Accessibility for websites

Recommended places to start:


legal help, tool, forms
Visit: Access to Justice (A2J) Author
Description: Tool to help people fill out legal forms for legal proceedings. Many people have difficultly filling out legal forms, the a2J author guides users through a logical interview and then fills out the form for them.
development help, assistive technologies
Visit: Accessibility Tips
Description: The Accessibility category contains information to help designers, developers and website owners understand, learn, and create sites that are as accessible as possible to those with disabilities, text browsers, assistive technologies, and more.
online tool, integrate accessibility into plans, e-filing, website, applicaitons
Visit: Atlas Best Practices Template
Description: A customizable online tool that supports the integration of accessibility into plans and designs for e filing, website, and public access terminal applications. This template was developed through a grant from the State Justice Institute and was customized for the ATJ community.
basic accessibility, tutorial, personas
Visit: Dive Into Accessbility
Description: Part of the popular “Dive Into” series of websites, Dive Into Accessibility provides a step-by-step tutorial for creating an accessible website. Provides a set of personas, each of which has a specific disability that is addressed in the tutorial.
accessibility expert, skip navigation, blind users
Read: Jim Thatcher's "Skip Navigation"
Description: Jim Thatcher, an well-respected accessibility expert, talks about skip navigation links including what they are used for and various ways to implement them.
federal accessbility guidelines, help people with disabilities
Visit: Section 508
Description: Section 508 is a federal mandate requiring that information technology be made accessible to people with disabilities. Much of Section 508 compliance concerns making Web sites, intranets, and web-enabled applications accessible.
accessibility checklist, section 508, WCAG 1.0
Read: Section 508 AND WCAG 1.0 Hybrid Checklist
Description: A useful checklist that combines Section 508 (government guidelines) and WCAG 1.0 (web standards)
screen readers, blind users, FAQ
Read: Testing with Screen Readers FAQ
Description: Frequently asked questions (FAQ) about testing with screen readers.
example
Visit: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Description: This is an example of an accessible website. It also contains a quick summary of Section 508 and links to some Section 508 resources. The HHS website is a good starting point for someone looking for information about accessibility law, specifically Section 504 and Section 508.
color blindness
Visit: VisCheck
Description: Given a URL, Vischeck will attempt to simulate how that webpage would look to someone who is colorblind. It also has the capability to do this with images. This makes it a useful tool for testing your website’s accessibility to the colorblind.
accessibility, testing/diagnostic tool, privacy
Visit: Watchfire WebXACT
Description: WebXACT is a free online service that lets you test single pages of web content for quality, accessibility, and privacy issues. WebXACT is a service that has replaced the Bobby tool which officially closed in 2005.
web standards, accessibility guideline, checklist, help disabled users
Visit: WCAG 1.0 Guidlines
Description: Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are part of a series of Web accessibility guidelines published by the W3C's Web Accessibility Initiative. They consist of a set of guidelines on making content accessible, primarily for disabled users, but also for all user agents.
W3C, WCAG, standards
Visit: Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)
Description: The WAI, sponsored by the W3C, creates standards for internet accessibility. The WAI website includes a basic introduction and quick tips for accessibility as well as detailed documentation for their various standards.
accessibility news, tutorials
Visit: WebAim
Description: WebAim has a forum, an email newsletter, a blog that covers recent news and developments in the area of accessibility, and a number of articles. WebAIM also has guidelines for compliance with various laws and standards such as the WCAG and Sections 504 and 508.