#10405
Actual Readers Versus Implied Readers: Role Conflicts in Office 97 
This article uses reader role theory to explain the dramatic failure of Paper-clip, the interface to Office 97's online help system. Called an Office Assistant, it is designed to shield users from the complexities of the software. Problems with Paper-clip surfaced as soon as Office 97 was launched. This article explains the Paper-clip controversy in terms of reader role conflicts by showing why actual readers rejected Paper-clip's role as implied writer and why they rebelled against the reader role Paper-clip implied for them.
Shroyer, Roberta. Technical Communication Online (2000). Articles>Word Processing>User Interface>Microsoft Word
#18799
ADA-508 Compliance and Usability Testing Techniques for Accessible Web Pages 
This scenario–based progression session will introduce basic usability testing concepts for developing accessible web pages, raise awareness of the need to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Section 508, and provide resources for further investigation. Emphasis will be given to interactive discussion that centers on requirements analysis for accessible design.
Reece, Gloria A. STC Proceedings (2002). Design>Web Design>Accessibility>Section 508
#29736
Adaptive Technologies and Techniques for People with Vision Problems
Talk with Gloria Reece, a senior member of STC’s AccessAbility SIG who can help you understand vision problems and the technologies that exist to make information accessible. Get practical advice for implementing new technologies in your workplace.
Reece, Gloria A. STC Proceedings (2004). Articles>Accessibility>Visual>Workplace
#21214
Adaptive Technologies for the Visually Impaired: The Role of Technical Communicators
This column examines emerging technologies of interest to technical communicators to help them identify those that are worthy of further investigation. It is intended neither as an endorsement of any technology or product, nor as a recommendation to purchase.
Ray, Deborah S. and Eric J. Ray. Technical Communication Online (1998). Design>Web Design>Accessibility>Visual
#12966
Adaptive Technologies for the Visually Impaired: The Role of Technical Communicators
Try your ordinary web browsing and e-mail with an translucent piece of plastic draped over your monitor, with your monitor partially obstructed, or with your monitor turned off. With each of these changes, you’ll have a significantly different experience. For example, if you have plastic draped over your monitor, you’ll likely have a hard time reading words, interpreting graphics, or distinguishing colors. If your monitor is partially obstructed, you’ll likely have a difficult time navigating pages, reading columnar formats, or associating graphics with text. And, of course, if your monitor is off, you’ll have an entirely different set of challenges in accessing and using information. Each scenario offers a different view of the information onscreen, poses different challenges, and, most important, each is significantly different from unimpaired viewing.
Ray, Deborah S. and Eric J. Ray. TECHWR-L (1998). Design>Accessibility
#20051
Adaptive Technology Resource Centre
The Adaptive Technology Resource Centre advances information technology that is accessible to all; through research, development, education, proactive design consultation and direct service.
#27668
Adaptive Technology Resource Centre: Technical Glossary
Comprehensive list of adaptive technology devices with detailed descriptions and examples of how they are used. Covers Alternative Keyboards, Alternative Mouse Systems, Braille Embosser and Text to Braille Conversion, Refreshable Braille Displays, Screen Magnifiers, Screen Readers and Talking Browsers, Text-to-Speech Systems, Animated Signing Characters (Signing Avatars) to name but a few.
Adaptive Technology Resource Centre (2004). Resources>Accessibility>Technology>Glossary
#21676
Add A Custom Menu To a Microsoft Word Toolbar
In Microsoft Word, you can use menus and toolbars to control how you manage your documents. Menus display a list of commands. Most menus are located on the menu bar at the top of the Word window. Shortcut menus are available when you right-click text, objects, or other items. Toolbars can contain buttons with images, menus, or a combination of both. By default, the Standard and Formatting toolbars are docked side by side below the menu bar. You can also add a custom menu to your toolbar.
#23129
L'aderenza agli Standard di Screen Reader e Browser Vocali
Uno studio comparativo di 5 prodotti evidenzia come Jaws di Freedom Scientific e Home Page Reader di IBM siano gli strumenti che meglio interpretano le linee guida per l'accessibilità web.
D'Amour, Jean-Marie and Catherine Ro. FucinaWeb (2002). (Italian) Design>Web Design>Accessibility>Web Browsers
#22986
Adobe Acrobat Accessibility Techniques
Some sites would hardly exist at all if they took down their PDF files (PDF stands for 'Portable Document Format'). This format is an incredibly useful format for some situations, providing a method to post content on the Web that will print exactly as the author intended it to. Creating PDF files is faster and easier than creating HTML files in many cases. This increases its allure for Web developers.
WebAIM (2004). Design>Web Design>Accessibility>Adobe Acrobat
#31836
Universal Design can be thought of as a contemporary philosophical movement that addresses trends in the growth of the aging population and diversification of user abilities around the world. Stakeholders rely on designers, planners and managers as decision makers leading the drive to create non-segregated environments that help users and eliminate the stigma of disability. However, it seems necessary that everyone involved in the design process becomes aware and willing to bring about change. Therefore, the preparation of design students as well as users to understand the scope of Universal Design must be based on strategies that counteract the continuation of the stigma of disability in the mindset of designers and others who can bring about the changes required to create a more inclusive world.
