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Introduction
In recent years, with the explosion of Internet and Web use,
colleges and universities have recognized the need to provide
traditional onsite services remotely to students living at
considerable distance as well as those living nearby. These
new communication tools greatly expand the opportunity to
serve students including students with disabilities. There
are, however, several necessary design considerations required
to effectively serve this population over the Internet and
to provide services that live up to the requirements of legislation
guaranteeing equal services for students with disabilities.
Section 504 of the 1973 Vocational Rehabilitation Act guarantees
students with disabilities an equal opportunity to obtain
an education. The 1990 Americans With Disabilities Act, Title
ii, guarantees the provision of equal communication, within
reasonable limits, and in a timely manner. This has been interpreted
to mean interpretation of oral communication for the Deaf
and alternative access to written information for those deemed
to have a print disability.
While neither law mentions the Web or Internet, courts have
included those as forms of covered communication. The recent
amendments to Section 508 of the Vocational Rehabilitation
Act does specifically relate to electronic information and
developed a set of Web standards for access by people with
disabilities. While it is not clear to what degree Section
508 standards will apply to colleges and universities, it
provides a convenient measuring tool for the courts when evaluating
whether online services for students with disabilities are,
in fact, equal services.
What's Involved in Serving
Students with Disabilities at a Distance?
There are many different disabilities, and each group will
have somewhat different problems. Some groups will need special
hardware and software to get online, and this may impact the
design of your information. Students who are blind cannot
read the computer monitor and will use screen reader software
that translate written information on the monitor into synthetic
speech. Students with low vision and, perhaps, some students
with learning disabilities will use screen magnification software
to manipulate the size of information on the monitor and also
alter foreground and background colors. Students with motor
impairments that prevent effective use of the keyboard or
mouse will use one of several alternative input devices to
simulate keyboard and mouse input. Later, we will touch on
how these adaptive computer technologies will impact your
information design.
The first question is whether or not the school is obligated
to provide remote students with this special hardware or software
and also provide training on its use. Computer support staff
understandably try to limit the variety of hardware and software
packages they will support. Usually, they limit themselves
to supporting one or two operating systems, one or two browsers
and the same for e-mail systems and word processors.
Limiting which adaptive technology packages are supported
also makes sense. The courts require a college to have support
for a fully functional screen reader program, etc., but it
specifically does not require the school to support whichever
program a student may prefer. The college is required to already
provide onsite support for such software including limited
training, and this person should be integrated into the delivery
of online services. If a student with a disability is having
a problem accessing some online information, someone needs
to have an awareness of how adaptive technology interacts
with standard interfaces such as a Web browser. However, if
the college does not provide all students with a computer
and software, it should not be required to provide those for
students with disabilities. Where colleges are mandating students
to have computers and including it in tuition packages, it
may be responsible to provide students with disabilities with
the adaptive technologies they require to use those computers.
When staff are eager to provide services to students with
disabilities, there is no sure, simple way to identify those
students. Onsite students frequently register with an office
for disabled student services, but others prefer to remain
anonymous. Online services can display notices in prominent
places on the Web expressing a willingness to meet special
needs of special students. Faculty can place a similar notice
in course syllabi. The more that online services and those
provided it project an approachable and warm persona, the
more students with disabilities will be willing to self identify.
Frequently, such students are shy and may have been embarrassed
in previous situations where they did identify themselves.
Therefore, the attitude that is projected by faculty and staff
is very important.
Interface Issues
Interface Navigation
Clean, Simple Design
Graphics
Columns, Tables and Charts
PDF Documents
Multimedia
The two major interfaces in use are e-mail and the Web.
The e-mail system will be on the student's computer and the
college only needs to be concerned with the accessibility
of the content being delivered. The Web interface is on the
school's computer system and it's accessibility is a college
responsibility.
Section 508 of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act provides
16 standards required for Federal agencies to achieve Web
accessibility for people with disabilities: http://www.access-board.gov,
and the Web Accessibility Initiative of the World Wide Web
Consortium as a set of guidelines which provides an even higher
level of accessibility available at http://w3.org/wai.
