Accessible Webpage Design: Resources

Web sites, just like buildings, can be designed to meet the needs of all people, including those with disabilities. Unfortunately, most current web pages contain major access barriers. This site was created to promote awareness about the need for accessible web design and to steer those who wish to learn more about the topic into the right direction. The audience for this resource guide include public school teachers and administrators; college and university instructors, administrators, and policy makers; distance educators; librarians; and disability professionals.

Call for Articles for special-theme issue in Library Hi Tech

Contents/Main Headings

Major organizations

Non-profit

Courses and workshops

Accessible web-design standards, guidelines and tips

Useful tools

Authoring/Repair Tools for Accessible Web Pages

Validation

Text-only browser (Lynx)

Talking Web Browsers

Screenreaders

Clutter-free web search tools

Others

Examples of well and poorly designed web sites

Examples of accessible sites (April 2000)

Examples of web pages/sites with major accessibility problems (April 2000)

Institutional accessible Web design policy statements

Legal information

Further information about accessible web design and related topics

• Recent general literature on the topic

• Judy Brewer, ed. ,"How People with Disabilities Use the Web." World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). 4. Jan. 2001. Accessed 10. Oct. 2001. <http://www.w3.org/WAI/EO/Drafts/PWD-Use-Web/Overview.html>.
• Michael G. Paciello, Web Accessibility for People with Disabilities. San Francisco: CMP Books, 2000
• Robert Hess, "Can Color-Blind Users See Your Site?" Web Worshop. MSDN Online. 2000. Accessed 8. Dec. 2000. <http://msdn.microsoft.com/workshop/design/color/hess10092000.asp>
• "Cyber Senator Unveils Senate's First Web Site for Disabled Internet Users." U.S. Newswire. 28. Aug. 2000. Accessed 11. Sept. 2000. <http://www.usnewswire.com/topnews/Current_Releases/0828-106.html>.
• Judy Heim, "Locking Out the Disabled." PC World.com. 1. September 2000. Accessed 11. Sept. <http://www.pcworld.com/shared/printable_articles/0,1440,17690,00.html>. 2000.
• Carrie Johnson, "Giving the Disabled Increased E-Access; Firms Helping Agencies Obey New Rules." The Washington Post. Aug. 24, 2000. E02.
• Lisa Vaas, "Web Blind spots. The Disabled Community Is Potentially a Big Market. So Why Is It Ignored?" PCWeek Online. 2000. 10. April 2000. Accessed 25. April 2000. 
• Michael G. Paciello, WebAble, Making Web Sites Accessible to People with Disabilities. Indianapolis: IDG Books, 1999.
  <http://www.zdnet.com/pcweek/stories/news/0,4153,2505714,00.html>.
• Paul Bohman, "Universal Design and Disability Access to the Web." WebAIM. 1999. Accessed 6. April 2000. <http://www.webaim.org/articles/webnet2000>.
• Strauss, Carol (comp.), Assistive Technology: A Selective Bibliography. National Library Service for the Blind and Physically handicapped, Library of Congress, March 2000 (LC 19.11:00-01). [Focus is on web page acessibility.]
• Jakob Nielsen, "Disabled Accessibility: The Pragmatic Approach." useit.com: usable information technology . 13. June 1999. Accessed 17. Sept.1999. <http://www.useit.com/alertbox/990613.html>.
• Michelle Hinn, "Access issues in Web design: easy steps to improve design." Tech Trends 43 (4) Sept. 1999: 19-22.
• "Selfish Reasons for Accessible Web Authoring." HTML Writers Guild, Inc. 22. May 1999. Accessed 28. January 2000. <http://aware.hwg.org/why/selfish.html>
• Concepts and Issues in Universal Design for Learning." Center for Applied Special Technology. 26. Jan. 1999. Accessed 19. March 1999. <http://www.cast.org/concepts/>.
• Jeanette Prasifka, "Disabled fear computer advances will ignore them." Chicago Tribune, Oct. 19, 1998. Sect. 4, p. 8.
• Michael Moeller, "Disabling Web barriers." 12. May 1998. PCWeek Online. Accessed 19. March 1999. <http://www.zdnet.com/pcweek/reviews/0511/11wai.html>.
• Debra Nussbaum, "Bringing the visual world of the Web to the blind." The New York Times. 30. March 1998. E8.
• Sheryl Burgstahler, "Universal access: making electronic resources accessible to people with disabilities is the right thing to do - and it's the law." Journal of Telecommunications in Higher Education. Spring 1998: 18-21.
• Sheryl Burgstahler, "Making Web Pages Universally Accessible." Computer-Mediated Communication Magazine (CMC Magazine). 5 (1) January 1998. <http://www.december.com/cmc/mag/1998/jan/burg.html>.
• Amy M. Kautzman, "Virtuous, Virtual Access: making web pages accessible to people with disabilities." Searcher. 6(6) June 1998: 42-49.
• Chuck Letourneau, "Accessible Web design - a definition." Starling Access Services. 1998. Accessed 28. January 2000. <http://www.starlingweb.com/webac.htm>.
• Terry Sullivan and Krystyn Manning, "Could Helen Keller Read Your Page?" All Things Web. 15 August 1997. Accessed 27 January 2000. <http://www.pantos.org/atw/35412.html>
• Electronic Curbcuts: How to Build an Accessible Web Site." 24 June 1997. Accessed 29. April 1999. <http://www.prodworks.com/ilf/ecc.htm



