Disability Rights: World Wide Web accessibility

World Wide Web and information accessibility

Last updated 7 April 2011

New:

• Canadian Web Experience Toolkit
• AGIMO accessibiilty blog
• Australian Government review of PDF accessibility issues
• Australian Government Web Accessibility Transition Strategy
• Canadian Federal Court decision on web access
• Australian Government endorses WCAG 2.0
• Australian Web Access review forum

Please feel free to make suggestions for material to put on this page. You will also find links to useful resources on Australia's Internet Industry Association web accessibility page .

See also our ecommerce access resource page for links on accessibility of other electonic publishing, multimedia, telecommunications and ATMs and other transaction machines.

• Standards and guidelines
• Tools and techniques
• Workshops and training
• Legal issues
• Issues and advice

See also accessibility links from accessibility.com.au

New: Bruce Maguire demonstrates use of Braille display on Youtube

Standards and guidelines

Technical

• Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 released 12 December 2008
• World Wide Web Consortium's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.1
• Microsoft accessibility page
• IBM accessibiliy centre
• Adobe Inc accessibility page.
• Macromedia Flash accessibility: guidelines, techniques and toolkit for improving accessibility of Flash presentations . See now accessibility announcement on accessiblity features for media player and developer software
• Making educational software and websites accessible : guidelines including maths/science solutions from WGBH Boston (US access experts)
• Accessible Forms using WCAG 2.0
• Guidelines for accessible online forms (Mandoforms.com / RNIB UK)

Legal/policy

• World Wide Web access: Disability Discrimination Act Advisory Note from the Commission
• Government 2.0 submission
• Australian Government Information Management Office accessibility page
• Webwatch: accessibility issues on Australian Government sites
• New Zealand Government web standards wiki
• UK Disability Rights Commission/British Standards Institute guidance
• National Information and Library Service index of Australian web access policies and guidelines
• NOIE minimum website standards
• Australian National Audit Office Better Practice Guide accessibility chapter : prepared in conjunction with the Commission. The full Guide is available on the ANAO site
• NSW Government guidelines on provision of information and services using the internet
• Best practice guidelines for Australian legal web sites: Legal Information Standards Council
• U.K. guidelines for government websites including links to handbook and training resources
• Internet industry Accessible Web Action Plan : see Internet Industry Association press release and Commission press release
• "Wise web weaving: guidelines for web site development": Department of Education, Tasmania

Tools and techniques

• WCAG 2.0 techniques
• Links from Media Access Australia

Building accessible sites

• U.K. Royal National Institute for the Blind web access centre
• Austin Accessibility Internet Rally training materials
• Disabled Accessibility , J.Nielsen
• Web accessibility: Joe Clark: online version; book also available
• "OptionKeys: Developing Accessible WebSites": resources and advice from TAFE NSW
• "Building an accessible web site", A.Kahn
• "Accessible web design: a definition", C. Letourneau
• UK accessible design page from C. Mardiros
• A web designer's guide to JAWS (screen reader program)
• Making forms more accessible: S.Faulkner, NILS Australia

Checking accessibility

• World Wide Web Consortium resource on Evaluating Web Sites for Accessibility
• Cynthia Says online or downloadable accessibility checking program
• Accessibility testing tools: UK Royal National Institute for the Blind
• A-prompt web page accessibility tool
• Ask Alice accessibility checking service (free evaluation service by commercial web design provider)
• Hermish: UK accessibility tools

Layout and readibility

Guidelines from Vision Australia

Workshops and training

Email us at disabdis@humanrights.gov.au to add details of other training events you are aware of.

• Workshops from Vision Australia on web accessibility and writing for the web

Legal issues

• Decision in Maguire v SOCOG : $20000 damages ordered under Australia's Disability Discrimination Act for site inaccessibility
• United States House of Representatives Judiciary Committee oversight hearing on "The Applicability of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to Private Internet Sites" -- February 9, 2000 ; and additional testimony by Dr Gregg Vanderheiden
• "Web accessibility and the DDA (U.K.)", M.Sloan, Journal of Information Law and Technology
• See also the Commission's working paper reviewing accessibility of Australian Government sites in late 1999.
• Press release: DDA still covers internet despite US decision (23 October)
• Information technology and disability journal special issue

Other resources

• UK Disability Rights Commission accessibility survey and comments by Web Accessibility Initiative
• U.K. Disability Rights Commission demonstration of inaccessible web sites
• European Design for All E-Accessibility Network
• NOIE accessibility page
• "The Web Accessibility Initiative", M.Margolin
• Campaign for a non browser-specific World Wide Web
• Barrier free access to seniors computing clubs
• Euroaccessibility consortium
• "Top ten mistakes in web design", "Top Ten Mistakes Revisited", "Top-10 New Mistakes of Web Design", J.Nielsen
• "To hell with WCAG 2": Joe Clark
• "Pokemons in the Amazon Jungle: Web Accessibility, Disability Discrimination, and the WOW Factor"
  Presentation to Web Essentials 2004 Conference, September 30, 2004, Bruce Maguire, Policy Officer, Australian Human Rights Commission