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.
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A way of avoiding the problem with embedding Flash on a web page (which you cannot tab out of).
Norgaard, John. Sonokids (2004). Design>Web Design>Accessibility>Flash
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Although we all know that the colors viewed on your computer's monitor are not accurate for print reproduction, your screen color is probably good enough to yield reasonably accurate colorblindness test results. We invite you now to test yourself for colorblindness on-line.
Copresco (2005). Resources>Accessibility>Visual>Color
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During the past few months, two new initiatives have been launched which could significantly affect everyone involved in website accessibility: EuroAccessibility and UKDeAN.
Kessler, Dennis. Accessify (2003). Articles>Accessibility>Standards>Europe
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Un blog essencialment d'opinió de temes generals i d'informació de l'actualitat de Tarragona i de Catalunya, a més d'oferir un seguit d'enllaços ciutadans i de serveis i utilitats per als blocs i webs.
Nosolousabilidad.com (2002). (Spanish) Articles>Usability>Accessibility>Collaboration
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The TechDis Accessibility Database
The TechDis Accessibility Database is part of the JISC funded TechDis service, alimented by the University of Sussex Institute of Education. This site provides an on-line resource of information about products which are available to assist those with disabilities. The resource is designed to provide information on assistive, adaptive and enabling technologies to the United Kingdom Higher and Further education sectors.
TechDis (2003). Resources>Directories>Accessibility
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Assistive technology (AT) can open up the world for an individual who has a disability. Assistive technology can ensure that individuals with a wide range of abilities can have meaningful access, be productive citizens, and participate in education, activities of daily living, and recreation and leisure.
ALLTech (2004). Articles>Accessibility>Technology
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Telephone-Based Access to the Internet
The rapid growth of Web services has led to a situation where companies and individuals rely more and more on material that is available on the Internet and intranets. Internet access is no longer limited to personal computers and powerful workstations in the office, but is reaching into the home, as well as on the road. A new class of electronics devices with Internet access capability called 'Information Appliances' was recently born. This Internet access capability is embedded in devices such as televisions, set top boxes, home game machines, telephone-based terminals, PDAs, car navigation systems and cellular phones. As mobile phones become available for everyone as commodities, successful telephone based access to internet is becoming more and more important to improve individual productivity. However, hardware restriction, narrow bandwidth restriction and accessibility requirements are serious obstacle to the success of telephone based access to the Internet.
Wu, Xue. Universal Usability (2001). Design>Web Design>Accessibility>Bandwidth
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Ten Accessibility Blunders of the Big Players
Article points out some major accessibility mistakes made by very large websites.
Moss, Trenton. Webcredible (2004). Design>Web Design>Accessibility
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Ten Basic Tests to Check Your Website for Accessibility
The Disability Discrimination Act says that websites must be made accessible to disabled people. So how can you check that your website is up to par? There are a number of basic tests you can make to address some of the main issues. The following list includes guidelines that provide a good start in increasing accessibility to disabled people
Moss, Trenton. Webcredible (2004). Design>Web Design>Accessibility
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Ten Common Errors When Implementing Accessibility
Web developers often make the same errors as each other when implementing accessibility - find out what these are and how to avoid making these mistakes.
Moss, Trenton. Webcredible (2008). Design>Web Design>Accessibility
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Testing Assistive Technology for Compatibility with Microsoft Windows XP
This article prioritizes areas of the Microsoft Windows XP interface that can be tested to ensure compatibility between assistive technologies and Windows XP.
Microsoft (2002). Articles>Accessibility>Testing>Microsoft Windows
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Text-only websites are not suited to all users with impairments. Although they are often ideal for users who are blind and use a screen reader, accessibility goes far beyond this user group.
Magennis, Mark. Frontend Infocentre (2002). Design>Web Design>Accessibility>Universal Usability
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The term ‘accessibility’ refers to making services and information available for people with disabilities. With regards to Macromedia Flash MX content, accessibility means making the same web content available for all users.
Friends of ED (2003). Design>Accessibility>Web Design
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Thirty-Something (Million): Should They Be Exceptions?
There are over thirty million people in the U.S. with disabilities or functional limitations (of which a major cause is aging), and this number is increasing. An examination of the role of human factors in addressing this population is presented which would include both special designs for disability/aging and the incorporation of disability/aging into mainstream human factors research and education. Statistics regarding the size and characteristics of this population are presented, including the costs of disability. Examples demonstrating the economic and commercial feasibility of incorporating disability/aging considerations in mass market designs are provided along with a discussion of the benefits to non-disabled users.
