What is Web Accessibility?

People use the web in different ways. While most people use a mouse, keyboard, monitor, and a common web browser like Internet Explorer, others rely on assistive or other technologies to deliver the content of a web page.

Some users may not be able to see, hear, move, or process some types of information easily, or they may:

• Have difficulty in reading or comprehending text.
• Be unable to use a keyboard or mouse.
• Have a text-only screen, a small screen, or a slow Internet connection.
• Be unable to speak or understand fluently the language in which the document (the Web page) is written.
• Be in a situation where their eyes, ears, or hands are busy or interfered with (e.g., working in a loud environment, etc.).
• Have an early version of a browser, a different browser entirely, a voice browser, or a different operating system.

Taken from W3C Guidelines

Examples of Technologies used to view the web.

'Adaptive or assistive technologies' refers to software or hardware that allows disabled users to gain access to information on a computer. Types of Assistive Technology include the following ( links for more information only) :

JAWS: a screen reader used by blind people to access Web pages.
http://www.freedomscientific.com/fs_products/software_jaws.asp

ZoomText: a screen reader and magnification application used by those with partial sight.
www.aisquared.com

Dragon Naturally Speaking: voice activated software used by those that do not use a conventional input device such as a keyboard or mouse.
http://www.scansoft.com/naturallyspeaking/

Switch access: used by those with severe mobility impairments to input commands to a computer.
http://www.keytools.com

Keyboard only: some users with mobility impairments have difficulty making precise movements required by pointing devices such as a mouse; therefore a keyboard is used as the exclusive input device.

Accessibility checks are also made with a number of popular web browsers and at varying screen size settings. Manual checks are made to assess the suitability of a web page for those with colour blindness and dyslexia.
http://www.texthelp.com

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