Enhancing Web Accessibility for People with Disabilities: Principles and Tools
This presentation focuses on the goal of web accessibility, ensuring that people with disabilities can effectively perceive, understand, navigate, and interact with the web. It highlights the importance of web accessibility and the existing technologies provided by W3C to bridge the gap between technical possibilities and real-world implementation. The presentation outlines the key principles of web accessibility—perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust—and emphasizes that promoting eAccessibility benefits everyone by accommodating diverse needs. Various assistive tools and the importance of public policies for support are also discussed.
Enhancing Web Accessibility for People with Disabilities: Principles and Tools
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Presentation Transcript
Chisinau, Moldova, 14th September 2011 Sean O Siochru WEB-Accessibility
Goal of Web-Accessibility • ... is to ensure that people with disabilities can perceive, understand, navigate and interact with the Web – including contributing to the Web - to achieve their goals as effectively as can able-bodied people.
All the technology is there. • World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) have developed excellent technologies, toolkits, evaluation methodologies – everything you need is there. • The problem is the gap between what is technically possible, and what happens on the ground!
Principles of Web Accessibility • Perceivable: users must be able to perceive the information presented • Operable: The user interface navigation must be capable of operation by users • Understandable: Information must be understandable • Robust: Content must be robust enough to be accessible by many users and assistive technologies
Why Promote eAccessibility (apart from being a good thing!)? • Web accessibility need not cost more • Web accessibility can benefit everyone • Temporary disability and aging • Redundant content suits learning styles • Low bandwidth users can access more • Caption good for indexing • Facilitates migration to new media • People with disabilities a new market! • Enhanced public service deliver
Some Web Assistive Tools • Alternative to keyboards or switches • Braille and refreshable Braille • Scanning software • Screen magnifiers • Screen readers • Speech recognition • Speech synthesis • Tabbing through structured elements • Text browsers • Visual notification • Voice browsers
ICT Tools for Special Needs • United Nations Global Alliance for ICT & Development (GAID): Flagship Project • G3ICT: Public-private partnership for the Digital Accessibility Agenda and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities • Raise awareness of effective public policy • Web platform to enable sharing of solutions • Harmonisation and standardisation • Produce Toolkits and Benchmarking
AbleData: Assistive Technology • National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research • 40,000 searchable listings • Large Library of research and resources • Database of international organisations and groups
Conclusion • eAccessibility makes economic sense • The technology is all there • The toolkits and support network are ready to help • As we shall see, the UN and EU political context is strongly supportive • The main thing missing is the will to commit to this.