Guimaraes, Marcelo. uiGarden (2008). Articles>Usability>Accessibility>Universal Usability
#27140
Advanced Techniques for Creating Accessible Adobe® PDF Files
A step-by-step guide that covers more advanced techniques for optimizing Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) files so that they can be made accessible to users with disabilities such as blindness or low vision.
Adobe (2004). Books>Web Design>Accessibility>Adobe Acrobat
#29302
Adventures with OpenOffice and XML
In addition to being open source, saving as XML makes OpenOffice truly open. Aside from being open source, XML's self-documenting nature allows us to dive into the document format without having to dive into C++. And more significantly, XML allows us to use simple, free tools to manipulate the documents themselves. In this article we will examine the structure of the format.
Sergeant, Matt. XML.com (2001). Articles>Software>Word Processing>OpenOffice
#27665
Questo libro risponde a due domande. La prima è "Perchè dovrei rendere più accessibile il mio sito?" E se non avete un sito web, questo libro non è per voi. La seconda domanda è "Come posso rendere il mio sito più accessibile?" Se non siete convinti della vostra prima risposta, non sarete di certo interessati alla seconda.
Pilgrim, Mark. Dive Into Accessibility (2002). (Italian) Books>Web Design>Accessibility
#19412
Age Classifications: When Considering the Age of Users, How Old is "Old"?
When considering the age of users – how old is 'old'?
Bailey, Robert. Web Usability (2002). Design>Web Design>Accessibility>Elderly
#18613
This report discusses the 'AHA' system for presenting HTML in audio for blind users and others who wish to access the WWW non-visually. AHA is a framework and set of suggestions for HTML presentation based on an initial experiment. Further experimentation and further revisions will be performed with the system.
James, Frankie. Stanford University (1998). Design>Web Design>Accessibility>Audio
#22492
AIGA Design Forum: Professional Practices
As a champion of creativity, quality and a strong sense of community, AIGA is a valuable resource for designers seeking support for the work we do. Professional Practices focuses on important issues designers face daily, from the pragmatic matters of management to the pursuit of design excellence and integrity. Sometimes our work can be magical, other times our work can be mundane, and on any given day we believe this forum is the place to seek best practices, share success stories, and address the challenges of our profession.
Shelton, Sam. AIGA. Design>Graphic Design>Professionalism>Community
#31058
AJAX Accessibility for Websites
Discover the accessibility problems caused by AJAX and how it can be used to enhance web accessibility.
Simard, Brigitte. Webcredible (2008). Design>Web Design>Accessibility>Ajax
#27408
AJAX and Screenreaders: When Can it Work?
We've all heard a great deal of buzz about AJAX in the last few months, and with this talk has come a legion of articles, tips, presentations and practical APIs designed to explore the possibilities and try to arrive at best-practice techniques. But, for all of the excitement and hype, still very little has been said on the subject of AJAX and accessibility.
Edwards, James. SitePoint (2006). Design>Web Design>Accessibility>Ajax
#19207
Aktionsbündnis für Barrierefreie Informationstechnik
Im Aktionsbündnis für barrierefreie Informationstechnik (AbI) haben sich Behindertenverbände und Experten zusammengeschlossen, um die Umsetzung von Barrierefreiheit in der Informationstechnik zu unterstützen.
#13228
Just when you think online multimedia will never be truly accessible, someone proves you wrong. In BMW Films, Clark sees a tantalizing glimpse of a better web.
Clark, Joe. List Apart, A (2000). Design>Accessibility>Web Design>Multimedia
#29795
An Almost Final Farewell to Desktop Word Processing
The era of desktop publishing is over, and I must bid Microsoft Word and several other desktop applications good-bye. In case you think I'm singling out Microsoft, it's not just MS Word, but also OpenOffice, GoogleOffice, or any application that makes what we used to call 'documents'. Nowadays, I'm simply using a wiki for collaborative information sharing and a blog for online reporting.
Albing, Bill. Carolina Communique (2007). Articles>Word Processing>Online>Wikis
#22950
Alt and Beyond: Making Web Graphics Accessible
Many developers still view graphics and accessibility as being on opposing ends of the web development scale. The truth is that including graphics in your documents does not mean your page has to be any less accessible. In fact, as we will see later in this article, graphics can be used to enhance the accessibility of a page. There are, however, a few key techniques that you can employ to ensure that you don't have to construct alternative 'Text-Only' documents. The web truly is the last frontier where we can treat all people equally with 'one size fits all' web documents. There is just a little bit extra we need to do to achieve this.
Roberts, Tim. evolt (2002). Design>Web Design>Accessibility
#21010
Alternative Interfaces for Accessibility
The key difference between user interfaces for sighted users and blind users is not that between graphics and text; it's the difference between 2-D and 1-D. Optimal usability for users with disabilities requires new approaches and new user interfaces.
Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2003). Design>Accessibility>Usability>Universal Usability
#31624
Amex Woes Highlight Common PDF Accessibility Problem
American Express has come under criticism, and potential legal action, for the lack of accessibility of its credit card website. A blind customer of American Express credit cards found that Amex's change in the presentation of its online credit card statements from HTML to PDF format effectively prevented him from accessing his financial information online.
Rourke, Chris. User Vision (2007). Articles>Web Design>Accessibility>Adobe Acrobat
