Spring13T2 Web 2.0 Access Barriers

This is really cool. I typed in the web address for my district and it came up with errors and alerts.

Thought this was interesting for mobile devices!

Great find. I did not even think about people with disabilities overcoming their barriers in accordance with mobile electronic devices. I just was focusing in on computers. I found it very interesting the tools and ideas that your site shared. Excellent work!!! Jeff

I bookmarked this page as it really made me think about using websites in my classroom. It points out that the best test of any website is human interaction and judgement. As an educator, it is probably best for me to try a website out before expecting my students to use it...especially those with certain barriers. I don't want students becoming discouraged in their learning because of the tools I am expecting them to use. This blog goes on to give examples of what to test when using a website as well as evaluation tools.

I choose to bookmark this page as it did a nice job defining assistive technologies and web 2.0 accessibility. It provided examples of different assistive technologies, as well as discussed how website developers need to keep the "disabled" in mind so their product can meet the needs of all people.

I choose to bookmark this page due it addresses how individuals with hearing impairments can access and overcome their disibiliites using web 2.0 technologies in the classroom. I bookmarked it as it introduced a new concept called vodcasting. Vodcasting is lessons recorded as video. It is similar to podcasting, but it is purely video with no sound. A teacher could create a podcast for their students from a lecture, and a vodcast for hearing impaired students using a similar web 2.0 technology. The vodcast would be in sign language and the podcast would be sound.

Jeff, Great site you found. I think that it is amazing that Vodcasting is proven in teaching a foreign language to hearing impaired students and just think that could not be done 10 years ago. We have come a long way with technology that it can be used for a multitude of people and can be an effective way to help bridge the gap for educators to reach more students. I also like that you can pause or reply the Vodcast making it so user friendly for students to use.

Nice use of Diigo deeplinks! I think it is interesting that you bookmarked the original Web for All Learners wiki that I created for a former 6019 classes! lol!

"The Internet's potential helps eliminate discrimination that exists in the context of a real-world social environment in which discrimination still prevails. Therefore, the disabled are more likely to achieve equality. Moreover, the idea that identity can be constructed according to the demands of the situation is a powerful framework for disabled people, because it permits a creative space for developing ideas about the self (Bowker & Tuffin, 2003)." "A good design can not only make visualization accessible, but can also make the information more accessible. Web 2.0 is available to be used by people in their everyday lives. It also has the potential to open up the world to people with disabilities, and is often presented as a way to eradicate disability as it is socially constructed."  If either of these two quotes strikes your interest please read this article. I know it was written in 2008 and some of the statistics are going to be off. Also, I'm sure that some of the issues that are being discussed have been resolved or updated. Some might even still be in the works to resolve them for people with disabilities, but I loved the article and it was an easy interesting read. It opened my eyes to how people saw Web 2.0 five years ago and how it is or is not  accessible to people with disabilities. 

This discribes in detail the negative side of Web 2.0 for the disabled. I book marked this material because it seemed to give a striaght forward view of the negative side. It went into detail about how the web2.0 was moving to fast to keep up with being accessible.

What is Zac Browser ZAC is the first web browser developed specifically for children with autism and autism spectrum disorders such as Asperger syndrome, pervasive developmental disorders (PDD) and PDD-NOS. We have made this browser for children... for their enjoyment, enrichment, and freedom.

This is an amazing find that I can share with my families. Due to the conditions of autism (especially Aspergers) many of my families at our school enroll because they feel that there child is getting lost in the sea of 32 children in a classroom. With our virtual setting their children on the same playing field due to the fact that they are behind the screen and only a voice. It is amazing to see how the students once placed into our program flourish without the questioning stares and bullying. This is just one more tool to help them proceed further and reach their full potential.

This is great! I currently have a student with autism. I want to become more familiar with it and try it with him. He loves getting on the computer, so I'm anxious to see how this may help him.

I chose this bookmark because it has many resources for people that are blind. The first page, where the link is set, is about my cousion who is blind, and his success story. I have many memories of him growing up as a child. One link is for products and technology where there is a vast amount of resources from notetakers to talking books that will benefit someone with blindness. There is a great link on blogs that has many user experiences. The very first one was about Dropbox and problems happening with that at the moment. Very interesting blogs.

Hi Kathy, I loved reading this article about your cousin. What a great guy to have overcome the limitations set before him due to his blindness. He is a great example of how people with disabilities can do everything and more just like everyone else. His journey from being one of the first blind students allowed to attend public schools to being the president of the National Federation of the Blind of South Carolina is quite an accomplishment. You definitely should be proud! I loved the quote at the end of the article and how his son has a lot to be proud of. Thanks for sharing!

