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This is a great article defining web 2.0 and discussing one of the accessibility issues with web 2.0.

The writer of this article reviews some major blog hosts and discusses how accessible they are to people with vision impairments. Overall, he discusses how it is easier to read blogs than it is to create blogs for people with vision impairments. The reviews on different blogging sites are interesting. There is no date on this article, so it's possible that some of the blog sites have fixed these accessibility issues since the article was posted. However, I know that Blogger still has a visual CAPTCHA on its site that makes it difficult for people with visual disabilities to create an account.

This article by Accessities.org discusses how social networking sites are not user friendly for people with disabilties. Here is the list of issues. No accessibility page. A lack of skip links and poor support for keyboard navigators generally. Navigational graphics that lacked alternative text attributes. Poor link text. Poor typography. No alternatives for site facilities that relied upon JavaScript.

Social networking sites are way to cluttery! That is what ruined Myspace. Not only should people with disabilities fine simplicity more user friendly but also those without.

Im ashamed to say that I rarely think about a website or college class im taking as being accessible. Ive never had a physically handicapped student in my class except for one year when I had a child with hearing problems. (not totally non hearing) This year was the first year we had a child in our school without out fully functioning arms and no hands. It has made me so aware of the barriers she has to face everyday compared to the majority of kids in a school.

I agree with you on the fact that it is hard to think about that when you aren't dealing with it at that point in your life. I think this article really makes you think about the struggles people with disabilities have to deal with on a regular basis. This was a good article that really makes you understand from their point of view.

Finding the balance between making a website accessible and integrating the latest web 2.0 technologies isn't one that is mutually exclusive. The deployment of accessibility standards and technologies can bring new benefits and opportunities for business advantage. In general terms accessibility can benefit a broader audience and improve website performance for users. This article focuses on how website editors should factor in accessibility for users of all disabilities. The content should be the ground work for all websites and all the other fluff can be added later on.