Both sites provide online training materials as does WebAIM
at http://www.webaim.org.
EASI (Equal Access to Software and Information) conducts regular
month-long, instructor-led courses and also a Certificate
in Accessible Information Technology at http://easi.cc.
There are also online accessibility checkers, and the best
known is Bobby available at http://www.cast.org/bobby.
Creating an accessible interface is much easier than it is
to repair one that is inaccessible later. Including the most
essential access features in the early design need not be
difficult and will avoid later problems. Many of these features
also improve the general design of the interface and make
it simultaneously accessible to non-disabled users with slow
connections, older software or who may be connecting with
small hand-held devices.
Interface Navigation
Simple, clear navigation mechanisms that are consistent across
all pages makes moving around a site better for everyone.
However, here is where explaining a bit more about how some
adaptive software functions will help you design to help students
with disabilities. Screen magnification software, by making
the writing and pictures on the monitor perhaps 3 to 6 times
larger, (the software will enlarge to 16 times), turns the
computer monitor into a small window looking at a Web page.
Much of the page spills off both sides, top and bottom of
the screen. The user spends a lot of energy scrolling to get
the whole picture, and, in confusing pages, can get lost.
Consistent and simple navigation buttons and links make this
easier. This will be true for many students with low vision
and for some with learning and cognitive disabilities. Students
with motor control and motor impairment problems may have
trouble hitting on small buttons. Be sure to give them good
targets.
Other users of adaptive technology interfaces will not be
able to use the mouse at all. Screen readers used by students
who are blind cannot use the mouse and navigate a site by
using the tab key. Users who require an alternative to the
keyboard will usually be using software that simulates the
use of the tab key. One adaptation shows a keyboard on the
monitor with the cursor moving across it. When it reaches
the desired key, the user can trigger a switch to activate
that key. Voice recognition users on the Web usually command
the computer to use the tab key too. What this means in page
navigation is that depending on the sequence of buttons and
links, the user may need to tab 10 or 20 times to reach the
desired item. If there is a navigation bar preceeding the
content on every page, the user may have to tab past it on
every page over and over again. One of the Section 508 standards
require providing a means to let the user skip the navigation
bar if so desired.
Clean, Simple Design
The designer of a web page frequently has a couple basic
conflicts. When the designer is not the content provider,
he/she may want to display their skill with flashy design
features which is sometimes called "eye candy."
If this furthers the communication of the content that is
good. If it shows off the designer's skills but distracts
from the content then that is one of the conflicts. Good design
should further the communication. Whatever distracts from
the communication for the typical web user will be a larger
distraction for users who are blind, low vision, learning
disabled, cognitively disabled and have attention deficit
disorders. The other conflict is that the designer frequently
wants to convey the entire message on the first screen fearing
that the user may not go any further. That is a real worry.
However, if the page becomes confusing, and if it becomes
difficult to unscramble the main point, that becomes problematic
for all users and again even more fore for those with disabilities.
Graphics
The Web has been enriched by the use of pictures, images
and other kinds of graphical material. A screen reader used
by someone who is blind can only read text. When authoring
a web page, it is simple to include a text tag which provides
a label for the graphic. The screen reader will read this
to the student who is blind. Where the graphic conveys complex,
rich information that a short label cannot capture, it is
appropriate to provide a link to a longer text description.
The most recent HTML versions provides a "longdesc"
tag for including longer descriptions, but as of 2002 most
browsers do not support it. The text tag should describe the
function of the graphic. For example, if it is a picture of
a mailbox, and if it is being used as a link for sending mail,
then instead of a tag saying "picture of mailbox,"
it would be better to have a tag saying "send e-mail."
It is also appropriate to point that good use of graphics
can actually enhance comprehension for some students with
visual and cognitive processing difficulties.
Columns, Tables and Charts
Screen reader software normally speaks the text on the computer
monitor from left to right. This means that material in collumns
usually becomes incomprehensible. Recent screen reader software
rapidly creates a temporary web page with one collumn under
the other resolving this issue. Tabular material presents
a similar problem. Some tables do make sense read left to
right. Others make good sense read one column below the other.
