1. Web Accessibility John Rochford Rich Caloggero
E.K. Shriver Center, UMass Medical School
Director, INDEX Program
Worldwide Web Consortium
Rich Caloggero
WGBH National Center for Accessible Media
MIT Adaptive Technology Information Center

2. Introductions Names Backgrounds
Experiences related to people with disabilities using the Web (or PCs, Macs, mobile devices)

3. Simple Definition
Web accessibility means that people with disabilities can use the Web.
Source: World Wide Web Consortium
Web accessibility applies to design & content.

4. Importance provides equal access and opportunity
helps people participate in society
is required by laws and policies
benefits people without disabilities
Source: World Wide Web Consortium

5. Making the Web Accessible
Assistive tech compatibility: screen readers, single-switch devices, text-to-speech, etc.
Web software has to be accessible: browsers; media players; development tools; content and learning management systems.

6. Making Your Website Accessible
Easy and low cost if done from beginning. Fixing later requires significant effort and costs. Source: World Wide Web Consortium

7. Evaluating Website Accessibility
Automated evaluation tools can catch 20% of common Web or app accessibility problems.
Tenon, WAVE, etc.
People with disabilities must test a Web site or app to determine it is actually accessible.

8. How To Check Websites Is there alternative (alt) text for images?
Are there content headings?
Is the content (tab) order logical?
Use a free, Web-based tool to check
Tenon, WAVE, etc.

9. U.S. Laws Section 504, Rehab Act of 1973.
Section 508 of Rehab Act, amended in 1998, requires all electronic and information technologies be accessible. 
21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act (CVAA)

10. Standards U.S. Federal Section508.gov (2000)
Synced to world standards
World
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 ( )

11. Using the Web How do people with disabilities use the web…
without a keyboard?
without a mouse?
without speakers?
without a monitor?
Screen Reader Demos
Job Access With Speech (JAWS) and/or
Non Visual Desktop Access (NVDA)

12. Accessible Content Almost all accessible Websites focus on design.
Many pay no attention to semantic markup:
headings, lists, bold-versus-strong, etc.
Examples of what they do not use:
plain language
multi-modal presentation
default large print (& responsive design)

13. Cognitive Web Accessibility
Clinical Cognitive Disabilities
learning disabilities, intellectual disabilities, TBI, ASD, Schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s, Depression, aging, etc.
Functional Cognitive Disabilities
cannot understand non-simple, textual content
are easily distracted
are flummoxed by inconsistent interfaces
do not recover easily from errors

14. AI and Web Accessibility
Research and development in AI-driven Web text simplification on a mass scale.
Benefits people with cognitive disabilities, the aging, non-native language speakers, people with low literacy, and ultimately everyone.
AI must not inherit biases related to disability, but also related to every minority population.

15. Cognitive Accessibility Resources
W3C Cognitive Accessibility Task Force
Clear Helper
Web Site
Web AIM
Articles
Cognitive Web Accessibility Checklist

16. Summary Web accessibility means design and content.
Web accessibility can be easy & low cost.
Making Websites accessible makes them easy to use for everyone.