Improving
Web
Accessibility for
Individuals with
Disabilities
with Cyndi Rowland |
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February 13, 2002 / Archived
webcast / Transcript
The Internet has become a powerful force in education today.
With this said, many students with disabilities are unable
to access materials placed on the Web because of the way they
are designed. Online learning formats are most susceptible
to accessibility woes because of the reliance on the Web to
carry every aspect of a student's participation (e.g., registration,
advisement, courses, library resources, communication with
instructors and peers).
This presentation dealt with the important issue of Web accessibility
for students with disabilities. Specifically, this presentation
focused on three aspects of Web accessibility. The first was
an overall understanding of what accessibility is and how
students with disabilities experience the Web. Second was
an understanding of the current legal picture with respect
to Web accessibility. Finally, how participants can be a force
for positive change in the accessibility of postsecondary
education Web materials.
Participants were expected to engage in a variety of Web-based
simulations designed to help them understand what students
with disabilities might encounter when on the Internet. For
these reasons, they are asked to download the following free
items if they do not already have them installed on their
computers.
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The browser Opera (www.opera.com)
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Any media player such as QuickTime (www.apple.com/quicktime/download)
or Windows Media Player (www.windowsmedia.com/download/download.asp)
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The Macromedia Flash Player (www.macromedia.com/downloads).
Cyndi Rowland works at the Center for Persons with Disabilities
at Utah State University. She is the Director of Keeping Web
Accessibility In Mind (WebAIM). This federally-funded program
(LAAP-funded) works to mitigate the enormous problems of inaccessible
Web sites in postsecondary settings. Dr. Rowland has worked
on Web accessibility efforts for those with disabilities for
several years. She is a frequent speaker and author on the
topic. Dr. Rowland directs other technology projects at the
Center and is the Director for a distance education program
in Utah. This program prepares teachers in rural areas of
the state for certification in early childhood special education.
She understands the issues that surround distance education,
the importance of technology applications, and the need to
insure that all individuals can access online materials.
Simulations
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WebAIM Screen Reader Simulation
http://www.webaim.org/simulations/screenreader
This simulation will help you to understand what it
is like for a person with visual impairments to access the
Internet using a software program called a "screen
reader." We have designed a mock Web site for a fictional
university with some common accessibility errors. You will
be able to experience some of them when you go through the
screen reader simulation.
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WebAIM Low Vision Disability Simulation
http://www.webaim.org/simulations/lowvision
The low vision simulation has two parts. First, go to
the above URL and follow the directions. Second, go to the
Opera browser and enlarge a page using the % pull-down menu
in the Opera window. You should look to see how difficult
it is to have to scroll not only vertically, but horizontally
as well. Also, note the differences between real text
with clear, crisp edges and image text which becomes pixilated
and out of focus the larger it gets.
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WebAIM Color Blindness Example
http://www.webaim.org/tutorials/uofa/faculty.htm
Go to the above URL and scroll to the Faculty/staff holidays.
Imagine if you could not distinguish these color differences.
Would you know what holidays you had? The point is that
we should NOT use color alone to denote important content.
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WebAIM Cognitive Disability Simulation
http://www.webaim.org/tutorials/simulations/cogsim
Go the above URL and follow the directions to experience
a simulation of web usage by someone with a cognitive disability.
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CNN
http://www.cnn.com/
Many with motor impairments cannot use the mouse and must
use the keyboard (directly or through their assistive technology).
Go to the above URL. Use your tab key to move from link
to link and the enter key to "select" any link,
and any other keyboarding you might need (e.g., the arrow
keys or the number keys). Count how many times (keystroke
hits) it takes you to get to your local weather forecast.
Now, if it took you 20 seconds between hits, would you persist?
The point here is that many sites could place a "skip
navigation" link at the top of their page so that users
could get to the content quickly. They could also "Chunk"
information so that there are not as many items on the same
page.
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NOVA online
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/thin/program.html
Go to the above URL. Make sure you DO NOT turn the captions
on, but please turn your speakers down so you cannot hear.
Watch for a minute or so and determine what you are learning
from this. Then go back to the beginning and turn on the
captions (keep your sound off). Now what are you learning?
It is clear that if you have a hearing impairment, you must
have captions for all media elements (audio or video with
audio).
Cyndi referred to these URLs:
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