Accessibility is all about making web pages available to people with disabilities.
Probably, the most prevalent populations requiring broad technical adaptations to accommodate web access include those who are blind and deaf.
- In the US, accessibility for persons with visual, hearing and other impairments is covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and section 508 of the "Assistive Technology Act of 1998".
- European Union (EU) and Canadian federal governments also require accessibility. They follow the W3C accessibility guidelines.
The W3C guidelines provide more detail and have stiffer requirements then the ADA and Section 508.
- Any federal organization, any organization that hires employees who are blind or deaf, or any organization that provides training to the general market place needs to be concerned with accessibility.
- It is important to remember that many members of the aging workforce and senior citizens may have vision and hearing impairments. If your organization serves senior citizens and you want your courses to be accessible to them, you should make sure that your courses and learning infrastructure meet accessibility guidelines.
- Creating assessable web content
- Web pages should be designed for blind readers.
- Web pages should not have fixed fonts - visitors should be able to define the size of the font in their browser. Older people and people with visual problems will not be able to read or access fonts that are fixed font or non-html (graphics).
