Defining Accessibility

This PowerPoint will cover the following topics: – What is Accessibility? – Examples of Accessibility – Accommodations for Students – Universal Design – History of Internet Accessibility

What is Accessibility? In regards to digital content, a document is accessible when it can be used by a wide variety of programs and is developed with adherence to standards. Accessible documents can be used by adaptive technology that delivers the content in a mode that is accessible to the student. Adaptive Technology refers to a wide variety of software and hardware that acts as translator for the student. – Screen Readers on a computer read contents of a screen with a synthetic voice (ex. JAWS / NVDA)JAWSNVDA – Text-to-Speech programs allow students to highlight text that software reads back to them. (Ex. NaturalReaders)NaturalReaders – Magnifiers enlarge content on the screen for visual impairments (Ex. ZoomText). ZoomText – Braille displays turn all computer commands and documents into Braille. (Ex. PAC Mate).PAC Mate

Examples of Accessibility Accessible documents are often easy to adapt for many situations: – An article scanned in as a PDF and saved is not accessible. However, accessibility can be added to the document and that document is now searchable and also easy to use with text-to-speech programs.accessibility can be added – Websites are often initially made inaccessible, but once they are made to standards, they are not only accessible, but also optimized for many types of browsers including smartphones – Check K-Access for more examples of accessibility.examples of accessibility

Accommodations for Students Accommodations are made for students to avoid any barriers to accessibility. Accommodations such as captioning or alternative text (availability of text in formats other than the printed word) are made because we often don’t create media with captions or our traditional methods, a textbook, are not accessible. Accommodations are set so that all stakeholders (faculty and students) are aware of changes that may need to be made to the existing environment. Ideally, all physical and digital environments would be universally accessible. Universal design of content is ideal; universal design is the creation of documents and media in such a way that it is malleable for any circumstance and adapts to many situations and adaptive technology.

Universal Design Excellent article by the Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking and Technology centerDisabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking and Technology center Seven Principles – Equitable use – Flexibility in use – Simple and intuitive – Perceptible information – Tolerance of error – Low physical effort – Size and space for approach and use (for physical access)

History of Internet Accessibility Most of this module is covering internet accessibility. Although there have been challenges with new technology the last two decades, it is important to remember the words of Tim Berners-Lee, the current director of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), credited as one of the inventors of the World Wide Web. His exemplary quote on global accessibility states : "The power of the Web is in its universality. Access by everyone regardless of disability is an essential aspect."