Products for Accessibility:
Macromedia Accessibility (Makers of Dreamweaver)
Dreamweaver is an excellent Web page editor that will help you create accessible Web pages. There are tutorials and a free accessibility extension (plug-in) on their site.
Macromedia's Accessibility Site
Adobe Acrobat (pdf) Accessibility
Creating accessible PDF documents starts before the document is ever begun. When you create the document in a word processor (such as Word 2000), you must use certain conventions such as headers and paragraph elements. This site will explain in more detail about the process of making documents accessible to assistive technology devices. We have also linked to some Quick Time movies on Adobe's Web site which do an excellent job of explaining PDF accessibility. If you don't have Quick Time installed on your machine, download the Quick Time player.
Information on Adobe Acrobat Accessibility
Adobe Acrobat's Accessibility Movies:
Working
with Microsoft Office 2000 files
Working with
existing PDF files
Working with
forms
Usability
enhancements of Acrobat 5.0
Working with
screen readers
Adobe PageMaker Accessibility
Creating accessible PageMaker documents starts before the document is ever begun. This site will explain in more detail about the process of making documents accessible to assistive technology devices.
Information on Adobe PageMaker
Other Resources Similar to this Site:
GRADE - Georgia Tech Research on Accessible Distance Education
The Georgia Tech Research on Accessible Distance Education (GRADE) is a demonstration project to enhance access for students with disabilities to distance education courses. GRADE is supported by Grant #P333A020050 from the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE). The mission of GRADE is to:
"Provide research, training, technical assistance and information dissemination to improve the accessibility of distance education for students with disabilities at universities and colleges throughout the nation."
World Wide Web Consortium
This is the definitive source for Web page standards. The W3C sets the standards for companies that create browsers such as Netscape, Internet Explorer and other software manufacturers. They also set the standards for Web page developers, which includes proper HTML coding and accessibility guidelines. This site is very broad and deep, and it is not my intention that you should rely on this site to learn about HTML and accessibility issues, rather, to point out that it is the foundation on which all other resources are based such as the links below.
World Wide Web Consortium's Site
WEBAim
This organization is devoted to providing accessibility information to Web developers. You can find good examples and tutorials here.
WebCT and Accessibility
You will find resources for making WebCT and the content you put online accessible to your students.
IBM's Accessibility Center
This is an excellent starting point if you need to come up to speed fast for designing Web pages for accessibility. This page can be used as a checklist of things you should consider. Descriptions and examples are given in sufficient detail.
National Cancer Institution - Office of Communications
NCI's Web Accessibility Plans
This site is similar to the site you are currently in. They have some good examples.
National Cancer Institution's Accessibility Site
EASI - Equal Access it Software and Information
EASI is the Premiere Provider of Online Training on Accessible Information Technology for Persons with Disabilities reaching more than 4,000 people in over 3 dozen countries since 1993.
Jim Thatcher on Accessibility
Jim Thatcher is one of the authors of one of the best selling Web Page accessibility books on the market: Constructing Accessible Web Sites.
W3 Schools - Online Web Tutorials
This is an excellent Web site with lots of information about HTML, CSS and other Web languages.
Web Style Guide
This site covers about every aspect of designing Web sites.
Web Savvy
Top 10 Accessible Web Authoring Practices
Creating Accessible On-line Course Materials with WebCT
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Division of Rehabilitation-Education Services
University of Illinois Rehabilitation -Education Services' Web Site
Microsoft's Accessibility Center
Information about Microsoft's products and more.
Microsoft's Accessibility Center
Apple's Site for Accessibility
Information about Microsoft's products and more.
WebABLE
The WebABLE site goal is to stimulate education, research, and development of technologies that will ensure accessibility for people with disabilities to advanced information systems and emerging technologies.
AWARE Center
The AWARE Center was launched in April 1999 as part of the HTML Writers Guild's annual Web Accessibility Month, a special focus on the importance of designing for universal accessibility. The Center is supported by the Guild's staff and volunteers, and is designed as a resource for all web authors.
*The following resources were acquired through the Creating Accessible Web Sites Conference, held at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Getting Started: Making a Web Page Accessible
The Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) provides a basic introduction to themes and techniques related to developing accessible Web pages.
Section 508: The Road to Accessibility
This is the government sponsored Web site explaining the application and development of Section 508 legislation.
Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) Home
A section of the W3C (main developers for the world wide web), that deals specifically with issues of accessiblilty.
Web Accessibility Initiative Site
Overview of Screen Readers
WebAim provides us with an overview of what screen readers are and how they work.
Screen Readers Overview on WebAim Site
Evaluation, Repair and Transformation Tools
This is a list of tools for evaluation, repair and transformation of Web sites which are not yet accessible to people with disabilities. This list is provided by the Web Accessibility Initiative of the W3C.
Evaluation, Repair and Transformation Tools Site
American Foundation for the Blind
This site provides resources dealing with issues of vision deficincies. It also has a great demonstration of CSS Style Sheet control that is imbedded in the Web Site itself for people with color deficiences that may need to change the color or style of the Web page.
American Foundation for the Blind Site
Effective Color Contrast
This is a section in a Web site called Lighthouse International that also deals with visual deficiencies. It contains basic guidelines to make effective color choices that will work for nearly everyone.
Lighthouse International - Color Contrast Site
A List Apart - Macromedia Flash Accessibility
A List Apart provides commentary on the accessibility of Macromedia's Flash program.
A List Apart on Macromedia Flash Accessibility Site
The National Center for Accessible Media (NCAM)
This site shows some of the techniques to use and barriers one may encounter when trying to make rich media accessible. Rich media is referring to audio and video being used on the Web.
GAWDS
Guild of Accessible Web Designs
Updated May 28, 2004