Accessibility is a general term used to describe the degree to which a product (e.g., device, service, environment) is accessible by as many people as possible, and the ventures to produce accessible products and services. Accessibility is often used to focus on people with disabilities and their right of access to entities, often through use of assistive technology.
#20055
Building Accessible Websites: Serialization
Designers assume accessibility means a boring site, a myth borne out by oldschool accessibility advocates, whose hostility to visual appeal is barely suppressed. Neither camp has its head screwed on right. It's not either/or; it's both/and.
Clark, Joe. JoeClark.org (2002). Books>Web Design>Accessibility
#21530
The Business Case for Web Accessibility
Makes the business case for catering to the widest audience possible. Identifies groups of people who have problems accessing the web, and explains how building web sites they are able to use can positively impact your bottom line.
Budd, Andy. Blogography (2004). Design>Web Design>Accessibility>Business Case
#26037
Can Color-Blind Users See Your Site?
Information that will help you to create more readable Web sites.
Hess, Robert. Microsoft (2000). Design>Web Design>Accessibility>Color
#18286
Can Expanding Targets Make Object Selection Easier for Older Adults?
Given the proliferation of computers and rapidly aging demographic trends, there is a critical need for user interface designs that accommodate older adults. It is known that many adults in this age group experience declines in cognitive, sensory, and/or motor capacities that may interfere with their ability to interact effectively with current user interfaces. Motor behavior slows with age. Compared to younger adults, older adults take longer to complete the same movement, and their movements are more variable, less smooth, and less coordinated (Seidler & Stelmach, 1996). The loss of fine motor skills makes it difficult for older adults to position cursors on computer screens, particularly when interacting with small objects (Chaparro, et al., 1999; Walker et al., 1996). This can lead to greater frustration and possibly increased risk of cumulative trauma due to prolonged periods of time in awkward postures. This article describes one of a series of studies designed to explore alternative interaction techniques to make object selection easier for older mouse users.
Bohan, Michael and Deborah Scarlett. Usability News (2003). Design>Web Design>Accessibility>Elderly
#22988
There are two methods for adding captions in QuickTime. There are advantages and disadvantages to each approach. The first allows you to maintain a single file, making the captioned video easier to distribute. The second approach allows you to easily deliver a captioned and non-captioned version of your movie, but requires an understanding of SMIL (it's not too hard).
WebAIM (2003). Design>Multimedia>Accessibility>Video
#22990
RealPlayer uses SMIL to combine media content with a RealText (.rt) file. The .rt file contains the captions themselves and information about how and when they should appear. The SMIL file is really just a pointer file. It contains information about where and how your captions and media content should display.
WebAIM (2003). Design>Multimedia>Accessibility>Video
#22989
Windows Media Player adds captions using Microsoft's Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange (SAMI). SAMI, like SMIL, which is used by Quicktime and RealPlayer, is an XML-based text language. A SAMI file contains the captions and definitions for how and when the captions should display.
WebAIM (2003). Design>Multimedia>Accessibility>Video
#25969
Captions and Audio Descriptions for PC Multimedia
This article discusses the various types of captions, when to use captions, as well as the various types of audio descriptions.
Microsoft (2002). Design>Multimedia>Accessibility>Audio
#22831
CAST is a not-for-profit education research and development organization that uses technology to make education more flexible and accessible for all students, especially those with disabilities.
#18442
The Internet today is a part of kids' natural environment. Most children have access to the Internet at school and/or at home. In 2000 there were 55,475,000 U.S. households with personal computers. 99 percent of public schools have access to the Internet. The number of Internet users worldwide is expected to grow to 300 million by 2005, from roughly 150 million currently, according to an estimate by IDC. The greatest growth will be in Asia and South America. The number of online users will rise 61 percent to 95 million in the US, more than double to 88 million in Europe and quadruple to 118 million in the rest of the world. NUA Internet Survey, on the other hand, estimated total number of people online to be 407.1 million in November 2000. In November 2000 almost 20 percent of all digital media users were children. A recent National School Boards Foundation telephone survey of 1,735 randomly-chosen households showed that children predominantly use Internet at home and in school. In a survey of 10,000 students aged 12 to 24, from 16 countries, Ipsos-Reid Group found Internet to be widely available to Swedish and Canadian students. 78 percent of students in Sweden and 74 percent in Canada are able to go online at school. 80 percent of Swedish children and 71 percent of Canadian students have web access at home. Taiwan ranked third, with 63 percent accessibility at school, followed by the UK, US, Netherlands, Australia, South Korea, Mexico, Japan, Italy, Spain, Germany, France, Brazil, and Urban China.
Demner, Dina. Universal Usability (2001). Articles>Usability>Accessibility>Children
#19191
Cognitive Behavior Learning Disabilities: Being Different Shouldn't Mean Being Discriminated Against
I view my son's early school years in the 90s as a nightmare. I asked if my son could submit homework done on the computer due to his awful handwriting - weren't his ideas the key issue? - and 'NO!' was the reply.
Mardahl, Karen. Usability Interface (2003). Design>Usability>Accessibility
#18439
Color blindness is mostly neglected, even most of the people do not consider this as a serious problem. However, color blindness can be a problem that disrupts many tasks.
Karagol-Ayan, Burcu. Universal Usability. Design>Usability>Accessibility>Color
#21120
You might do a lot of usability testing on your web site but you still might lose up to 10% of your audience because of some simple mistakes with colors. Specifically, your web site may be designed in a way that doesn't work well for people with colorblindness. Generally the fix is quite simple: be sure to provide excellent contrast between your various web page elements.
