Website Accessibility for People with Disabilities

1. Website Accessibility for People with Disabilities Kate Todd November 27, 2007

2. What has changed? 1988 2005

3. What has changed? • Legal Environment • Technology • Expectations • Disabilities

4. What has changed?The Legal Environment • IDEA: Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (1975) • Rehabilitation Act (passed 1973; effective 1977; amended many times) • Section 504 (forbids disability discrimination if receive federal funds) • Section 508 (technology) • Americans with Disabilities Act (1990) • Forbids discrimination against individuals with disabilities in employment, public services, public accommodations and telecommunications

5. IDEA: Basic provisions • Federal legislation covering K-12 schools • Requires Free Appropriate Public Education regardless of ability • Requires students to be placed in “least restrictive environment” • Requires schools to write IEP (Individual Education Program) for students with qualifying disabilities • Requires schools to provide assistive technology if determined necessary by IEP team

6. Sample IEP http://www.vesid.nysed.gov/specialed/publications/policy/iep/schoolageiep.htm

7. What has changed?The Legal Environment • IDEA: Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (1975) • Rehabilitation Act (passed 1973; effective 1977; amended many times) • Section 504 (forbids disability discrimination if receive federal funds) • Section 508 (technology) • Americans with Disabilities Act (1990) • Forbids discrimination against individuals with disabilities in employment, public services, public accommodations and telecommunications

8. In mid-70s, Ray Kurzweil saw the potential of new technologies to assist people with disabilities This prototype Kurzweil machine combined optical character reader technology with computer synthesized speech Machine reads books aloud to individuals with visual impairments What has changed?Technology

9. Technology can now be used by people with disabilities to do things that they could never do before Technology can also become a barrier when people are trying to live independent and meaningful lives What has changed?Technology

10. What has changed?Expectations • Students in K-12 education: least restrictive environment • Individual Education Program (IEP) and testing accommodations • Assistive Technologies • Students encouraged to be independent • Want to be “like everyone else”

11. What has changed?Disabilities • Original • Speech, Vision, Hearing impairments • Mental Retardation • Wheelchair User (orthopedic) • Now added • LD (Learning Disability) • EBD (Emotional Behavioral Disability) • ADD (Attention Deficient Disorder) • Autism • Many Disabilities are “invisible”

12. Activity 1: How people with disabilities use the web

13. How disabilities interfere with use of the Internet World Wide Access http://www.washington.edu/doit/Video/www.html

14. Some assistive technologies used by people with disabilities Hundreds available New ones every day Some “industry standards”

15. A.A.C.Augmentative and Alternative Communication • Definition • Systems that supplement, replace or enhance conventional oral communication • Not only includes symbol system, but also strategies and aids • Examples • Braille • American Sign Language • Picture Communication Systems • Learning curve

16. Braille

17. American Sign Language

18. Picture Communication Systems (PCS)

19. Braille Braille notetaker Refreshable Braille display Duxbury software Printers/Embossers: Romeo/Juliet Sign Language Sign Smith Boardmaker Picture communication Technologies that support AAC

20. Support for Braille Braille Notetaker Refreshable Braille Display Braille Computer Output hardware software

21. Sign Smith • Illustrated Dictionary for learning ASL • Sign Smith Studio • 3. ASL Animations http://www.vcom3d.com

22. P.C.S. software:Boardmaker by Mayer-Johnson

24. Assistive Technologies • Screen Readers • JAWS • Optical Character Reader • Kurzweil • Speech Recognition • Dragon Naturally Speaking • Speech Synthesizer • DynaVox

25. Screen Readers http://www.doit.wisc.edu/accessibility/video/intro.asp

26. Optical Character Reader http://www.afb.org/Section.asp?SectionID=4&TopicID=31&DocumentID=1283

27. Speech Recognition http://content.sphsc.washington.edu/public/image/553.wmv

28. Speech Synthesizer http://content.sphsc.washington.edu/public/image/774.wmv

29. Assistive Technologies • Computers require power • Cost can be high • Steep learning curve • Need own computers to use

30. Activity 2: Online checkers for web accessibility Links available at www.EduKateTodd.com/check

31. A few solutions A solution for one person can become a problem for another person

32. Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources http://dnr.wi.gov/WWWAccessibilityNotice.html U.S. Army Redstone Test Center http://www.rttc.army.mil/navtips.htm Skokie Public Library http://www.skokielibrary.info/s_kids/kd_COI/index.asp Accessibility Notices

33. Become familiar with alternate database access: Text only

34. Become familiar with alternate database access: Text only

35. Become familiar with alternate database access: Visual search

36. Become familiar with alternate database access: Visual search

37. Web page design • HTML, the language used for web pages, allows each browser to format information • Web designers and graphic designers want to control the visual • They use tables to hold elements in place on a page • They convert text to graphic representation so that the font will always look the same

38. HTML/Dreamweaver • To make web pages accessible: • Use text, not graphic representation of text • Use alt= tag when inserting an image • Place directions before boxes and forms rather than below them • Think twice before using tables for formatting • Accept the fact that you cannot control everything on the web • View HTML Do’s and Don’ts at http://infopeople.org/resources/htmltips.html

39. Flash • Don’t rely on colors for control choices • Put text on buttons • Label complex controls such as sliders or dials • Best Practices for Accessible Flash Design link at: http://www.adobe.com/resources/accessibility/best_practices/bp_fp.html

40. Adobe Acrobat Reader (.pdf) • Documents that are scanned and saved as “image only” cannot be read by a screen reader such as JAWS • Adobe version 7 has a feature that will use OCR technology to convert the scanned document to readable text • You can find the Adobe manual on creating accessible PDFs at http://www.adobe.com/accessibility/index.html

41. Testing Web Sites • Use free web site check tools • Web designers should own testing products such as Bobby • All web sites should have user tests • Users should include people with disabilities • When it comes to accessibility, the solution for each individual may be unique

42. Activity 3: MS Windows accessibility features

43. Thatcher, Jim et al. Web Accessibility: Web Standards and Regulatory Compliance. New York: Springer-Verlang, c2006. ISBN: 1-59059-638-2 Explore Web Accessibility

44. EduKateTodd Click for return to home page EduKateTodd.com