Still other tables are more complex and become a real challenge
for a student who is blind. In such cases, it is important
to use the HTML column and row headers which permits recent
screen readers to better interpret the information to the
user.
When tables or charts pack a lot of complex information into
a small space, it is helpful for someone visually to get an
overview of the information. However, students who are blind,
low visionhave a learning disability may find it donfusing.
Providing a text overview description of the information may
let the student puzzle out the details more easily. You may
want to include a link to such a description rather than including
it on the page itself.
PDF Documents
PDF is a widely used format for placing information on the
Web. Until recently, it has been totally inaccessible to users
with screen readers. Those with screen magnification software
frequently cannot enlarge the PDF material without badly distorting
it and making it useless. Adobe has recently worked with adaptive
technology producers to remedy this situation, and information
is at http://access.adobe.com.
This requires that the PDF document is created with the newest
Adobe production software and that the user have a new version
of the adaptive technology. Even then, the degree to which
the end product is fully accessible depends on the complexity
of the PDF document being converted. Many information providers
still provide both HTML and PDF versions of a document.
Multimedia
Audio content on the Web is obviously inaccessible to students
who are Deaf. So is the audio track of a video. When using
audio, there needs to be a link pointing to a text transcript.
Many hearing users benefit from being to have the text of
an audio to print and study later in more detail. It serves
a much larger purpose than reaching the Deaf. The visual of
a video will not be seen by a student who is blind. Whether
or not the video requires descriptive video descriptions for
these students depends a lot on the video. The more that the
flow of the audio explains the visual material, the less it
is needed. Training teachers using video to verbalize what
is happening and what they are doing will greatly reduce the
need for video description and hence reduce expenses.
Tips for Service Staff and
Content Providers
Students with Disabilities are Students
It's About People and Not Technology
Do NOT Replicate Face-to-face Situations or
the Classroom
Be a Virtual Host
Model the Behavior You Want from Your Students
Be Interactive
Modularize Your Material
Beware of Techies!
Remember E-Mail
Design for Universal Access
Students with Disabilities are
Students
We urge you to focus on the student qualities of each student
and not on the disability. You need not overlook or ignore the
disability but do not make it their unique personhood. If you
focus on the disability, you may unconsciously treat the student
in a condescending way and undermine a positive interaction.
Treat them as students and just relax. Many of the other tips
below hold for everyone, but we'll try to point out the special
aspects that also relate to a student with a disability.
It's About People and
Not Technology
You are using technology to teach, to communicate. Keep your
focus on the student and the content not on the technology.
When you begin using technology for communication, there is
the natural temptation to focus on it; how it works; what it
does; and how it seems to come between you and the student.
Think of it like a blackboard, just a tool. Try to forget about
it as much as possible and focus on the student. Remember that
the student with a disability has to struggle with more than
the communication technology but usually has some special technology
they have to master as well. You need to be clear and focus
on person to person interactions.
Do NOT Replicate Face-to-face
Situations or the Classroom
Find out how best the technology works and use it for your advantage.
Don't force it to do what it is not good at doing. Again, the
less the technology gets in the way of the communication, the
better it is for everyone.
Be a Virtual Host
Your students won't see you or at least not "in the flesh."
You need to work to show you are present. Look ffor ways to
be a virtual host and create a welcoming online atmosphere.
Many students with disabilities will be shy and embarrassed
about revealing their disability and asking for assistance.
Help them to discover you as a caring person.
Model the Behavior You Want
from Your Students
Obviously, you will use the syllabus or other beginning of the
course materials to describe the course structure and explain
how it will function. Nevertheless, there is nothing like modeling
the behavior you want from your students. Again, many students
with disabilities may be less confident than others and will
need tips and clues to know how to interact online.
Be Interactive
The uniqueness of the Internet is its potential for interaction.
Make the most of it. Many studies of the impact of the Internet
and the personal computer is that both tend to flatten power
relations. This has also been shown true for distance learning.
While some teachers find the lessening of power to be threatening,
others find it liberating. In many ways, computer mediated communication
provides a more level playing field for students with disabilities.