• Web access in the campus and library environment

• Julie Still, ed. Creating Web-Accessible Databases: Case Studies for Libraries, Museums, and Other Nonprofits. Medford. N.J.: Information Today, 2001.
• Assistive Technology in Higher Education Survey Report. Assistive and Information Technology. North Carolina State University. September 2001. Accessed 5. Oct. 2001. <http://www.ncsu.edu/it/dss/survey_report.html>.
• Axel Schmetzke, "Online Distance Education--'anytime, anywhere' but not for everyone," Information Technology and Disabilities. 7(2) 2001. <http://www.rit.edu/~easi/itd/itdv07n2/contents.htm>.
• Axel Schmetzke, "Web Accessibility at University Libraries and Library Schools." Library Hi Tech. 19(1) 2001. 
• Andrea Foster, "Colleges focus on making web sites work for people with disabilities." Chronicle of Higher Education. 26. January 2001. Accessed 31. January 2001. <http://chronicle.com/free/2001/01/2001012601t.htm>.
• Cyndi Rowland, Accessibility of the Internet in Postsecondary Education: Meeting the Challenge. Universal Web Accessibility Symposium 2000, WebNet World Conference on the WWW and Internet, San Antonio Texas, 31. Oct. 2000. Accessed 26. Sept. 2000. <http://www.webaim.org/articles/whitepaper>.
• Norman Coombs, "Enabling Technologies. Untangling Your Web." Library Hi Tech. 18(1) 2000: 93-96.
• Barbara T. Mates, Adaptive Technology for the Internet: Making Electronic Resources Accessible to All. Chicago: American Library Association, 2000. Free online version at http://www.ala.org/editions/openstacks/insidethecovers/mates/mates_toc.html.
• Kinnell, Margaret, Yu, Liangzhi, and Creaser, Claire. Public library services for visually impaired people: report to the Library and Information Commission. Loughborough University, Library and Information Statistics Unit (LISU), 2000. Chapter 14: Accessible library websites: design for all.
• Tom Vincent and Peter Whalley, "The Web: enabler or disabler?" Marc Eisenstadt and Tom Vincent, ed., The Knowledge Web. Leraning and Collaborating on the Web. London: Kogan Page, 2000: p. 31-45.
• Sally A. Guthrie, "Making the World Wide Web accessible to all students." Journal of Mass Communication Educator. 55 (1) Spring 2000: 14-23.
• Erica B. Lilly and Connie van Fleet, "Wired But Not Connected: Accessibility of Academic Library Home Pages." The Reference Librarian. No. 67/68. 1999: 5-28.
• Tom McNulty, ed., Accessible Libraries on Campus. A Practical Guide for the Creation of Disability-Friendly Libraries. Chicago: ACRL-ALA, 1999.
• D. Michelle Hinn, "Evaluating the accessibility of Web-Based Instruction for Students with Disabilities." Proceedings of Selected Research and Development. Papers presented at the National Convention of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology [AECT]. (Houston, Texas, Febrary 10-14, 1999), ed. Kristin E. Sparks and Michael Simonson. ERIC: ED436128.
