accessing Higher Ground:
Accessible Media, Web and Technology Conference
for Education, for Businesses, for Web and Media DesignersIn Collaboration with AHEAD, EASI, ATHEN and CSUN ATACP
November 11- 14, 2008
Accessing Higher Ground focuses on the implementation and benefits of Assistive Technology in the university and college setting for sensory, physical and learning disabilities. Other topics include legal and policy issues, including ADA and 508 compliance, and making campus media and information resources - including Web pages and library resources - accessible.For more information, visit the AHG 2008 Conference Website.
For a comparison of Web accessibility validation and repair tools, see
See it Right accessible websites directory. Web Access Centre. 12 Oct. 2004. Accessed 25 Oct. 2004.<http://www.rnib.org.uk/xpedio/groups/public/documents/PublicWebsite/public_accessiblewebsites.hcsp>.
For negative examples, check the entries added on or after 30 Oct. 2004.
A more comprehensive list, with succinct descriptions of the policies included, has recently been compiled by AnnMarie Johnson & Sean Ruppert. This list is posted on a web page entitled "Known Campus Statements on Web Accessibility." Another more comprehensive list is provided by Computing and Communications at the University of Washington. Paul Ryan Bohman discusses the inadequacy of most of these policies in his article "University Web Accessibility Policies: A Bridge Not Quite Far Enough." Accessed
If you know of any other institutional web design policy statements (esp. ones containing barrier-free design mandates), please let me know: aschmetz@uwsp.edu
"About NIMAS." NIMAS at CAST: NIMAS Development & Technical Assistance Centers. Accessed 10. May 2006. <http://nimas.cast.org/about/index.html>.
Cynthia D. Waddell, "Electronic textbooks: US accessibility laws & issues." CSUN. Technology and People with Disabilities Conference, March 18 2004. Equal Access to Software and Information ( EASI). Accessed March 28, 2004. <http://easi.cc/conference/csun2004/csuncast/Waddell.htm>.
Jeffrey C. Senge, "A four year report card on AB-22: California's postsecondary accessible textbook legislation." CSUN. Technology and People with Disabilities Conference, March 18 2004. Equal Access to Software and Information ( EASI). Accessed March 28, 2004. <http://easi.cc/conference/csun2004/csuncast/Senge.htm>
Jeffrey Senge, Steve Noble and Alison Lingane, "Electronic Textbooks for On-Campus and Off-Campus Learning. " Equal Access to Software and Information (EASI). 2002. Accessed 3. Nov. 2002 <http://easi.cc/media/ebookppr.htm>.
Vivek Narendra and Ron Stewart, "Web Accessibility of SCT BannerWeb v 5.5." Technology Access Program, Oregon State University. 17 Nov. 2003; accessed 17. Nov. 2003. <http://tap-server.cmc.oregonstate.edu/standards/TAP-bannerreport.doc>.
National Information Standards Organization (NISO), A Framework of Guidance for Building Good Digital Collections. 1 Feb. 2004. [Originally prepared under the auspices of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and released on Nov., 6 2001; collection principle 4 addresses accessibility.]
Koraljka Golub, "Digital libraries and the blind and visually impaired." Proceedings 4th CARNet Users Conference-CUC, Zagreb, Croatia, 2002. Available at E-LIS. Deposited 9 Jan. 2004. Accessed 25 Oct. 2004. <http://eprints.rclis.org/archive/00000702/>.
Cynthia D. Waddell, "Electronic textbooks: US accessibility laws & issues." CSUN. Technology and People with Disabilities Conference, March 18 2004. Equal Access to Software and Information ( EASI). Accessed March 28, 2004. <http://easi.cc/conference/csun2004/csuncast/Waddell.htm>.
Jeffrey C. Senge, "A four year report card on AB-22: California's postsecondary accessible textbook legislation." CSUN. Technology and People with Disabilities Conference, March 18 2004. Equal Access to Software and Information ( EASI). Accessed March 28, 2004. <http://easi.cc/conference/csun2004/csuncast/Senge.htm>
Jim Fruchterman. Comments on Accessibility of Google Print and Google's Library Project. Benetech. Feb. 27, 2005. Accessed March 27, 2005. <http://www.benetech.org/about/whitepapers/google-access-022705.pdf>.