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carmin karasic

REQUIRED DISCUSSION: Increasing Awareness about Web Access Barriers - 57 views

sp13accessibility barriers access web2.0 internet accessibility

started by carmin karasic on 24 Mar 13
  • carmin karasic
    #1 carmin karasic on 24 Mar 13
     
    Comment on something you learned from a classmate's bookmark about barriers that people with various disabilities face while they are online. Issues arise from various disabilities and/or language limitations.
  • pauladill10
    #3 pauladill10 on 27 Mar 13
     
    I love your article Melanie on the 5 tips for using Web 2.0 and I really love the suggestion of Voki! I am a huge fan of asking kids to get out of their comfort zone and I know a good way to do that is class presentations, but I do know some students may struggle with this for more than just being nervous. Some students with certain disabilities might not be able to fully present in front of the class and this Voki site was great for that! I actually was playing around with it and I hope it works, but copy this link below to see if you can view my message... it was fun!!! HAHA Thanks for sharing this article!

    http://www.voki.com/pickup.php?scid=7840526&height=267&width=200
  • Jeff Lake
    #4 Jeff Lake on 27 Mar 13
     
    I choose to comment on Marianne's shared bookmark. Marianne shared Web2Access, which is a site that allows for users to explore great Web 2.0 technologies and e-learning tools that are excellent for breaking any learning barriers the learner may have to hurdle. This site allows users to explore different accessible Web 2.0 technologies/sites for a variety of disabilities such as blind, deaf, color blind, lack of mobility and many others. I learned that this is one of the best resources one can use when planning lessons and activities with Web 2.0 for learners with a variety of disabilities. I learned that Access Menu, BlogDigger, and Adobe are highly recommended among many others in this website. Web2Access is a wonderful source that any teacher needs to use when applying Web 2.0 to students with a variety of disabilities. Jeff

    Here is the link to Web2Access: www.web2access.org.uk
  • Katy Cummings
    #5 Katy Cummings on 28 Mar 13
     
    I chose to comment on Wendy's shared bookmark: Apple - Education - Special Education
    I am a MAC fan, and have an iPhone, iPad and MacBook Pro that I use at home. My school has access to iPads and iPod Touches. After reading this bookmark, I wish we had MAC computers for students to use! I knew that the Apple products had a lot of built in applications for disabled users, but I did not realize the extent! These products/applications address literacy issues to visual and hearing issues to physical/motor skill issues! The Inkwell feature was one I had never heard of.Inkwell is a built-in handwriting recognition technology. Students simply connect a graphics tablet to their Mac and write on the tablet using a stylus. Inkwell translates what they've written into onscreen text. I am sure additional software or devices may be required to use some of these applications, but it is a great solution for those disabled users. I wonder if the PC devices have as many of these features as the APPLE products?
  • Dayna Hall
    #6 Dayna Hall on 29 Mar 13
     
    I really thought Marianne's bookmark, Web2Access, was a great resource for everyone to know about. The website provides usability/accessibility reports as well as "Tests" that can be done on websites to determine their level of accessibility for disabled users. You can browse by disability and see how each product scored according to their test. I found it interesting how they tested everything from audio/visual features to logins to page functionality. The tests seem very thorough. It was also interesting to note that some products scored higher with certain disabilities than with other disabilities. I think this is a great tool for website developers to look at before they design their website. They have a lot to keep in mind to make their website accessible by all.
  • Wendy Dryden
    #7 Wendy Dryden on 29 Mar 13
     
    I chose to comment on Kathy's shared bookmark: "Henshaws College and Jisc launch an accessible YouTube website". I use Youtube all the time with my students and even though the website Kathy mentioned is focused for people with disabilities I will be using this in my classroom. "Access YouTube" is so much easier to look for videos and you don't have all the other "stuff" that you get on regular YouTube. I think this is an advantage because so often the content on the perimeters of YouTube are not classroom appropriate. There are no advertisements or "other" YouTube videos you would might like. Great disability (and non-disabled) website.
  • Kathy Barringer
    #9 Kathy Barringer on 01 Apr 13
     
    The article submitted by Wendy Dryden, Apple - Education - Special Education, really made me think about what kind of things that I take for granted by using that people with disabilities use. There were several things in this article that I use out of convenience. One example is that I use text-to-speech when I'm lazy and don't want to read. I think Apple does well in promoting features that make computing accessible for people with disabilities. I do love apple products. I remember playing around with the voice over in the iPhone with my blind cousin. He taught me to how to use that a while back. Also, now that I have the iPhone 5 and have Siri, I use the heck out of that, which is another feature that I use for convenience. This was an very interesting and informational site. Thanks, Wendy!
  • Kathy Barringer
    #10 Kathy Barringer on 01 Apr 13
     
    I also wanted to make a short comment on one of the articles posted by Robbie Reed, How Do People Use The Computer Without Hands. This article had a link to show where people could use twitter with their brain signals! How amazing is this. If this is possible, then think about people with no limbs....it makes me want to say...why hasn't more been done? That may be stretching things...but it's possible!
  • Marianne Finocchiaro
    #11 Marianne Finocchiaro on 01 Apr 13
     
    I decided to comment of Robbie's bookmark - How to Make Your Website More Accessible | Web Design | InstantShift - www.instantshift.com/...e-your-website-more-accessible.

    I am responsible for my school's website and I know how difficult it can be to make sure every webpage is accessible. It involves much more coding but is so worth the extra work. If webmasters get in the habit of adding accessibility code to their sites then it will become the norm rather than the exception. The website that Robbie posted has some excellent points and suggestions to make your site accessible. Thanks Robbie!
  • Nancy Adkins
    #12 Nancy Adkins on 01 Apr 13
     
    I decided to use Robbie's bookmark - How to Make Your Website More Accessible. I like that it explains how this is everyone's job to make the internet accessible to all users. We do need to become aware of how a webpage is set up and how we would be able to navigate it if we were deaf, blind, or had some other disability. We take for granted that we can read the information, see the pictures, and know exactly where the links are to click. This site that Robbie bookmarked makes you aware of different areas of the webpage design that should be set up carefully so that anyone could access it.
  • Jonathan Fullerton
    #13 Jonathan Fullerton on 01 Apr 13
     
    I decided to use Robbie's bookmark as well, I am a football coach and part of that is running a website. It is very easy to take for granted what people can see or hear or even how they navigate threw the web site. This gives me a better understanding of what I need to do. The website gave me some key points to use. Such as the see it their way point of view. The coding aspect was something I had never thought about. In all this gave me some great insight on how to make our team website better.

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