• P. Brophy and J. Craven, The Integrated Accessible
  Library: A model of service development for the 21st
  century. British Library Research & Innovation Report 168
  CERLIM, 1999. ISBN: 0 9535343 1 6.
• H. Brazier and S. Jennings, "Accessible website design." Library Technology. 4 (1), 1999.
• Veronica Rouse, "Making the WEB Accessible." Computers in Libraries. 19(6) 1999: 48-50.
• Claudia P. Flowers, Marty Bray and Robert F. Algozzine, "Accessibility of Special Education Program Home Pages." Journal of Special Education Technology. 14 (2) 1999: 21-26.
• Kristen L. Garlock and Sherry Piontek, Designing Web Interfaces to Library Services and Resources. Chicago: American Library Association, 1999.
• Carol A. Casey, "Accessibility in the virtual library: creating equal opportunity Web sites." Information Technology and Libraries. 18(1) March 1999: 22-25.
• Mary Minow, "Does your library's Web page violate the Americans with Disabilities Act?"  Mary Minow's map to library law homepage. [originally printed in California Libraries, 1999.] April 1999. Accessed 29. April 1999. <http://www.librarylaw.com/ADAWebpage.html>.
• Jeffrey R. Young, "For students with disabilities, the web can be like a classroom without a ramp." Chronicle of Higher Education. 44 (27) 3. March 1998: A31.
• Tom Vincent and Peter Whalley, "The Web: enabler or disabler." Marc Eisenstadt and Tom Vincent, eds., The Knowledge Web. Learning and Collaborating on the Web. London: K. Page; Sterling, VA: Stylus Pub., 1998/2000: 31-45.
• Beth Fraser, Dan Comden and Sheryl Burgstahler, "Including users with disabilities: designing library web sites for accessibility." Choice. 35 (Supplement). 1998: 35-37.
• Beth Fraser, Dan Comden and Sheryl Burgstahler, "Universal access: designing and evaluating web sites for accessibility." Choice. 34 (Supplement). 1997: 19-22.
• Judith Dixon, "Levelling the road ahead: guidelines for the creation of WWW pages accessible to blind and visually handicapped users." Library Hi Tech. 14(1) 1996: 65-68.
• Camela Cunningham and Norman Coombs, Information access and adaptive technology. Phoenix, AZ: American Council on Education, Oryx Press, 1997. [Particularly relevant is Chapter 11: The information highway and the information hungry.]
• Sheryl Burgstahler, Dan Comden, and Beth Fraser, Universal Access: Electronic Resources in Libraries. Seattle, WA: DO-IT (Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, and Technology) at the University of Washington, 1996. [Distributor is ALA, 1-800-545-2433. The format is a binder with presentation material on the subject; also includes a videotape with two presentations, which were released separately under the following titles: World Wide Access, 1996, and Working Together: People with Disabilities and Computer Technology, 1994.]



