Many Internet users cannot click a mouse button or see the computer screen. They are part of the large and growing population of people with disabilities who use assistive technology to take advantage of online communication and information. This section will help you understand and prepare for the wide range of needs that may require accommodation and the kinds of accommodation that may be required.
What is a Disability?
A person with a disability typically has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, such as walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning, working, caring for oneself, and performing manual tasks.
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Examples of disabilities include blindness, low vision, hearing impairments, learning disabilities, loss of limbs, muscular dystrophy, psychiatric disorders, speech impairments, spinal cord injuries, AIDS, cancer, cerebral palsy, diabetes, epilepsy, and head injuries.
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What Qualifies a Student for Web-based Coursework?
Students must be qualified—that is, they must meet the academic and technical standards requisite for admission to courses.
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For example, if a person with a mobility disability has the high school diploma, grade point average, and college board testing scores required for admission to the program, they are qualified. However, a person with a developmental disability who does not have a high school diploma and has not taken college boards may not be qualified for admission.
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Although millions of students have disabilities, not all disabilities affect participation in Web-based courses. Even if students with disabilities are qualified, their disability may not require that an accommodation be made. In general, however, if students meet the standards requisite for admission, they are qualified to take courses, and universities have a responsibility to provide them with full access to all programs, services, and resources. (You can learn more about the legal requirements for online courses in the Legal Issues section of this Web site.)
As Web-based education becomes more popular, you may expect to see increasing numbers of qualified students with disabilities in your online courses. This section will help you prepare for this trend, and give you some ideas about how to adjust your teaching style to keep accessibility in mind.
What Accommodations Should be Considered?
The following pages describe different types of disabilities, 
assistive technologies and access challenges that should be considered when developing Web-based courses. The pages also include accessibility scenarios that are intended to give a realistic sense of situations that could occur at any time in an online course.
- Mobility impairments may include carpal tunnel syndrome, repetitive stress syndrome, and quadriplegia.
- Sensory impairments may include hearing impairments, blindness, and low vision.
- Specific learning Disabilities may include dyslexia, Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), and writing disorders.
- Speech impairments may include conditions that make it difficult for an individual to understand and/or use spoken language.
- Health impairments may include cancer, multiple sclerosis, and arthritis.
- Age-related impairments include any limitation related to the aging process (such as arthritis, cataracts, hearing loss, etc.).
