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Web Site Accessibility Resources

World Wide Web Consortium

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) was created in October 1994 to lead the World Wide Web to its full potential by developing common protocols that promote its evolution and ensure its interoperability.

The W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)  The W3C's commitment to lead the Web to its full potential includes promoting a high degree of usability for people with disabilities. The Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI), in coordination with organizations around the world, is pursuing accessibility of the Web through five primary areas of work: technology, guidelines, tools, education & outreach, and research & development.

• Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0, W3C Recommendation 5-May-1999
• Fact Sheet for "Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0" at http://www.w3.org/1999/05/WCAG-REC-fact.html
• Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 W3C Working Draft 30 July 2004
• Cascading Style Sheets, level 2, CSS2 Specification, W3C Recommendation 12-May-1998
• Curriculum for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0
• WAI Quick Tips Reference Card
• References on Web Accessibility

United States Federal Government Sites

• United States Department of Justice, Americans with Disabilities Act Home Page
• Center on Information Technology Accommodation, a resource site maintained by the Center on Information Technology Accommodation at the General Services Administration. Established in 1984, the Center for IT Accommodation (CITA) is a nationally recognized model demonstration facility influencing accessible information environments, services, and management practices. 
• The Access Board - a federal agency committed to accessible design
• Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility Standards
• Standards for Electronic and Information Technology: An Overview

Canadian Government

• Guidelines on Universal Accessibility, developed by the Canadian Treasury Board Internet Working Group on Internet Presentation, Style and Accessibility.
• Accessibility: Standards and Guidelines for Government of Canada Web Sites
• Web Site Accessibility Testing Service (WATS) For Government of Canada Web Designers
• Simplified Web Accessibility Guide The Simplified Web Accessibility Guide introduces and presents the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines from the W3C in an easy to understand, easy to use question and answer format, and is targeted directly at developers of career, learning and labour market information web sites - to help them to produce better designed and more accessible web sites for persons with disabilities.

United Kingdom

• Guidelines - Guidelines for UK government websites
• Royal National Institute for the Blind (United Kingdom) Campaign for Better Web Design

Educational Institutions and Centers

The Trace Center The Trace Research & Development Center is a part of the College of Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Founded in 1971, Trace has been a pioneer in the field of technology and disability. The Trace Center is currently working on ways to make standard information technologies and telecommunications systems more accessible and usable by people with disabilities. This work is primarily funded by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) (U.S. Department of Education).

• Designing More Usable Web Sites, a meta-index page by the Trace Research and Development Center.
• Trace Research & Development Center, Making information technology more usable for everyone
• Design of HTML Pages to Increase their Accessibility to Users with Disabilities
• JavaScript Accessibility Project

The University of Texas at Austin - Accessibility Institute

Guide to Writing Accessible HTML developed by the University of Toronto's Adaptive Technology Resource Centre

University of Washington DO-IT Program - Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking & Technology

The HTML Writers Guild AWARE Center - accessible web authoring resources and education center

• A Blueprint for Single-A Accessibility Compliance This was presented on 8 June 2000 by Kynn Bartlett kynn@idyllmtn.com at the State University of New York Council for University Affairs and Development (SUNY/CUAD) 2000 conference in New York. Each checkpoint is presented in the following format: Checkpoint Name, What It Means, The Tricky Part, How To Check, and Sample Code.

Non-Profit Organizations

• Building Accessible Web Sites in Seven Steps, a TechSoup special report
• National Center for Accessible Media, sponsored by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and WGBH-TV, Boston.
• WebABLE - Part of an international awareness campaign for information accessibility, WebABLE! (pronounced, Web - ABLE) acts as a voice for and a practical application of the mandate of WebABLE! Solutions and WebABLE, Incorporated. WebABLE! maintains a database of access and disability related internet resources.
• SETI: Search Engine Technology Interface, Version 2.2
• Viewable With Any Browser: Accessible Site Design

Vendor Sites

• IBM Accessibility Center
• Sun Microsystems' Accessibility Program
• Accessibility at Macromedia Macromedia supports the creation of great Web experiences that are accessible to everyone, including those with disabilities.
• Microsoft Accessibility Home Page
• Adobe: Accessibility Adobe helps make electronic information more accessible to people with disabilities including but not limited to: blindness, low vision, hearing, or motor impairments.

Connecticut State Agencies serving Persons with Disabilities

• Connecticut Tech Act Project (CTTAP) "Achievement Through Technology"
• Connecticut Office of Protection and Advocacy for Persons with Disabilities
• Connecticut Board of Education, Services for the Blind
• Connecticut Commission on the Deaf and Hearing Impaired (CDHI) Of the Department of Social Services

Other (United) State's Policies and Committees

• Arkansas - Accessibility Policy for Web Pages - DRAFT - http://www.techarch.state.ar.us/indexes/standards.htm
• Commonwealth of Massachusetts Web Accessibility Standards Version 1.0 May 1, 2000 - http://www.mass.gov/itd/spg/publications/standards/web-access-std.htm
• Minnesota Electronic publications accessibility guidelines  http://www.admin.state.mn.us/accessibility_guidelines.html
• New York State Mandatory Technology Standard S04-001- Accessibility of State Agency Web-based Intranet and Internet Information and Applications http://www.irm.state.ny.us/policy/s04-001/index.htm
• New York State Statewide Technology Policy P04-002 Accessibility of State Agency Web-based Intranet and Internet Information and Applications http://www.oft.state.ny.us/policy/p04-002/index.htm
• North Carolina - Information Resource Management Commission - http://irmc.state.nc.us/access/
• Ohio - Internet Advisory Committee Best Practices - Universal Accessibility http://www.state.oh.us/bestpr/access.htm
• Oregon - http://www.state.or.us/oolpolicy.pdf  (PDF Document - you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader)
• Pennsylvania - Internet Accessibility Design Guidelines
• Tennessee - World Wide Web Guidelines - http://www.state.tn.us/guidelines/
• Texas - World Wide Web Design Standards and Coding Guidelines Web Accessibility Guidelines Version 3.2
• Virginia - Virginia Information Providers Network - http://www.vipnet.org/vipnet/access.html
• Washington - Achieving Website Accessibility in Government - http://www.aasa.dshs.wa.gov/access/
• Wisconsin - Enterprise Standards: Deployment of Accessible Pages on the World Wide Web http://www.doa.state.wi.us/dtm/btpp/std0605.htm

Books

Web Accessibility for People with Disabilities by WebABLE's Founder and Chief Technology Officer, Mike Paciello, is a vital tool for Web site developers and administrators who need to understand the law, the requirements of the disabled, and the processes of site evaluation and implementation.

Constructing Accessible Web Sites Jim Thatcher, Michael Burks, Sarah Swierenga, Cynthia Waddell, Bob Regan, Paul Bohman, Shawn Lawton Henry, Mark Urban.  The purpose of this book is to enable web professionals to create and retrofit accessible websites quickly and easily. It includes discussion of the technologies and techniques that are used to access websites, and the legal stipulations and precedents that exist in the US and around the world.

Computer and Web Resources for People with Disabilities The new edition of this award-winning book will show you how today's technology is redefining human potential and what it means to have a disability.

Accessible Technology in Today's Business This book demonstrates to business organizations that not only are accessible solutions available today that provide people with disabilities the essential tools they need to work, but that it makes good business sense to do so.

Building Accessible Websites This book teaches developers of every sophistication and budget level how to improve the accessibility of their Websites so that people who are blind, deaf, or mobility-impaired can get the most out of them.

Other

Section 508 Resource Center - Government Computer News

This page was last reviewed on: October 26, 2006

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