Modularize Your Material
Break your presentations into small units with good opportunities
for interaction after each unit. Instead of posting the equivalent
of a 40-60 minute presentation, break it into its smallest
units and post modules of 2-5 pages or their equivalent. Most
students with disabilities will have more than the usual difficulty
in skimming through a long presentation to pick out an item
they are looking for. Modules will lessen this frustration.
Beware of Techies!
Techies are frequently enamored with the technology. In distance
learning, the technology is only the means to an end and not
the end in itself. Technical experts want to tell all of the
fabulous features built into the software application. You want
to limit the technical information to only what is needed to
take your course. Studies have shown that most software users
only use 20% of its commands. Remember the student with a disability
may also have to master special software in order to use the
computer.
Remember E-Mail
E-mail is still the best and most simple and universal interactive
tool on the Internet. All students including those with disabilities
will come to distance learning familiar with e-mail already.
This will make communicating easier for both of you. Frequently,
Web sites try to collect information by using forms. These can
be tricky to encode to make them fully accessible for a student
with a disability. Provide an alternative opportunity for the
student to contact you through traditional e-mail.
Design For Universal Access
Design your materials to meet a wide variety of learning
styles, socio-economic backgrounds and different user interfaces.
Strive to achieve clear communication rather than trying to
impress your students with glitz. You can create complex pages
that look slick on a larger monitor but that become junky
and overcrowded on a smaller screen. Assume that your students
may have a 386 computer with a 14 inch monitor and a 28.8
modem or even slower. This is especially true if you have
a number of students from remote rural areas and from overseas
countries. These same students are also probably using older
versions of Internet browsers.
If you send word processor documents, do not use the latest
version of your processor. Your students probably have not
upgraded to a recent version. Where possible, transmit materials
using text files rather than word processor documents. If
you do this, you will automatically meet many of the potential
problems for students using special adaptive technologies.
Aiming at a fairly generic technology means there is more
probability that it will function well with the special technology
used by students with disabilities.
Beyond the Delivery of
Online Information
Online learning systems almost always have some traditional
delivery using the US Postal Service or other letter and package
delivery companies. Usually text books are sent from the college
bookstore rather than leaving students to obtain them on their
own. Students with disabilities on campus now have some department
in the college provide them with or help them obtain books
in alternative formats when that is required. Students at
a distance with disabilities will have to have the school
help them similarily. Integrate the need for texts for distance
students into the same system used for students on campus.
There are still other materials that will be delivered online
for most students but for which the school will have to make
special arrangements for students with disabilities. Presently,
there is no adequate technology to provide online delivery
of complex math, drawings, maps and visual art for students
who are blind. The richness of a painting cannot be placed
in an image text tag nor even in a longer text description.
The three dimensional aspects of a map nor even that of a
complex two-dimensional drawing cannot be translated into
simple text. The basic computer code does not include many
math symbols, and these are produced with images inaccessible
to screen reader software. Currently, there is work being
done to extend HTML to include advanced math, and this work
includes work aimed to make this accessible online for users
with disabilities. Meantime, these are a few of the situations
when a distance learning course may have to mail hard copy
to a student in advance. This means mailing alternative media
hard copy. The courts have held that Braille is the most suitable
alternative format for higher math delivered to a student
who is blind. Even this requires a specialized Nemeth Braille
code and takes specialized knowledge to reproduce. Schools
may need to have this Braille production outsourced. See the
resource section for this technical support.
Hard copy raised line graphics can be used to reproduce drawings,
graphics and maps. Theoretically, a student could download
files from the school and create his or her own hard copy.
In truth, it usually requires a bit more technical know-how
than can be expected from a student, and the equipment costs
more than would be expected from a single student. Unless
the school has a lot of hard copy tactile graphics to provide,
outsourcing may again be the best solution.
In both of the situations above, the student will require
having the material before the time that it is being covered
in the class. This will require careful planning and scheduling
in order to provide these materials in a timely fashion as
the law requires.
Orientation to Online Learning
Students taking online courses also need to have orientation
to the college when they first register and enter the program.
