User experience design is a subset of the field of experience design which pertains to the creation of the architecture and interaction models which impact a user's perception of a device or system. The scope of the field is directed at affecting 'all aspects of the user’s interaction with the product: how it is perceived, learned, and used.'
#27300
Since the discourse over creating accessible Web pages began, the standards organizations that helped inform the new Federal rules have stressed the separation of design and content. If the Internet is to reach its full potential, content will need to be authored so that it can be rendered by a broad array of devices: browsers, assistive technologies, PDAs, and devices that have yet to be imagined. Only by separating content from design will this be possible. By following the rules in Section 508, you will be doing more than providing access for those with disabilities; you will be creating content that is available to all users, no matter what devices are used to read it.
Apple Inc. (2006). Design>Web Design>Accessibility>Section 508
#19644
Internet technologies have provided many Canadians with an enhanced sense of intellectual and economic freedom. But for many people, gaining entry to Web content is more complicated than clicking mouse and operating a modem. Some Canadians rely on assistive technologies such as text readers, audio players and voice activated devices to overcome the barriers presented by standard technologies. Others may be limited by their own technology. But old browsers, non-standard operating systems, slow connections, small screens or text-only screens should not stand in the way of obtaining information that is available to others.
Treasury Board of Canada (2000). Design>Web Design>Accessibility
#23822
Accessibility and Cascading Style Sheets
An essay from an accessibility class, on the use of CSS to increase access to a page.
Bartlett, Kynn. HTML Writers Guild (1999). Design>Web Design>Accessibility>CSS
#20048
Accessibility and Macromedia Flash MX 2004
Macromedia Flash MX 2004 helps to accelerate accessible application development with a core set of UI components. These components can automate many of the most common accessibility practices related to labeling, keyboard access, and testing and help to ensure a consistent user experience across rich applications created with Macromedia Flash MX 2004. For each component, the designer or developer need only enable the accessibility object by using the command enableAccessibility(). This includes the accessibility object with the component as the movie is compiled. Because there is no simple means of removing an object once it has been added to the component, these options are turned off by default. It is therefore very important that the designer or developer enable accessibility for each component. This step needs to be done only once for each component; it is not necessary to enable accessibility for each instance of a component.
Adobe (2003). Design>Web Design>Accessibility>Flash
#19037
Accessibility Arguments Revisited
Frontend has recently completed the delivery of the first version (1.1) of the Irish National Disability Authority (NDA) IT Accessibility Guidelines. In the course of our work for the NDA over the last year we’ve talked to a wide variety groups and individuals who have an interest in accessibility and as a result of their input, our approach has shifted a little. Here’s what we found out.
Poskitt, Henry. Frontend Infocentre (2002). Design>Web Design>Accessibility>Usability
#28470
Accessibility Audit vs. Accessibility Testing
Article outlining the difference between the two accessibility evaluation methods: The accessibility audit and accessibility testing.
Moss, Trenton. Webcredible (2007). Design>Web Design>Accessibility>Methods
#20659
This document summarizes the features of the Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), level 2 Recommendation ([CSS2]) known to directly affect the accessibility of Web documents. Some of the accessibility features described in this document were available in CSS1 ([CSS1]) as well. This document has been written so that other documents may refer in a consistent manner to the accessibility features of CSS.
#25097
Accessibility from the Ground Up
This accessibility thing sure is catching on. And it’s ready for prime time. Yes, Web accessibility is growing up.
May, Matt. Digital Web Magazine (2005). Design>Web Design>Accessibility
#25088
An Accessibility Frontier: Cognitive Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
With this paper... we are primarily concerned with the problems people with cognitive and learning difficulties might have when using the web and offering a few practical suggestions on how these problems might be addressed.
Hudson, Roger, Russ Weakley and Peter Firminger. Usability.com.au (2005). Articles>Web Design>Accessibility>Cognitive Psychology
#26675
The Accessibility Hat Trick: Getting Abbreviations Right
AAA-level compliance is the ideal of accessibility, the bonus-round of accessible design: AAA-level compliant pages meet the needs of every group of users. AAA is achievable, but requires preparation and forethought.
Lieberman, Colin. List Apart, A (2006). Design>Web Design>Accessibility
#24752
Accessibility Humanized: A User-Centred Approach to Web Accessibility
Most web developers act in blindness when they design accessible websites, since they know next to nothing about disabled people and the technology they use. Accessibility guidelines and validation tools doesn't provide this insight. Accessibility should rather be approached from a user centred perspective.