• Courseware Accessibility and Distance Education

• Courseware
  • Laurie Harrison, "Inclusion in an Electronic Classroom - 2000: The Role of the Courseware Authoring Tool Developer." SNOW (Special Needs Opportunity Windows). University of Toronto. Accessed 29. April 2001. <http://snow.utoronto.ca/initiatives/access_study/ATrec.html>.
  • "Inclusion in an Electronic Classroom - 2000." SNOW (Special Needs Opportunity Windows). University of Toronto. Accessed 22. Feb. 2001. <http://snow.utoronto.ca/initiatives/oltproposal.html>.
  • Judith Norton, "Universal accessibility." Professional Development Newsletter.  California Virtual Campus. October 2000. Accessed 7 Jan. 2001. [see comments on Blackboard, WebCT and eCollege towards the end of the article]. <http://pdc.cvc.edu/newsletter/content.asp?page=68>.
  • Bruce Landon, Randy Bruce and Amanda Harby, Online educational delivery applications: a web tool for comparative analysis. Center for Curriculum Transfer & Technology. 1998. Last revised 6. April 2001. Accessed 28. April 2001. [accessibility is one evaluation criterion].
  • Murray Rowan, "WebCT Accessibility." Adriadne. Issue 23. 22. March 2000. <http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue23/disinhe/>.
  • Greg Gay, Laurie Harrison, Jan Richardson and Jutta Treviranus, "Courseware Accessibility Study - 1999." Centre for Academic and Adaptive Technology (ATRC), University of Toronto; accessed 29. April 2001. <http://snow.utoronto.ca/initiatives/crseval/crseval.html>. Click here for a summary of the findings. 
  • Tom Vincent, Ann Wilkinson and Debbie Sapsed, ed., "Guidelines for accessible courseware." Disability and Information Systems in Higher Education (DISinHE). 2. Jan. 1999; accessed 4. Dec. 2000. <http://www.disinhe.ac.uk/library/article.asp?id=24>.
  • D. Michelle Hinn, "Evaluating the Accessibility of Web-Based Instruction for Students with Disabilities." Proceedings of Selected Research and Development. Papers presented at the National Convention of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology [AECT]. (Houston, Texas, February 10-14, 1999), ed. Kristin E. Sparks and Michael Simonson. ERIC: ED436128.
• Distance education for students with disabilities
  • Art Blaser, "Distance Learning--Boon or Bane?" Ragged Edge Online, Issue 5, September 2001. <http://www.raggededgemagazine.com/0901/0901ft1.htm>.
  • Axel Schmetzke, "Online Distance Education--'anytime, anywhere' but not for everyone," Information Technology and Disabilities. 7(2) 2001. <http://www.rit.edu/~easi/itd/itdv07n2/contents.htm>.
  • Axel Schmetzke, "Distance Education, Web-Resources and Compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act." In Hugh A. Thompson, ed. Crossing the Divide. Proceedings of the Tenth National Conference of the Association of College and Research Libraries, March 15-18, Denver, Colorado. Chicago: Association of College and Research Libraries, 2001: 137-142. Also available at <http://www.ala.org/acrl/papers01/schmetzke.pdf>.
  • Laurie Harrison, "Accessible web-based distance education: principles and best practices." Centre for Academic and Adaptive Technology (ATRC), University of Toronto. 5. Nov. 1999; accessed 4. Dec. 2000. <http://www.utoronto.ca/atrc/rd/library/papers/accDistanceEducation.html>.
  • B. Walden, C. Rowland and P. Bohman, Year One Report. Learning Anytime Anywhere for Anyone. Unpublished report to the U.S. Department of Education, FIPSE/LAAP. 2000. [For a brief summary of the authors' accessibility findings see Cyndi Rowland, Accessibility of the Internet in Postsecondary Education: Meeting the Challenge. Universal Web Accessibility Symposium 2000. Web Net World Conference on the WWW and Internet, San Antonio Texas, 31. Oct. 2000; accessed 26. Sept. 2000. <http://www.webaim.org/articles/whitepaper>
  • Califonia Community Colleges, Distance Education: Access Guidelines for Students with Disabilities. August 1999.
  • Dan Carnevale, "Colleges strive to give disabled students access to on-line courses." Chronicle of Higher Education. 46 (10), 29. Oct. 1999. A69-A70. Also available at <http://chronicle.com/free/v46/i10/10a06901.htm>.
  • David Kessler and Barbara Keefe, "Going the distance." American School and University. 71(11) July 1999: 44-46. 
  • Ron Stewart, "Distance education and individuals with disabilities." Paper presented at the 1999 CSUN conference. 21 Dec. 1998. Accessed 8. Jan. 2001. <http://www.dinf.org/csun_99/session0179.html>. Reprinted in Information Technology and Disabilities. 1999. 6 (1-2). Available at http://www.rit.edu/~easi/itd/itdv06n1/article3.html.
  • Lawrence G. Miller et al., "Overcoming barriers for "niche" learners through distance education." Catalyst. 1999. 28 (1): 14-16.
  • Rainer Ommerborn, Distance study for the disabled. National and international experience and perspectives. Hagen, Germany: Fern Universität; Institute for Research into Distance Education, 1998. ERIC document: ED422516. [in-depth discussion, with focus on Europe; somewhat dated: e.g. ref. to Sect. 504 but not ADA; barely touches on online media].
  • Leonard Valore and Grover E., The effectiveness and acceptance of home study. Washington, D.C.: National Home Study Council, 1987. Available as ERIC document ED 283050.