Students with disabilities need this preparation for school
even more. Online orientation should make it clear to a student
which kinds of computers, operating systems, browsers and
such that the college will support for distance students.
How much support as well as which systems will be supported
will vary depending on the nature of the typical student signing
up to take online courses at a particular school. The same
will be true for students with disabilities. You need to decide
which adaptive technologies and which versions of that software
will get online help from the school. All students should
be strongly encouraged to be familiar with the technology
they will use well in advance. This is even more true for
students with disabilities. In particular, they should be
strongly urged to become proficient in the use of the special
adaptive technology
Academic Counseling and Career Planning
The National Science Foundation has found that the major
barrier to success in the fields of science and math for students
with disabilities is negative social attitudes. Just because
the counselor cannot imagine doing some course with a particular
disability does not mean that it cannot be done. There may
be times to point out to a student the unique difficulties
of taking a particular class using adaptive technologies.
If a student does not understand the demands of a particular
career, providing a reality check may be needed. When the
academic counselor or career counselor has limited experience
with students with disabilities and none using adaptive technologies,
counseling becomes very difficult.
Not only can your negative attitudes stand in the way of
a student's success, but his own insecurities and negative
attitudes can be even more harmful. If a student had a warm,
supportive home, he or she may have self confidence and motivation.
Many do not. To add a physical disability on top of personal
insecurity creates a real problem. Students may need the counselor
to provide an emotional support system.
Library Services
Most of what librarians need to know about delivering online
library services to students with disabilities will be found
under topics about Web design and online text delivery. Many
students with disabilities will fall into the category previously
defined as being print disabled. With information being put
in digital format, libraries become potentially accessible
to this population for the first time in history. Librarians
have an opportunity to help make a radical difference in the
lives of these students.
The American Library Association has recognized the challenge
and opportunity of opening up digital information to consumers
with disabilities. This led to the ALA passing a resolution
that it would make its information accessible and urging all
libraries to do the same. This resolution is online at http://www.ala.org/ascla/access_policy.html.
Limited Web Design for
Non-Web Masters
The Web Accessibility Initiative (for Complete Guidelines
& Checklist: http://www.w3.org/WAI)
has not only provided an extensive set of guidelines on creating
accessible Web sites, the have boiled down ten basic tips
on a business card. Here they are:
- Images & animations
Use the alt attribute to describe the function of each visual.
- Image maps
Use client-side MAP and text for hotspots.
- Multimedia
Provide captioning and transcripts of audio, and descriptions
of video.
- Hypertext links
Use text that makes sense when read out of context. For
example, avoid "click here."
- Page organization
Use headings, lists, and consistent structure. Use CSS for
layout and style where possible.
- Graphs & charts
Summarize or use the longdesc attribute.
- Scripts, applets, & plug-ins
Provide alternative content in case active features are
inaccessible or unsupported.
- Frames
Use NOFRAMES and meaningful titles.
- Tables
Make line by line reading sensible. Summarize.
- Check your work
Validate. Use tools, checklist, and guidelines.
Technical Accessibility Information for Web Masters
The Section 508 Web Standards and the Web Accessibility Initiative's
guidelines are the two most authoritative sources for making
web pages accessible for users with disabilities. Extensive
resources on Section 508 are available at http://www.access-board.gov and the WAI guidelines are at http://w3.org/wai.
Instructor led courses are available from EASI (Equal Access
to Software and Information) at http://www.rit.edu/~easi/workshop.htm.
Web designers should provide training for faculty and staff
who post content to the web, and this training should only
focus on the one or two most common features these groups
will encounter like providing text tags for images. Do not
expect this audience to be web accessibility experts. The
school or the department responsible for distance learning
should develop a simple policy to guide content providers.
- A text equivalent for every non-text element shall be
provided (e.g., via "alt," "longdesc"
or in element content).
- Equivalent alternatives for any multimedia presentation
shall be synchronized with the presentation.
- Web pages shall be designed so that all information conveyed
with color is also available without color.
- Documents shall be organized so they are readable without
requiring an associated style sheet.
- Redundant text links shall be provided for each active
region of a server-side image map.
