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Universal Access to the World Wide Web. Thomas R. Neiss, Assistant Provost for Network Technology Services, State University of New York, System Administration, Albany, NY neisstr@sysadm.suny.edu. State University of New York. 64 Campus public higher education system of New York State
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Universal Access to the World Wide Web Thomas R. Neiss, Assistant Provost for Network Technology Services, State University of New York, System Administration, Albany, NY neisstr@sysadm.suny.edu
State University of New York • 64 Campus public higher education system of New York State • 380,000+ students • 40,000+ staff • Millions of web pages CNI - San Antonio 2000 Thomas R. Neiss
What is Universal (Web) Accessibility? • The content or service offered on a site is universally accessible if the end user can choose their preferred method of acquiring the information and interacting with that site. CNI - San Antonio 2000 Thomas R. Neiss
The Web is a way of life, for those fortunate. • But, the information highway is a dead end road filled with insurmountable obstacles for those using assistive technologies, older equipment and the latest technologies • Information Technology was more accessible five years ago than it is today. CNI - San Antonio 2000 Thomas R. Neiss
How did this happen? • Ad hoc web development, with few standards and little impact assessment • Rapid web technology development • Poorly trained and uninformed developers • Lack of tools and resources for learning about the issues CNI - San Antonio 2000 Thomas R. Neiss
Today Situation • Lack of awareness of the technical and legal issues about accessibility • Lack of training or training that does not include accessibility • Accessibility is not (yet) a design criteria • Most think it (accessibility) is too hard to do • Remediation, however is not easy CNI - San Antonio 2000 Thomas R. Neiss
Federal Initiatives • Americans with Disabilities Act 1990 • Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act 1973 • Section 508 of the Workforce Investment Act 1998 • Section 508 delayed until March 2001 CNI - San Antonio 2000 Thomas R. Neiss
NYS takes the lead • Technology Policy 99-3 - Universal Access to the Web 9-30-99 • Priority 1 Level A by 9-30-2000 • World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) • Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) • W3C - Web Content Accessibility Guidelines CNI - San Antonio 2000 Thomas R. Neiss
Everybody Benefits • Persons with disabilities identified the need, but everyone benefits from curb cuts and automatic doors and increasingly from: • Speech recognition • Voice synthesis and digitized voice • Closed captioning • New technologies require it! PDA’s Web Phones, Internet phones, WebTV CNI - San Antonio 2000 Thomas R. Neiss
Strategies that ‘just make sense’ • Inform everyone of the policy and its requirements, and the benefits • Develop or use existing curricula to train students on accessible web design • Provide training for your staff that includes accessibility • Include accessibility requirements in contracts with vendors • Include accessibility requirements in the design • Make universal accessibility a way of life - It’s not that hard CNI - San Antonio 2000 Thomas R. Neiss
If the technology ( or the web site) isn’t ready yet • PDF files - Provide text or html -Conversion utilities are available • Provide alternative methods (in accessible form) • For fill in forms, provide assistance CNI - San Antonio 2000 Thomas R. Neiss
SUNY supports Universal Access to the Web • Doing so will • Increase our ability to attract, educate and graduate students with disabilities • Increase our ability to hire, retain and promote staff with disabilities • Remove potential legal actions • Position SUNY as a leader in disability rights and services CNI - San Antonio 2000 Thomas R. Neiss
What SUNY has done • Advised campus president’s of policy • Presidents appointed Web Accessibility Contacts • Provided awareness through meetings, sessions, listserv’s • Conducted survey on compliance • Serving on NYS Information Technology Access Steering Committee • Conducts monthly training CNI - San Antonio 2000 Thomas R. Neiss
What can you do? • Develop an Accessibility Strategy • Advise managers/staff/faculty/students of what universal access really means • Include accessibility requirements in web site design • Insist upon (and provide) proper training • Assume the responsibility of providing access to electronic information for everyone CNI - San Antonio 2000 Thomas R. Neiss
What can you do? • Understand the laws and responsibilities associated with universal accessibility • Spread the word - Universal Accessibility “just makes good sense” • Work with your Disability Services or ADA offices • If you are still not convinced visit a blind staff member and have them access the web with JAWS CNI - San Antonio 2000 Thomas R. Neiss
Resources • World Wide Web Consortium www.w3.org • Web Accessibility Initiative www.w3.org/wai • Web Content Accessibility Guidelines www.w3.org/tr/wai-webcontent • The WAI’s Curriculum for WCAG 1.0 A self teaching guide for Web Content Accessibility www.w3.org/wai/wcag-curric • NYS Office for Technology www.oft.state.ny.us CNI - San Antonio 2000 Thomas R. Neiss
Resources • Validation • Bobby- www.cast.org/bobby • Lynx browser www.fdisk.com/doslynx/lynxport.htm • Accessibility-Prompt toolkit http://aprompt.snow.utoronto.ca/ • W3C html Validation http://validator.w3.org/ • W3C CSS Validation http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/ CNI - San Antonio 2000 Thomas R. Neiss