Accessible Technology
Accessible information technology is technology that can be used by people with a wide range of abilities and disabilities. Accessible technology is either directly accessible -in other words, it is usable without assistive technology - or it is compatible with standard assistive technology. Each user is able to interact with the technology in ways that work best for him or her.
Information Technology (IT) is essential and ubiquitous in today's business environment. However, Information Technology at times also create barriers for individuals with disabilities, especially for people unable to operate a standard keyboard or mouse. People may experience access issues using technology ranging from computers and web sites to the telephone and photocopiers.
Articles on Accessible Technology
Below is a complete list of accessibility articles in the
AccessibleTech.org Resource Library, arranged by topic covered. Select any of the
topic groups to the right to jump quickly to a particular topic list. Select any
article title to view the article.
E-learning
- Are electronic whiteboards accessible to people with disabilities?
- What considerations should be made in order to develop accessible e-learning courses?
General
- How to Find a Consultant to help with Accessibility Issues?
- How might information technologies present barriers to customers or employees with disabilities?
- What are the functional performance criteria specified by Section 508?
- What is accessible electronic and information technology?
- What is electronic and information technology?
- What is universal design?
- What makes electronic and information technology inaccessible to people with disabilities?
- What standards exist for procuring accessible desktop and portable computers?
- Where can I find a guide to Section 508 resource documents?
Legal Issues
- What is the Status of the Section 508 Standards and Guidelines Refresh?
- Are there any court cases on web accessibility and the obligations of businesses under Sections 504, 508 or ADA?
- Can more than one Section 508 standard apply to a product or technology?
- Does Section 508 apply to a state or local government?
- Does Section 508 apply to private entities and employers?
- Does the information on public web sites, intranets, and e-learning courses at state and local governments have to be accessible to visitors with disabilities?
- What does it mean to "effectively communicate" web site content to individuals with disabilities as required by Section 504 and the ADA?
- What does Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 require?
- What is the Clinger-Cohen Act, and how does it affect people with disabilities?
- What is the relationship between Section 508 and the Clinger-Cohen Act?
Operating Systems
- How does accessibility differ across operating systems?
- Is Linux accessible?
- What accessibility features are available within the Macintosh operating system?
- What accessibility features are provided with the Windows 7 operating system?
- What accessibility features are provided with the Windows Vista operating system?
Policy Issues
- Increasing the Accessibility of Technology in your business
- VPAT: A Promising Practice in Accessibility Reporting
Resources
- Are there any discussion lists that address technology access issues for people with blindness or visual impairments?
- The Federal Government: A Promising Practice in Providing Assistance to Procurement Officials
- What is the Access Board?
- What is the National Council on Disability (NCD), and how are they involved in accessible electronic and information technology?
- What is the United States Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and what do they do?
- Where can I find information on the digital divide?
- Where can I find online resources for learning about accessible information technology?
Self-contained, closed products
- Are Personal Digital Assistants (PDA's) accessible?
- Are there standards for developing or purchasing accessible fax machines, photocopiers, and other office equipment?
- Are touch screens accessible?
Software Applications
- How accessible are Microsoft Word documents?
- How can I tell whether a software application is accessible?
- How do I develop accessible software?
- Is PDF accessible?
Telecommunications Products
- What access challenges do people with disabilities face when using a telephone?
- What are relay services, and how do I access them?
- What standards exist for developing and purchasing accessible telecommunications products?
Video and Multimedia Products
- Are there standards or guidelines for providing audio description?
- Are there standards or guidelines for providing captions?
- Can captions be generated automatically using speech recognition?
- How can organizations plan an accessible video production?
- How can I display accessible rich media in Real Player, Quick Time, and Windows Media Player?
- How do I make multimedia accessible?
- How do I turn on captions or descriptive audio in my media player?
- Is it better to caption or transcribe multimedia?
- What are the deadlines for closed captioning of all television programming?
- What is audio description?
- What is rich media and is it accessible?
- What is the difference between open and closed captioning?
- What is the difference between SMIL and SAMI?
- What standards exist for developing and purchasing accessible video and multimedia products?
Web-based Information and Applications
- Are chat rooms accessible to people with disabilities?
- Are "Quick Links" drop down lists for Web forms accessible?
- Are all Web users today using Javascript-enabled browsers?
- Are frames accessible?
- Are text-only web pages an accessible alternative?
- Are there accessibility guidelines for web browsers?
- Are there resources to help me in planning my web accessibility training?
- Can I make accessible web pages using web authoring tools such as FrontPage and Dreamweaver?
- Does CSS positioning eliminate the need for a "skip navigation" link?
- How can data tables be made accessible?
- How can our organization deliver accessible web casts?
- How can organizations determine if their web sites are accessible?
- How can I better understand the Section 508 standards?
- How can I develop accessible web-based forms?
- How can I make web page navigation accessible?
- How can I select a web accessibility software tool?
- How can I test my web site for accessibility?
- How do cascading style sheets affect web accessibility?
- How do I make my online PowerPoint presentation accessible?
- How do I make web sites accessible?
- How do my choice and use of color affect the accessibility of my web site?
- How do scripting languages affect accessibility?
- How does accessible web design benefit all web users?
- How long can an "alt" attribute be?
- How well do screen readers support Web accessibility guidelines?
- Is Flash content accessible?
- Is it a good idea to make "skip navigation" links invisible?
- Is it possible to develop an accessible dynamic menu?
- Is Java accessible?
- Is XML accessible?
- What is a "skip navigation" link?
- What is the current recommendation for providing long descriptions for complex graphics?
- What is the difference between the W3C guidelines and the Section 508 standards for Web accessibility?
- What is the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI™)?
- What is wrong with using HTML tables for layout?
- What Web accessibility evaluation and repair tools are available?
- Where can I find a useful list of Web resources regarding Web accessibility?
- Which set of Web accessibility standards or guidelines should I comply with?