Kathy, I have read this about your cousin before. I am so amazed at all he has accomplished. He has never used his disability as a crutch. He has done so many things to help others who are blind. There are some great resources here. Thanks for sharing.

This is a web-based platform to help meet web accessibility needs. Some of the services it provides include auditing for ADA compliance, detailed reports of the findings, training courses and more to help ensure your website is in compliance. There is a free trial available. I first came across AMP Express which is part of the SSB Bart platform. You type your URL into the space provided and it will test your site for accessibility.

Wow, I'm a new Mac user and I knew Apple had features that accommodate learning disabilities. But I didn't know that there were many features to help improve productivity and academic performance in reading proficiency, math, spelling, and more. One example that Apple uses is Text to Speech for students with cognitive disabilities. That is only one of many, check out all the features. I was amazed.

Jara, If you have a list of the apps I would love to see it. I am always looking for educational apps (especially music ones) for my students and my own kids. Wendy

I think the APPLE products are perfect for individuals with disabilities! I did not realize HOW many features are available for disabled users until I read this! SO many great features that I can share with my special ed department to support the use of these devices!

Deque university is a website that offers two products WordSpace 5 and FireEyes. The website also offer several courses such as web 2.0 accessability which teaches students about websites that make uses of JavaScript and AJAX

This looks like a good site to help you learn about web 2.0 accessibility. I see the FireEyes is free for non-commercial use.

I chose this site because of the abundance of information on how to check if a site is accessible to all. More and more teachers have their own website and it is fundamental that their website is accessible to all of their students, parents, administrators and possibly the community depending on the privacy level of the website,

This is a great website. It is very comprehensive on its step by step process to check and enable web accessibility for all.

This website is personally important to me because I have deaf family members. My cousin (who is not deaf, but has always been involved in the deaf community) created an interpreting business. I'm proud to highlight her website. This website explains the services they offer for those who are deaf or hard of hearing. It also gives facts about deafness and related links for the deaf community.

This site is a wonderful resource. When I first started in education I worked with a hearing impaired student. It was very enlightening for me to work with him and see his progress with the limited tools we had available. Imagine if we had access to the internet and sites like this to find resources, how much more progress he could have made while in school.

This website reviews Web 2.0 products and websites and rates them on accessibility. According to the website, "This resource aims to help those making decisions about their use of freely available 'Web 2.0' interactive and collaborate e-learning tools." The website is organized by type of disability. It lists what tests were performed on the Web 2.0 product and also the results of the test.

Hi Marianne, This is a great resource for users (disabled or non) to use to see which websites are accessible. I liked how you could browse by disability and then see how the different products, or websites, scored based on Web2Access's tests. Thanks for highlighting this site!

I think this is a great site, glad you found it and shared it. It is an awesome resource to check the accessability of websites. I plan to use this site to research websites suitable for the learning disabled students in my classes to improve my instruction for them.

A short article which examines how people without hands are able to use computers.

Information on how to make your website more accessible.

Website with tons of web 2.0 resources. I bookmarked this one because it is full of links and resources for using web 2.0 tools for all students including those with disabilities.

article about web 2.0 accessibility for visually impaired

I chose this site because it lists a lot of different disabilities with access to statistics and further information on each disability by clicking on the name. Not only that, but it give a description of what actual challenges that specific disability might face when attempting to access Web 2.0. A few sites I have visited mention aging difficulties and I never thought much about this being or causing barriers. This article touches on that topic along with other issues such as internet speed, age of equipment and location of your home. I thought it was a very good article that touched on a lot of 

Paula, Thanks for the website. I found it very interesting to learn about the different disabilities listed and how much information it had on each. I was not aware of the some of the different challenges someone with a disability faces in light of web 2.0 tools. I think I was in the dark way to long. Thanks for opening my eyes. Mel

Hi Paula, This was an interesting website that brought up a lot of valid points for website developers. I liked how it stated the economic and workplace benefits, as well as the legal requirements for websites being accessible for all. The latest statistics mentioned were from 2008. I'm sure that the numbers have increased a lot more since then. The common problems for disabled users mentioned were good as well. I didn't even think about problems like older technologies or location. I think those are still around today. Web site developers have to keep a lot in mind when designing their websites. They want to reach everyone so every problem that comes up needs to have a solution. Good website!