Follansbee, Todd. WebWord (2001). Design>Web Design>Accessibility>Color
#19320
Colour is used in interface design for a variety of purposes. Not only can colour convey meaning or highlight content, it is also an important part of corporate identity and branding. Where would the Coca Cola brand be without its distinctive red and white livery? All well and good, but the reality is that the use of colour can cause more problems than it solves. Interface designers must treat colour with caution for a variety of reasons - most importantly the huge variety of ways in which any given colour can be perceived. It is well known that older users and those with colour-deficit vision may have difficulty in perceiving certain colours. Different monitors may be poor at maintaining colours the same across displays, and of course many users are still working on black and white displays. In this environment, poor use of colour may mean that text is hard to read, eyestrain occurs, and users become frustrated. With this in mind, designers should consider the following guidelines relating to the use of colour in interface design.
Gaine, Frank. Frontend Infocentre (2000). Design>Web Design>Accessibility>Color
#26849
Communication Challenges in the WC3's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 
In the first part of this article, we analyze a number of communication challenges and relate them to problems in conveying the November draft of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0. Based on our analysis, the second part of our article offers a number of recommendations for improving the comprehensibility of the WCAG 2.0 for its various intended audiences. Although our discussion has the November draft as its focal point, the recommendations are more widely applicable to other complex documents with diverse audiences. In the final part, we propose a new vision for the WCAG.
Brys, Catherine M. and Wim Vanderbauwhede. Technical Communication Online (2006). Articles>Web Design>Accessibility>Standards
#18740
Cómo Hacer Más Accesibles los Gráficos SVG
SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) es un lenguaje de etiquetado que nos permite la descripción con XML de gráficos vectoriales en dos dimensiones. En este artículo se resume brevemente como los gráficos SVG pueden ser más accesibles siguiendo las directrices del W3C.
Fernandez, Francisco Jesus Martin and Oscar Martin Rodriguez. Nosolousabilidad.com (2002). (Spanish) Design>Accessibility>Graphic Design>Usability
#22704
Comprendiendo la Accesibilidad
una completa guía para crear sitios Web, que consigan la conformidad con las normas federales de Estados Unidos para la accesibilidad del contenido Web
Yonaitis, Robert B. HiSoftware (2002). (Spanish) Design>Accessibility>Web Design
#19226
Computer-Mediated Communication and Disability Support: Addressing Barriers to Study
The case study reported here formed part of a linear series of studies undertaken as doctoral research at the Institute of Educational Technology of the Open University between 1994 and 1999. It explored ways in which computer-mediated conferencing (one type of computer-mediated communication [CMC]), could address barriers to study encountered by undergraduate distance learners with long-term health problems, identified by a large scale postal survey of volunteers. These problem areas include: difficulty with handwriting, academic and social isolation and fatigue, together with a need for better interactive communication with support agencies. The approach taken was designed to maximise student autonomy in relation to their studies. Thirteen participants were provided with access to the services of an on-line educational counsellor, both by e-mail and in a confidential peer group conference in the environment of a 'Virtual Campus'. The findings suggest that informal contact with the counsellor in the group environment helped to build rapport and develop confidence for these students to approach her by e-mail when more private advice or help was needed.
Debenham, Margaret. TechDis (2002). Design>Web Design>Accessibility
#31571
The Concept of Universal Design
The idea that environments can support human function is not new to designers. But, the perception that design can enable one’s abilities and participation in society is something relatively new from a consumer perspective.
Steinfeld, Edward. uiGarden (2008). Design>Usability>Accessibility>Universal Usability
#20662
Recently, I was surprised to learn that about 8 percent of men and 0.5 percent of women have some form of color blindness. For some Web sites that could translate to 1 in 12 visitors. That's a larger proportion of visitors than some other groups I consider when designing Web sites. The ratio of visitors viewing the Web with only 256 colors or a 640x480 pixel screen is usually less than 5 percent these days. Now include cross-browser support, older browsers, style sheets, and JavaScript in the mix. If you consider those issues when you design Web sites, you should consider your color-blind visitors, as well.
Newman, Chuck. New Architect (2000). Design>Web Design>Accessibility>Color
#23013
Considering the User Perspective: A Summary of Design Issues
A table which indicates some accomodations web designers may choose to build into accessible websites.
Bohman, Paul. WebAIM (2003). Design>Web Design>Accessibility
#26365
This paper outlines the requirements for console accessibility in Microsoft Windows XP.
Microsoft (2001). Design>Accessibility>Software
#25970
This white paper is intended to show how the console Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) can be used to programmatically access information about the console and applications running under the console in Windows XP.
Microsoft (2001). Articles>User Interface>Accessibility>Microsoft Windows
#19442
Copyright and Persons with Print Disabilities in the Digital Age
The American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) stands squarely in favor of reasonable and prudent technologies to assist in ensuring that copyright holders are fairly compensated for the sale, or other forms of digital access, of the content they publish in digital formats. However,most proposals we have seen to date purporting to establish technologies to prevent illegal copying or publication of copyrighted content simply do not consider, or address in any way, the fair use rights of persons who are blind and visually impaired. We would regard it a serious breach of faith with disabled persons to establish new technologies and copyright provisions which, once again, regard our needs as peripheral and expendable. To this end we offer the following positions on this issue of fundamental importance to this community.
American Foundation for the Blind (2002). Articles>Intellectual Property>Accessibility>Visual
#19643
Could Helen Keller Read Your Page?
The 'line-at-a-time' approach of screen-reader software complicates navigation on text lines that contain multiple hyperlinks (such as navigation bars). Thus, in an ideal world, accommodating visually impaired readers would move an author to place each link on its own separate line. But individual lines for each link can make for long scrolling pages, which, in turn, compromises navigation speed for sighted readers.
Sullivan, Terry and Krystyn Manning. All Things Web (1997). Design>Web Design>Accessibility
