TIP 96
Accessible Website Design Resources
As good as we hope Accessibility101 is, there are many good website resources you can visit to get more information on accessible website design.
Here are just a few....
External Quality Web Sites
Designing More Usable Web Sites
A selection of usability and accessibility resources for developers.
Accessible Web Guidelines
Reference Materials for Creating Accessible Web Sites
Web Access Tools
User Tools
Author Tools
Selected Resources on Disability and Web Use
General
- How People with Disabilities Use the Web - This document provides an introduction to use of the Web by people with disabilities. It illustrates some of their requirements when using Web sites and Web-based applications, and provides supporting information for the guidelines and technical work of the World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C) Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI).
Screen Readers
colour Blindness
- The colour Laboratory - Project at the AWARE Center that allows designers to to select colours and see how they appear next to one another, and in various foreground/background combinations under simulated colour blindness scenarios.
- Considering the colour Blind - Feature from WebTechniques that suggests that as many as 1 in 12 visitors to certain Web sites may have some sort of colour blindness. The article provides a general description of the different types of colour blindness and suggests strategies for designing graphics and colour schemes that are more usable for this audience.
- colourblind Design Evaluation - This online tool provides 3 ways to see what colours used in HTML code look like to the colour blind.
- colourfield Insight Plug-in - This plugin can be used by designers to model and predict image legibility for colour deficient viewers. The site also includes an online demonstration of three common types of colourblindness. (Mac only)
- Vischeck - This online tool (also available as a Photoshop plugin for Windows) allows you to upload an image file and check the visibility of your graphics and text. This tool can show you what your image looks like to people who are colour blind, people with glaucoma or macular degeneration, elders and children.
- colour Blindness Theory, Simulation - Information on red/green colour blindness emulation.
- colour Deficiency - Information about colour deficiency from the American Optometric Association.
- colours for the colour Blind - This site describes colour deficiency, as well as its causes and effects. It also furnishes a set of colour charts to aid the colour blind in working with computer colours, especially on the Internet and in Web sites.
- Safe Web Colours for colour-deficient vision - This site contains information and design tools that help authors understand which colours are easily confused and how to ensure that important colour cues are not lost.
Statistics
Browsers with Built-in Voice or Other Access Features
Other Browser Resources
- AnyBrowser.com - Resource for browser compatibility verification.
- The Compendium of HTML Elements - The Compendium is intended as an unabridged reference source for users of the Hypertext Markup Language. Its mission is to provide a resource for web site authors to get valid information on all HTML elements (and their derivatives), where they came from, what they are supposed to do, and who supports them.
- Alternative Web Browsing - This W3C/WAI resource is a collection of pointers to information related to alternative browsing methods.
- List of World Wide Web Browsers - A list that lists and describes the alternatives that are available to the mainstream browsers.
- Screen Readers and Magnifiers - WebAble's list of screen readers and magnification tools.
Forums for Discussing Accessibility Issues
The following discussion lists include information focused on the accessibility of web technologies, accessible website design, accessible web authoring and other related topics.
- The Web Accessibility Initiative Interest Group (WAI IG) provides a forum for discussion of issues relating to Web accessibility, particularly issues related to WAI activities. Subscription information for the WAI IG mailing list is available on the WAI Interest Group Home Page.
- WebAIM Web Accessibility Forum Mailing List - The Web Accessibility Forum mailing list is for anyone interested in discussing Web accessibility issues. Individuals from all organizations and specialties are encouraged to join.
- UACCESS-l (hosted by the Trace Center) is a list for discussion of universal access to information systems.
- www-talk (hosted by the W3C) This is the primary public mailing list for technical discussion among those developing World Wide Web software. It is explicitly intended for the collaborative design of new systems, software, protocols, and documentation which may be useful to the WWW developer community. Visit the W3C Mailing List Administrativia page for information about how to subscribe.
Multimedia and Virtual Reality Access
Background on the World Wide Web
Organizations, Projects and Technologies Addressing Web Access Issues
The following are sites which have large long-term multi-funded efforts directed toward Web access.
- Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) - WAI is a World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Initiative that, in coordination with organizations around the world, pursues accessibility of the Web through five primary areas of work: technology, guidelines, tools, education and outreach, and research and development.
- Trace R&D Center (this site) - Trace works in conjunction with other Web Accessibility groups around the world to promote the design of more accessible and usable Web sites.
- Accessible Web Authoring Resources and Education Center (AWARE) - Part of the HTML Writer's Guild, AWARE serves as a central resource for web authors for learning about Web accessibility.
- Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST) - CAST is a not-for-profit organization that uses technology to expand opportunities for all people, including those with disabilities.
- The Adaptive Technology Resource Centre (ATRC) - ATRC, part of the University of Toronto, works to advance technology to meet challenges faced by people with disabilities.
- CPB/WGBH National Center on Accessible Media (NCAM) - NCAM focuses on a wide variety of projects having to do with web and multimedia access.
- The Universal Design / Disability Access Program - The Universal Design/Disability Access Program (UD/DA) for Advanced Computational Infrastructure project, headquartered at the Trace Center, works with the The National Partnership for Advanced Computational Infrastructure (NPACI) program on infrastructure development by and for the application of advanced computational techniques.
- access.adobe.com - Information about developing accessibility strategies for the use of Portable Document Format (PDF) files on the Web.
- Macromedia Accessibility - Information about Macromedia's efforts to incorporate accessibility into their Web authoring tools.
- WebAble! - Works to make the Internet and World Wide Web more accessible to people with disabilities by providing accessibility services to help make web sites easier to access by people with disabilities.
- WebAIM - Web Accessibility In Mind (WebAIM) is administered through a grant provided by the Learning Anywhere Anytime Program Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education. The organization's goal is to improve accessibility to online learning opportunities for all people; in particular to improve accessibility for individuals with disabilities who currently may have a difficult time getting access to postsecondary online learning opportunities.
- World Institute on Disability - WID is a nonprofit, international public-policy center dedicated to carrying out cutting edge research on disability issues and overcoming obstacles to independent living.
- ZDNet devhead Accessibility - ZDNet Developer site dedicated to design and accessibility news, products and resources.
- AgeLight Institute - Information about Internet Access for people who are older.
- Crittur.com Web Accessibility Workshop - This introduction to Web accessibility illustrates the importance of accessible Web design and provides resources for authors.
- Designing to meet the needs of visually impaired people - Typography information from Text Matters, a UK-based information design consultancy.
- Web Accessibility for All - A project of the University of Wisconsin Center on Education and Work that offers online tutorials and other information for making Web sites accessible.
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