1. Kathy Gips Will Miller New England ADA & Accessible IT Center 800-949-4232 voice/tty www.newenglandada.org Funded by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research of the U.S. Department of Education Universal Design and IT: Ensuring that Information Technology is Accessible to People with Disabilities

2. Copyright New England ADA & Accessible IT Center, 2005 This work is the intellectual property of the author. Permission is granted for this material to be shared for non- commercial, educational purposes, provided that this copyright statement appears on the reproduced materials and notice is given that the copying is by permission of the author. To disseminate otherwise or to republish requires written permission from the author.

3. Ten Regional ADA & Accessible IT Centers

4. One national toll free number connects to the regional centers 800-949-4232 voice/tty New England ADA & Accessible IT Center, a project of Adaptive Environments

5. Agenda Who uses accessible information technology, IT & Assistive Technology (AT): Differences World Wide Web Consortium Web Accessibility Initiative Guidelines Section 508 Standards Evaluating existing web sites for accessibility Resources New England ADA & Accessible IT Center, a project of Adaptive Environments

6. “Accessible” information technology is technology whose use does not require any one sense or ability to be functional What is “accessible” information technology? New England ADA & Accessible IT Center, a project of Adaptive Environments

7. Slide courtesy of ITTATC Color Blindness Avoid using color as the only means of distinguishing between choices. Barriers PUSH GREEN BUTTON TO START

8. Slide courtesy of Knowbility, Inc Color Alone - Example

9. Slide courtesy of Knowbility, Inc Color - OK

10. Color, Contrast, Font Allow users to utilize their preferred colors, fonts and styles. New England ADA & Accessible IT Center, a project of Adaptive Environments

11. Slide courtesy of ITTATC Barriers If the colors used in a site have poor contrast, it may be difficult for some users to read. This text has better contrast, but the heading on this slide is even better. Color Contrast

12. Color, Contrast, Font Allow users to utilize their preferred colors, fonts and styles. New England ADA & Accessible IT Center, a project of Adaptive Environments

13. Color, Contrast, Font Allow users to utilize their preferred colors, fonts and styles. New England ADA & Accessible IT Center, a project of Adaptive Environments

14. Accessible IT vs. AT: What’s the Difference ? New England ADA & Accessible IT Center, a project of Adaptive Environments

15. Assistive Technology (AT) “Any item, piece of equipment, or product system that is used to increase, maintain, or improve functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities” New England ADA & Accessible IT Center, a project of Adaptive Environments

16. Assistive Technology (AT) Examples: canes, wheelchairs, screen reader software, and voice input software New England ADA & Accessible IT Center, a project of Adaptive Environments

17. Assistive technology Activating Keys with Head Stick New England ADA & Accessible IT Center, a project of Adaptive Environments

18. Photos courtesy of tiresias.org, deafblind.com and the University of Maryland Assistive technology Braille Display New England ADA & Accessible IT Center, a project of Adaptive Environments

19. Photo courtesy of the University of Alaska - Fairbanks Assistive technology Voice Input New England ADA & Accessible IT Center, a project of Adaptive Environments

20. Photo courtesy of the Boston College EagleEyes Project Assistive technology Controlling the Cursor with Eye Movements New England ADA & Accessible IT Center, a project of Adaptive Environments

21. Photo courtesy of the Pinellas Association for Retarded Children Assistive technology Touch Screen New England ADA & Accessible IT Center, a project of Adaptive Environments

22. Web Guidelines: W3C/WAI Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)  Created by the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)  Voluntary compliance (in the U.S.)  Used globally  Three levels of compliance  Includes guidelines for accommodating cognitive disabilities  WAI is also developing guidelines for web authoring tools and for user agents (e.g., browsers) New England ADA & Accessible IT Center, a project of Adaptive Environments

23. Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act Federal agencies only Information technology must be accessible Unless “undue burden” New England ADA & Accessible IT Center, a project of Adaptive Environments

24. Web standards: Section 508 (a) Text Tags (b) Multimedia Presentations (c) Color (d) Readability (e) Serve-Side Image Maps (f) Client-Side Image Maps (g)&(h) Data Table New England ADA & Accessible IT Center, a project of Adaptive Environments

25. Web Standards: Section 508 (i) Frames (j) Flicker Rate (k) Text-Only Alternative (l) Scripts (m) Applets and Plug-Ins (n) Electronic Forms (o) Navigation Links (p) Time Delays New England ADA & Accessible IT Center, a project of Adaptive Environments

26. Section 508 Web standard All information conveyed with color must also be available without color, for example from context or markup Needs Improvement Needs Improvement New England ADA & Accessible IT Center, a project of Adaptive Environments

27. Evaluating web pages for accessibility  Easier to build an accessible site from scratch than to fix an existing site  Use testing software like Bobby or LIFT - but won’t find all accessibility errors New England ADA & Accessible IT Center, a project of Adaptive Environments

28. Evaluating web pages for accessibility  Turn off sound  Use a text-only browser such as Lynx or Lynx simulator  Unplug the mouse, use keyboard only New England ADA & Accessible IT Center, a project of Adaptive Environments

29. Evaluating web pages for accessibility  Have people with disabilities who regularly use assistive technology test the site and give feedback New England ADA & Accessible IT Center, a project of Adaptive Environments

30. Where to go for more information New England ADA & Accessible IT Center 800-949-4232 v/tty www.NewEnglandADA.org New England ADA & Accessible IT Center, a project of Adaptive Environments