• Related topics

• Computer use and adaptive technology

• Joseph J. Lazzaro, Adaptive Technologies for Learning and Work Environments. Chicago: American Library Association, 2001. Available in print and CD-ROM (html).
• H. Stephen Kaye, PhD, Computer and Internet Use Among People with Disabilities. Disabilities Statistics Report #13. Washington, DC:  US. Department of Education, National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, March 2000. Accessed 7-14-2000. <http://dsc.ucsf.edu/UCSF/>.
• Barbara T. Mates, Adaptive Technology for the Internet: Making Electronic Resources Accessible to All. Chicago: American Library Association, 2000. Free online version at http://www.ala.org/editions/openstacks/insidethecovers/mates/mates_toc.html.
• Cathrine S. Fichten et al., "A comparison of postsecondary students with disabilities and service providers. Views about computer and information technologies." Paper presented at the 14th California State University-Northridge Annual Conference (CSUN), Los Angeles, CA, March 15-20, 1999. ERIC document ED432126 (1998).
• John Uhran J., Peter Beery and Melissa Wilkerson, "The Internet and its importance for those with disabilities." 1 June 1998. In ED-MEDIA/ED-TELECOM 98 World Conference on Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia & World Conference on Educational Telecommunications, Proceedings (10th, Freiburg, Germany, June 20-25, 1998). ERIC document ED428730.
 

• Library services to people with disabilities

• Guidelines for Technical Issues in Request for Proposal (RFP) requirements and Contract Negotiations. International Coalition of Library Consortia (ICOLC). Jan. 1999. Yale University Library. <http://www.library.yale.edu/consortia/techreq.html>. Accessed 11. Nov. 2001. [see especially section I.d.].
• William Graczyk, "Library Service to the Blind and Physically Handicapped." Accessed 1-5-2001. <http://www.execpc.com/~wgraczyk/libserv.html>.
• Linda Lou Wiler, "The Americans with Disabilities Act Compliance and Academic Libraries in the Southeastern United States." Journal of Southern Academic and Special Librarianship, 2(1), 2000.  <http://southernlibrarianship.icaap.org/content/v02n01/wiler_l01.html>.
• Margaret McCasland and Michael Golden, "Improving ADA Access: Critical Planning." The Reference Librarian, No. 67-68, 1999, pgs. 257-271. Also published in Wendi Arant and Pixey Anne Mosley, eds, Library Outreach, Partnerships, and Distance Education: Reference Librarians at the Gateway. New York: Hawthorne Press, 2000.
• Francesca Allegri, “On the Other Side of the Reference Desk: the Patron with a Physical Disability.” Medical Reference Services Quarterly, 3(3), Fall 1984, pgs. 65-76.
• Nancy F. Gadbow and David A. DuBois, Adult learners with Special Needs. Malabar, FL: Krieger Publishing Co., 1998.
• Kate Lenn, "Library Services to Disabled Students: Outreach and Education." The Reference Librarian, No. 53, 1996, pgs. 13-25.
• Jill Mendle, "Library Services for Persons with Disability." The Reference Librarian, No. 49-50, 1995, pgs. 105-121.
• Tom McNulty, ed., Accessible Libraries on Campus. A Practical Guide for the Creation of Disability-Friendly Libraries. Chicago: ACRL-ALA, 1999.
• Accessibility Standards and Guidelines for Microcomputers at Washington Libraries. Washington State Library. Library Information Technology Work Group Information Web Site. 6. April 1999. Accessed 6. Oct. 2000. <http://www.statelib.wa.gov/litwg/access.htm>.

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Created by Axel Schmetzke, Library, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.
Last updated 11/11/01 .
Comments are welcome! aschmetz@uwsp.edu