ADA Accessibilty & the WEBOPAC

Presenter: Fort Collins Regional Library District

Who is this presentation for?
-First, for III.
-Web developers and others responsible for site
-Anyone willing to advocate for accessibility

What is Web Accessibility?
-People with disabilities can perceive, understand, navigate, and interact with Web.

There has been an increase in disabilities in recent years.

Where to start?
-Get educated
-Work with people with disabilities and find out how they use the web
-Identify issues with your catalog/site
-Prioritize & Repair issues
-Get feedback from disabled persons

Accessibility Standards
-WACG for WC3
-Ranks priorities, priority 1 is most important and needs to be fixed ASAP
-Section 508 and Rehab Act of 1973, if you receive federal funding, your website MUST be accessible

Types of disabilities
-Visual
-Hearing/Speech
-Cognitive
-Motor

Blindness
-Screen reader software ($500-$1000)
-Two keyboards: 1regular, 1 braille keyboard ($5000-$10,000)

Low Vision
-Design with stylesheets that can be modified by users
-Avoid absolute font sizes
-Good contrast between text and background
-Be consistent with layout & navigation

Color Blindness
-Adequate contrast
-Provide redundant information

Deafness/Hard of Hearing
-Captions or transcripts of audio on the web, including webcasts
-Add content-related images for people who first language may be a sign language
-Use clear & simple language

Physical/Motor Disabilities
Temporary or Permanent
-Avoid or lengthen time-limited response options on web pages
-Support keyboard alternatives for mouse commands
-Create a logical tab order for forms

Cognitive/Neurological Disabilities
-Memory impairment
-Intellectual impairment
-Seizure
-Dyslexia
-ADD
-etc.

Design ideas for Cognitive/Neurological Disabilities
-Provide clear and consistent navigation
-Clear/Simple language
-Alternative modalities for information display
-Avoid absolute font sizes

Age Related Disorders
-hearing
-memory
-motor function

How to identify Accessibility Issues
-SKIP navigation link
-LINX can't read javascript

Online Accessibility Validators
-A-Checker
-Cynthia Says
-Total Validator
-WAVE
-List of tools/validators: http://www.w3.org/

How III can Help:
-Code WebOPAC and all web products to at least 508 Standards
-Incorporate accessibility into design process

Benefits for Libraries
-Improve usability
-Mobile phones, PDAs, etc...
-Older people
-People with low literacy and people not fluent in language
-People with low bandwidth connections