Group items tagged

This website is a tool box that has multiple resources about web accessibility. It has articles about accessibility awareness and tutorials for people to get more information about web accessibility. One of the links gives reasons on why website designers and other people need to make their sites more accessible.

Web accessibility means that people with disabilities can use the Web. More specifically, Web accessibility means that people with disabilities can perceive, understand, navigate, and interact with the Web, and that they can contribute to the Web. Web accessibility also benefits others, including older people with changing abilities due to aging. (This is what came up when I bookmarked the site. I feel this site is invaluable in that it defines Web accessibility and why it is important, explains how to make your Web site accessible, how to evaluate the accessibility of a site, as well as provides many more useful resources.)

There are lots of reasons why kids are reluctant to read and write- learning disabilities, competition from other activities, lack of interest, school not valued. Students have told me they don't read and write outside of school. Of course they do. They just don't realize it. This blog has a great slideshow near the bottom that outlines how web 2.0 targets reluctant readers.

This study looks at the accessibility of websites belonging to 80 colleges of communications and schools of journalism in the US and Canada using a computer-generated test called the Bobby test. The article provides background on disabilities, the Web, as well as suggestions to improve accessibility to Web pages.

As an add-on to this, I got on CAST's website (http://www.cast.org/) and here is a bit more information about the Bobby test: Bobby In 1995, CAST launched Bobby as a free public service to make the burgeoning World Wide Web more accessible to individuals with disabilities. Over the next decade, Bobby helped novice and professional Web designers analyze and make improvements to millions of Web pages. This work won CAST numerous awards and international recognition. CAST no longer supports the Bobby accessiblity testing software. Bobby was sold to Watchfire in 2004 which, in turn, was acquired by IBM in 2007. Although Bobby is no longer available as a free service or standalone product, it is one of the tests included within the IBM Rational Policy Tester Accessibility Edition software, the comprehensive enterprise application for testing websites. References: http://www-306.ibm.com/software/rational/welcome/watchfire/press.html http://www.watchfire.com/products/webxm/bobby.aspx http://www-306.ibm.com/software/awdtools/tester/policy/accessibility/ Other options are listed on the W3C Website at: http://www.w3.org/WAI/eval/Overview.html

The article describes possible barriers in e-learning and educational technology for people with disabilities. It starts with an overview of the different ways disabled people work with computers and assistive technology. Then several examples of creating accessible content and communication are provided. (This article is helpful because it gives you great examples on making your content accessible for those with multiple disabilities. It also shares how to implement the technology into classroom.)

In the interest of different media... This is a presentation done by google folk about ChromeVox which reads website content to you on Chrome. It seems similar to the software that the guy in the second video used except now more will have access to the feature. While this will benefit the visually impaired, ell students, audial processors, and those with reading challenges will also benefit. Very cool!

This is particularly close to me since I work with many ELL kids at my school. They are very overwhelmed with all the information in a language they don't know. It's hard for them to do tasks online in English that we do without thinking (such as scan a google search) since their grasp on the language is sometimes only so-so. This is a very fluid accessibility issue since their language skills will develop.

This page in particular provides scenarios and accessibility solutions for users of web 2.0 who are disabled. It includes information about color blindness, deafness, classroom student with dyslexia, cognitive disabilities, etc.

Hi Brooke, The section about the classroom student with dyslexia really caught my attention. I saw that text to speech software is used with an option for freezing animated objects. Text to speech software is not only great for individuals with dyslexia or ADD, but it can also be modified for blind or nearly blind students and younger age kids, like kinders or pre-k!

The Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) contains a wealth of info about web 2.0 accessibility for those with disabilities. My favorite feature is that it provides scenarios of both children and adults who have disabilities, the barrier that they face, and how to overcome that barrier.

Wikis, Blogs, this, that!!!! Web 2.0 causes so many barriers to different groups of people depending on the tool used. This article is great because it discusses the issue of access barriers and which groups are affected by certain 2.0 tools.

This article discusses elderly users and web accessibility. They compare elderly users to people with disabilities.

This provides a variety of links to methods that help with accessibility and usability from the ADA National Network. It shares keyboard shortcuts for accessibility as well. 

I found this series of videos to be not only well done but I loved that some were from the perspective of the individual with accessibility needs. I am eager to explore the videos more and share them with my work colleagues.

I learned about this site from my dear friend who is an Assistive Technologist and is doing her doctoral studies in UDL. I found this site to be clear and not overwhelming. Because of my background in special education I am eager to dig deeper into the law section. I am taking another grad class right now and we are deep in the UDL trenches. Maine AIM Program is administered by the Maine CITE Coordinating Center on behalf of the Maine Department of Education. Maine CITE Coordinating Center, University College, 46 University Drive, Augusta Maine 04330 USA Email: info@maine-aim.org | Phone: 207-621-3195

Twurdy uses text analysis software to rate a website's reading level using a color coded system. This would help a student find age appropriate information when researching. Some of the topics that we research are volcanoes, planets, and the weather. I currently limit students to using certain websites that I link to my school website. With this search engine I could allow students to have more independence and find reliable information that is age-appropriate.

This free download enables you to choose text from a word document, the Internet, or a pdf file and listen to the words being read. The upgraded version gives different voice options. I could have students use this when reading about a science topic on the computer because the vocabulary is difficult. This is helpful for students with tracking problems and dyslexia.

Fizz Brain Apps were designed by teachers for students with autism and Asperger's Syndrome. They focus on social skills and creative play. The Feel and Write App is practice in writing letters with fun materials such as shaving cream and chocolate. The Look In My Eyes Apps are an engaging way to allow students to practice making eye contact.

I chose this article primarily because it talks about how important it is that inclusion is so necessary especially on the world wide web. This is indeed the place that EVERYONE has access to what is available. It was a bit discouraging to find this statement: "Despite the fact that the United States has the world's most comprehensive policy for Internet accessibility and that clear guidance for creating accessible technologies already exists, designers and developers of Web software and hardware technologies in industry, academia, and government often exploit holes in existing policy to ignore the needs of people with disabilities. As a result, most Internet-related technologies are born inaccessible, cutting out some or all users with disabilities."  Do creators do this because it's easier? Possibly, but shortcuts leave too many people without access. 

This blog post features explanations about Web 1.0 vs Web 2.0 and the static vs. dynamic abilities of both. An explanation is included as to what changes to the web are occurring with Web 2.0 applications and how that impacts disabled users. Towards the end, the author shares where the future for web 2.0 accessibility is going. He shares his predictions about what the new WCAG 2 guidelines will bring to web users and web creators. I chose this article because it simplified some of the tech terminology as well as gave insight about what the options are for the future of the web and differently-abled users.

In this article there are several common Web 2.0 applications discussed. There are also examples of common accessibility problems with web 2.0 pages. This best part of this web page is the list of ways that web designers and companies that have disabled employees can check for accessibility and make their pages accessible if they are not.