Olsen, Henrik. GUUUI (2004). Design>Web Design>Accessibility>User Centered Design
#10126
The next time you open a Web browser, try this: don’t use your mouse. Use your keyboard to navigate through your favorite site. You may very well find that keyboard navigation is not at all straightforward. On Yahoo.com, for example, you must press the Tab key over 75 times to get to all the options on the home page, and you must press the Tab key 10 times just to get to the main Search frame. Many sites, such as those that extensively use Macromedia Flash, aren’t accessible using the keyboard at all. The problems described here are problems of accessibility. In some cases, relatively minor changes can make the difference between an information design that can be used by anyone and a design that excludes people with certain disabilities – or preferences.
Birge, Colin. EServer (2001). Design>Accessibility>Web Design
#26626
A strict focus on accessibility as a scorecard item doesn't help users with disabilities. To help these users accomplish critical tasks, you must adopt a usability perspective.
Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2005). Design>Web Design>Accessibility>Usability
#22942
Accessibility Links and Resources
An annotated collection of dozens of online resources in web accessibilty.
#26788
Accessibility of AJAX Applications
AJAX is a smorgasbord of web technologies put together to allow dynamic client-server interactions to occur in web applications without requiring pages to reload or refresh. AJAX stands for Asynchronous JavaScript And XML. AJAX itself is not a technology--it is a combination of technologies used in a certain way.
WebAIM (2006). Design>Web Design>Accessibility>Ajax
#22974
Accessibility of the Internet in Postsecondary Education: Meeting the Challenge
This article explores the many-faceted nuances of the challenge of trying to make Web content accessible in higher education. It includes an analysis of the seriousness of the problems that students face as well as an optimistic vision for the future.
Rowland, Cyndi. WebAIM (2000). Design>Web Design>Accessibility
#22939
Accessibility of UK Government Web Sites Investigated
The UK’s first e-Minister, Patricia Hewitt, gave a commitment in February 2001 that all new government websites should be accessible. Two years later, UK government sites are a long way from being accessible.
Accessify (2003). Design>Web Design>Accessibility>United Kingdom
#22946
It pains me to say that pretty much any computer user with a relevant disability ought to be using Windows, not a Mac.
Clark, Joe. Tidbits (2002). Design>Web Design>Accessibility>Macintosh
#19221
Accessibility on the Web: A Brief Overview
In order to make your website as accessible as possible, not only to users with disabilities, but also to those with slow connections, or different browsers or operating systems, the best guidelines to follow are those offered by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Accessibility Initiative.
McCarthy, Dave. TechDis (2001). Design>Web Design>Accessibility
#29733
Accessibility or Design Integrity 
This paper presents two sides of a debate over user-controlled text sizing of Web-based documents, and a suggested approach for designing Web sites that support full use of user-controlled text sizing, while maintaining the integrity of a site’s visual design.
Payne, John and Phil Oye. STC Proceedings (2004). Design>Web Design>Accessibility
#22934
Accessibility Testing on a Budget
How do you find out how your site sounds? Without dipping in to the wallet, here are some suggestions about how you can test your pages.
Accessify (2003). Design>Web Design>Accessibility>Visual
#22327
Developers put a lot of effort into ensuring their sites can be viewed in outdated browsers, but all too often ignore newer browsers, or worse still, a whole range of visitors. Accessibility means access to information for all. Information to all, regardless of the device used to view the document, or abilities of the visitor. You're extremely proud of your latest masterpiece. The choice of colours is striking, the layout fits perfectly on your screen, but how does it look on a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA)? How does it look to a colour-blind visitor? Does it read correctly using assistive technologies, such as screen reading software? Can a visitor navigate the site without the use of a mouse? Is the site usable when JavaScript and images are switched off in the browser?
Lemon, Gez. Juicy Studio. Design>Web Design>Accessibility>JavaScript
#22941
A collection of tutorials to help web designers understand accessibility issues.
#22473
This page shows the user a view of how people with various visual disabilities would experience a website. Includes colour blindness, Diabetic Retinothopy, Cataracts, Macular degeneration and Glaucoma.
Aylward, Rhona. Alpha Squared (2004). Resources>Web Design>Accessibility
#13545
Accessibility, Web Standards, and Authoring Tools
It's been a long trip, but we’re almost out of the dark. We finally have browsers that offer substantial support for several technologies established by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and other standards bodies. Designers and developers can use many core features of XHTML and CSS and sometimes DHTML without worrying about the hazards of cross–browser chicanery. As browsers have evolved, it’s become easier to comply with the W3C’s Web Accessibility initiative (WAI) and, in the United States, with the amendments to Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1974 (commonly called “Section 508”).
Schmitt, Christopher. List Apart, A (2002). Design>Web Design>Accessibility>Standards