University of Wisconsin. Design>Usability>Accessibility>Universal Usability
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This HTML Kills: Thoughts on Web Accessibility
Activist Jim Byrne sounds off on the importance of web accessibility, and the difficulty of doing it right.
Byrne, Jim. List Apart, A (2000). Design>Web Design>Accessibility
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The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 were published in 1999 and quickly grew out of date. The proposed new WCAG 2.0 is the result of five long years’ work by a Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) committee that never quite got its act together. In an effort to be all things to all web content, the fundamentals of WCAG 2 are nearly impossible for a working standards-compliant developer to understand. WCAG 2 backtracks on basics of responsible web development that are well accepted by standardistas. WCAG 2 is not enough of an improvement and was not worth the wait.
Clark, Joe. List Apart, A (2006). Design>Web Design>Accessibility>Standards
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As the new disability legislation becomes law in the UK, Academic websites will be coming under close scrutiny from Disability Rights Organisations. Long established tools that have been used to test websites could, if used in the wrong way, be more of a liability than a benefit. The use of websites as medium for academia is now well established, with a plethora of materials being distributed over Intranets and Extranets. Furthermore, the pervasive Virtual Learning Environment is lending itself to opportunities for interactivity hitherto only possible in face-to-face teaching. But, as more and more material is distributed in this way there is a need for guidelines to ensure access for all.
Phipps, Lawrie, Neil Witt and Anne McDermott. TechDis (2002). Articles>Accessibility>Education>Online
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Towards Accessible Virtual Learning Environments
With the increasing use of virtual learning environments (VLEs) in further and higher education, the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001 (part 4 of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995) which comes into force in September 2002 has particular relevance to developers and providers of VLEs. Developers and vendors can also help to ensure that VLEs are inclusive learning media by understanding the barriers that individuals face (whether or not they use assistive technology) and creating hardware and software designed to be accessible to all users. They should also understand the importance of designing accessible VLE content in order to provide guidance for users.
Cann, Chris. TechDis (2003). Academic>Accessibility>Technology>United Kingdom
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Traveling Route 508: A One-Way Street to Universal Accessibility 
'Accessible' is a higher standard than 'Section 508-compliant.' Identifying the design principles for accessible web page design, and which of those principles are required under Section 508, is a useful approach to the issue for any organization that must comply with the Section 508 standards. The legislation has no standards for determining whether your web site complies with Section 508. Possible processes include: evaluating the site using a text-to-speech application; evaluating the site using validation software; and usability testing.
Bine, Katharyn and Gloria A. Reece. STC Proceedings (2003). Design>Web Design>Accessibility>Section 508
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Types of Cognitive Disabilities
There are things that designers can do to increase the accessibility of Web content to people with less severe cognitive disabilities.
WebAIM (2001). Design>Web Design>Accessibility
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Typography and the Aging Eye: Typeface Legibility for Older Viewers with Vision Problems
The population is rapidly aging and becoming a larger share of the marketplace. The demands of the aging eye require typefaces that function well under low-vision conditions. Can signage display useful information that is accessible to all ages?
Nini, Paul. AIGA (2006). Design>Typography>Accessibility>Elderly
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Mit diesen Seiten möchten wir Sie über das Thema 'barrierefreie Informationstechnik' mit Schwerpunkt barrierefreies Internet informieren und erste Hilfestellungen anbieten.
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UK Accessibility Investigation of 1,000 Web Sites - Results Released
An investigation of 1000 UK Web sites carried out on behalf of the Disability Rights Commission (DRC) reveals unacceptably poor (in fact woeful) accessibility. At least 81% of sites failed to meet the minimum accessibility standard, and this figure is likely to be much higher.
Dodd, Jon. Usability Professionals Association (2004). Articles>Web Design>Accessibility>Usability
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Understanding Disability Issues When Designing Web Sites
When you design or modify Web sites to allow access to people with disabilities, you make the Web accessible. New Web sites and applications, however, are introducing new problems and barriers. There are complex graphics and multimedia applications that assistive technology simply has not solved. One solution to these new problems is to put accessibility in the hands of the Web developer and content author. Creating a Web site that is accessible by people with disabilities is relatively easy as long as the Web developer and author follow some basic guidelines.
IBM (2007). Design>Web Design>Accessibility
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This article describes how the new Microsoft Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange (SAMI) technology expands the ability to provide closed captioning to a wide range of multimedia products.
Microsoft (2003). Articles>Accessibility>Software>Microsoft Windows