- Client-side image maps shall be provided instead of server-side
image maps except where the regions cannot be defined with
an available geometric shape.
- Row and column headers shall be identified for data tables.
- Markup shall be used to associate data cells and header
cells for data tables that have two or more logical levels
of row or column headers.
- Frames shall be titled with text that facilitates frame
identification and navigation.
- Pages shall be designed to avoid causing the screen to
flicker with a frequency greater than 2 Hz and lower than
55 Hz.
- A text-only page, with equivalent information or functionality,
shall be provided to make a web site comply with the provisions
of this part, when compliance cannot be accomplished in
any other way. The content of the text-only page shall be
updated whenever the primary page changes.
- When pages utilize scripting languages to display content,
or to create interface elements, the information provided
by the script shall be identified with functional text that
can be read by assistive technology.
- When a web page requires that an applet, plug-in or other
application be present on the client system to interpret
page content, the page must provide a link to a plug-in
or applet that complies with §1194.21(a) through (l).
- When electronic forms are designed to be completed on-line,
the form shall allow people using assistive technology to
access the information, field elements, and functionality
required for completion and submission of the form, including
all directions and cues.
- A method shall be provided that permits users to skip
repetitive navigation links.
- When a timed response is required, the user shall be alerted
and given sufficient time to indicate more time is required.
Web Accessibility
Initiative Guidelines
- Provide text equivalents for visual information. Provide
text equivalents for all images, applets, and image maps.
A text equivalent describes the purpose or function of an
image, applet, image map, or other visual information. For
example, the text equivalent for a company logo image in
a link might be "Return to home page."
- Provide descriptions of important visual information.
Provide descriptions of important information in graphics,
scripts, applets, videos, or animations if it is not fully
described through text equivalents or in the document's
content.
- Provide text equivalents for audio information. Provide
text transcripts, text descriptions, or captions of auditory
events that occur in audio and video.
- Don't rely on color alone. Ensure that text and graphics
are perceivable and understandable when viewed without color.
- Use markup and style sheets properly. Mark up documents
with the proper structural elements. Control presentation
with style sheets rather than with presentation elements
and attributes.
- Supplement markup to aid interpretation of text. Provide
supplemental information to facilitate pronunciation or
interpretation of abbreviated or foreign text.
- Create tables that transform gracefully. Ensure that tables
have necessary markup to be properly restructured or presented
by accessible browsers and other user agents.
- Ensure that pages featuring new technologies transform
gracefully. Ensure that pages are accessible even when newer
technologies are not supported or are turned off.
- Ensure user control of time-sensitive content changes.
Ensure that moving, blinking, scrolling, or auto-updating
objects or pages may be paused or stopped.
- Ensure direct accessibility of embedded user interfaces.
Ensure that the user interface follows principles of accessible
design: device-independent access to functionality, keyboard
operability, self-voicing, and so on.
- Design for device independence. Use features that enable
activation of page elements via input devices other than
a pointing device (for example, a keyboard, voice, and others).
- Consider interim solutions. Use interim accessibility
solutions so that assistive technologies and older browsers
will operate correctly.
- Use W3C technologies (according to specification) and
follow guidelines. Where it is not possible to use a W3C
technology, or doing so results in material that does not
transform gracefully, provide an alternative version of
the content that is accessible.
- Supply context and orientation information to help users
understand complex pages or elements.
- Design clear navigation structures. Use clear navigation
structures, navigation bars, and so on to increase the likelihood
that users will find what they are looking for at a site.
- Design for consistency and simplicity to promote comprehension.
About the
Author
Dr. Norm Coombs is professor emeritus at the
Rochester Institute of Technology and CEO of EASI (Equal Access
to Software and Information) which has a mission to help colleges,
libraries and other institutions make their computer and information
systems fully accessible to people with disabilities using
adaptive technology. EASI is also a core activity of the TLT
Group, the Teaching, Learning and Technology affiliate of
the American Association for Higher Education. Dr. Coombs
is the principal investigator for EASI's third dissemination
grant from the National Science Foundation as well as a partner
on several other grant projects. He actively consults, speaks,
and publishes on both distance learning and adaptive technologies.
