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AWD Resources
WelcomeThis site was initially set up as a support for a series of Accessible Web Design (AWD) workshops I have taught. As these resources may also be valuable to others, we've made them public.
I would like to welcome those who attended my "Is Your Moodle Accessible" workshop at the October 2007 MainEducation ACTEM Fall Conference.
I am also welcoming the participants from the University of Maine System who attened my October 29th workshop on Accessible Documents. Here are the resources on Accessible Documents that supplement the workshop.
There's lots of stuff here and I am always looking to add new things. Please feel free to contact me with ideas and suggestions.
John Brandt
Webmaster
Below are some articles and resources I have discovered over the past few years related to AWD. I have been posting information regularly on my jebswebs blog - so you may want to check that out first.
This is an on-line primer for web designers interested in learning about web accessibility. According to its author Jukka Korpela (Yucca), "...It can be read as a standalone primer, or used as the basic material for a short course. After finishing it, you will know a useful set of rules, the reasons behind them, and how to apply them in authoring. You can then proceed to a wider and more detailed look at web accessibility, e.g. using the WebAIM cite."
AOL is now testing closed captions for streaming news content from CNN that will enhance the online media experience for people who are deaf or hard of hearing. Captioned CNN video content will be available throughout the AOL network, including the AOL service, the free AOL.com Web portal, and the AOL Video portal. AOL, which is the first consumer Internet service to provide captioned online videos, has offered closed captioning since 2003 for select content on its KOL service for kids aged 6-12. Now, content from CNN, including videos for the day's headlines, current events, new stories, entertainment, and more, will be manually captioned to ensure all of the audio in a video stream is completely accessible. AOL plans to provide closed captioning for additional video content over the coming months. Similar to closed captioning for television, AOL captions are displayed directly beneath the video window and correspond to the audio content. For more information on AOL's closed captioning initiative and for direct links to closed captioned videos, please visit the AOL Website on this topic
As reported by 456 Berea St - "A very useful Firefox extension that makes it both easy and fun to explore the DOM is Joe Hewitt's FireBug . Firebug logs JavaScript, CSS , and XML errors to a console. You can configure which errors to log, so if you don't want CSS errors in the Firebug console, just turn them off."
The Mozilla-Firefox accessibility extension provides testing for Section 508 and WCAG related requirements. http://firefox.cita.uiuc.edu/
There is also a beta version of a new tool called the Functional Accessibility Evaluator that tests for functional accessibility features of web resources related to Section 508 and WCAG.
Both of these tools are under development and would be interested in feedback.
Summary: Websites have become less accessible and more complex over time according to recent studies. Learn how to buck the trend by creating fast, accessible CSS forms that work with modern browsers and gracefully degrade. Read the full article: Accessible CSS Forms: Using CSS to Create a Two-Column Layout (warning: for some strange reason, when I click on this link with IE, the page renders but brings me to the middle of the page. Not sure why, but you may have to scroll to the top of the page to read the whole article...jeb)
The two basic approaches to accessibility evaluation are:
Use a software tool Use a human evaluator Usually the best approach is to use both a software tool and a human evaluator. Each approach has strengths and weaknesses which complement the others and form a more complete approach to web accessibility evaluation. People with disabilities can be especially valuable as accessibility evaluators.
Read the full article: The Importance of Human Evaluation
Accessites.org's mission is to showcase and provide awards-recognition for certain websites and the developers and designers who make them which shatter the misconception that accessible websites are boring and basic.
This is a blog entry from Christian Heilman in Digital Web Magazine. It's a bit technical and probably written for those working primarily in the "business world." So the concerns raised may not be relevant to your work. Perhaps the most important "mistake" is the trust we put into the technology to solve the problem. While Heilman is referring to trust in our authoring software or CMS, this is also true regarding the various on-line "tools" and "validators" that can be used to check accessibility. The good old human brain is still the best tool. Accessibility can only be improved when we think about what we're doing and test with real people. Here is the article Seven Accessibility Mistakes by Christian Heilman
If you really have a lot of time on your hands, you want to head over to this website and see all of the neat things people are doing with web design elements using CSS, AJAX and JavaScript. It will make your head spin. 24 ways to impress your friends
WARP is part of WebAIM's K-12 initiative, administered through a grant provided by the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) of the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS). Our goal is to improve accessibility to online learning opportunities for all people; in particular to improve accessibility for individuals with disabilities who currently may have a difficult time getting access to the general curriculum in K-12 educational settings.
WebAIM has found that few teacher training and certification institutions across the U.S. teach the issues and strategies of Web accessibility. Instructors of these courses may be more likely to embed accessibility if they have access to content, simulations, assignments, and evaluation tools. The WARP was designed for this purpose, as well as any other teaching opportunity that involves Web accessibility.
By using the WARP, you can easily peruse Web accessibility resources, organize resources into an online lesson, and view lessons other users have created. These online resources include tutorials, simulations, activities, and articles. The WARP is FREE to use! Check it out: warp.webaim.org. We invite you to participate in testing the WARP and providing us with feedback to improve it for you and other users. If you would like to be involved in Beta testing, contact Mike Lyman. If you have suggestions and feedback, contact the WebAIM team.
When writing content for the Web, several considerations need to be made. Your audience may include individuals with reading disabilities and those who use screen readers. The Clear Language and Design (CLAD) Reading Effectiveness Tool can help you evaluate your content to see if it is appropriate for your audience. Thank you WebAIM Newsletter - Nov 2004 - for this link to the Reading Effectiveness Tool
See also the Links to Accessible Web and Universal Design found here on the Maine CITE web.
Below we have provided a set of websites that provide a full range of free instructional content on web design and related topics. Exploring these sites is a great way to extend the content of this curriculum, particularly for advanced students. Many of these sites are additionally linked throughout the curriculum.
revised: 21-Feb-2008