Universal Access to The Web.

The power of the Web is in its universality. Access by everyone regardless of disability is an essential aspect.
Tim Berners-Lee, W3C Director and Inventor of the Internet.

• The Opportunity.
  • Education delivered via the Internet provides an opportunity to level the playing field for learners with special needs through use of new technologies, in combination with thoughtful design of the user interface.
• The Risk.
  • Students who cannot access the Web are limited in their ability to gather basic course information, conduct research, participate in assignments, and participate in the social community of others.
• The Reality.
  • Only one out of every four pages at higher education Web sites are considered accessible.
  • An audit of the six public universities in Washington showed an average of 17% of the pages are considered accessible.

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Sample Scenarios.

• Blind students doing Internet searches using google.com for a research paper.
  • Assistive Technologies: Screen Reader ( Jaws, Window-Eyes, Home Page Reader) with Keyboard Input.
• Visually Impaired Students doing assigned readings on the Web.
  • Assistive Technologies: Screen Magnifier ( ZoomText, Windows accessibility options, Opera browser).
• Students with learning disabilities, like dyslexia, surfing the Web.
  • Assistive Technologies: Talking Browser ( WeMedia talking browser).
• Hearing impaired potential student listening to a "Welcome" address.
  • Assistive Technologies: Captioning (RealMedia Example, Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange (SAMI) with Windows Media Player.

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Accessing University Sites.

• A home page with problems.
  • Lincoln University of Missouri.

• An accessible Web site.
  • Anglia Polytechnic University.

• Hands-on activity.
  • Use the headphones with IBM Home Page Reader on your lab computer to listen to a site of your choosing.
  • Home Page Reader Access Keys

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Courseware Accessibility.

• Blackboard.
  • Blackboard's position.
  • An independent investigation of Blackboard accessibility.
• Adobe Acrobat solutions for accessibility.

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Diagnostic Tools.

• Site Tools (Bobby downloadable, AccVerify).
• Online Page Tools (Bobby, WAVE, Lynx viewer).
• Hands-on activity.
  • Use Bobby online (or WAVE) to check a Web page for accessibility.

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Repair Tools.

• A-Prompt.
• Frontpage with AccVerify SE.
• Dreamweaver MX.

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University Policies.

• University of Wisconsin.
• University of Arizona.

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References.

1. Universal Usability in Practice: Principles and strategies for practitioners designing universally usable sites, Available at http://www.otal.umd.edu/uupractice/
2. Rowland, C. (2000), Accessibility of the Internet in Postsecondary Education: Meeting the Challenge, Proceedings of the Universal Web Accessibility Symposium 2000, Available at www.webaim.org/articles/meetchallenge
3. W3C (2001), How People with Disabilities Use the Web, Brewer, J (Editor), Available at www.w3.org/WAI/EO/Drafts/PWD-Use-Web/
4. Schmetzke, A. (2002), Web Page Accessibility on University of Wisconsin Campuses: 2002 Survey Data, Available at http://library.uwsp.edu/aschmetz/Accessible/UW-Campuses/Survey2002/contents2002.htm
5. Special Needs Opportunity Windows (SNOW), List of Courseware Accessibility Readings available at http://snow.utoronto.ca/access/courseware/index.html
6. W3C WAI, Evaluation, Repair, and Transformation Tools for Web Content Accessibility, available at http://www.w3.org/WAI/ER/existingtools.html
7. W3C (1999), Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 available at http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT/
8. Thatcher, J. et al. (2002) Construction Accessible Web Sites, Glasshaus, information available at http://www.webaim.org/news/2002/books/glasshaus