He is also a self-proclaimed computer addict.
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- EASI
http://www.rit.edu/~easi/workshop.htm
EASI (Equal Access to Software and Information),
provides instructor-led courses and a Certificate in Accessible
Information Technology which not only provide technical
accessibility information but provide useful insights in
how to create policies, work for institutional change and
create a campus-wide team initiative to systematically work
for accessibility in all computer and information technology
resources.
- NCAM
http://ncam.wgbh.org/
Providing captions to Internet, streamed video is a painstaking
project using SMIL, synchronized multimedia integration
language, to synchronize the text and the audio. NCAM, the
National Center for Accessible Media has a free tool that
helps with this task. MAGpie can be downloaded free from
this site.
- WebAIM
http://www.webaim.org
WebAIM at Utah State University has many resources on creating
accessible Web design.
- The World Wide Web Consortium's Web Accessibility Initiative
http://w3.org/wai
WAI, 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.
Listservs
Commerical Outsourcing
Brailling Services and Tactile Graphics
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National Braille Press
88 St. Stephen Street
Boston, MA 02115
Phone: (617) 266-6160
Toll-free: (800) 548-7323
Fax: (617) 437-0456
http://www.nbp.org/
National Braille Press is a nonprofit braille printing
and publishing house established in 1927
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The American Printing House for the Blind, Inc.
1839 Frankfort Avenue
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 6085
Louisville, Kentucky 40206-0085
U.S.A.
Phone: 502-895-2405
Toll Free Customer Service: 800-223-1839 (U.S. and Canada)
Fax: 502-899-2274
http://www.aph.org/contact.htm
"The world's largest source for adapted educational
and daily living products - since 1858."
-
Braille Institute
741 N. Vermont Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90029
(323) 663-1111
FAX: (323) 663-0867
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Braille Transcribers
http://www.spedex.com/directories/braille.htm
An alpahabetical list of braille transcribers.
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QuikScrybe
http://www.quikscrybe.com/
QuikScrybe is a company which transcribes documents into
braille.
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Arizona State University
richj@asu.edu
A leader in providing technical materials in Braille including
tactile graphics for their own population of students
with disabilities. As the workload permits, they do work
for other institutions.
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GH LLC
3000 Kent Ave. Suite E2-201
West Lafayette, IN 47906
(765) 775-3776
info@ghbraille.com
http://www.ghbraille.com/
Specializes in technical Braille and tactile graphics.
Captioning Service Providers
When contacting a provider, you will need to explain whether
you are wanting captions for VHS cassettes or for digitized
Internet multimedia.
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EASI
PO Box 818
Lake Forest, CA 92609
(715) 235-3453 (Phone for caption service only)
http://www.rit.edu/~easi
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Caption Perfect
P.O. Box 12454
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709-2454
919-942-0693 (v)
919-942-0435 (fax)
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Henninger Digital Captioning
2601-A Wilson Boulevard
Arlington, Virginia 22201
phone 703-243-3444
fax 703-243-5697
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National Captioning Institute
NCI California Office
303 North Glenoaks Boulevard, Suite 200
Burbank, CA 91502
V/TTY (818) 238-0068
http://www.ncicap.org/
NCI developed and continues to develop close caption television
service.
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VITAC
4450 Lakeside Drive, Suite 250
Burbank, California 91505
(888) 528-4822
(818) 295-2490
(818) 295-2494 Fax
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WGBH
617-300-3600 (V/TTY)
caption@wgbh.org
http://www.wgbh.org/caption
The Caption Center is the world's first captioning agency
and a non-profit service of the WGBH Educational Foundation.
Tools
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A-Prompt Toolkit
http://www.aprompt.ca/
The A-Prompt Toolkit which helps check a page's accessibility
and assist in making actual repair to that page is downloadable
free of charge.
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Adobe information about making accessible PDF documents
http://access.adobe.com
Access.adobe.com is a resource designed to help people
with disabilities work more effectively with Adobe software,
and help content creators use Adobe software to produce
content that is accessible to as many people as possible.
- Bobby
http://www.cast.org/bobby
Bobby is an accessibility checker.
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