Web pages Images Conferencing Chat Audio/Video PowerPoint PDF Advanced Multimedia

You may think creating a fully accessible Web site is a daunting, time-consuming task. While it requires a little more work, the rewards are great. Fully accessible sites can be interpreted by anyone, regardless of hardware, software, connection speed, and/or disability. They will be easier for all students to use, improving comprehension and possibly even saving you time in the long run.

Meaningful Alternatives

Accessible design requires a shift in the way you think about Web development. You will need to consider how all people access your content, rather than simply building a Web page that looks nice and works well on your computer. One of the most important considerations is meaningful alternatives for content that may be inaccessible to some students. Meaningful alternatives provide all the content in a format that is accessible to people with disabilities. For example:

• A brief text description of a photograph for students who are blind.
• Captions added to a video for students who are hearing-impaired.
• An HTML version of a Flash animation for students who are blind or who cannot navigate in Flash.

Accessible Design Techniques

This section describes specific techniques you can use to create more accessible Web-based media and addresses the most common accessibility challenges. The techniques are organized by media type.

Icons are used throughout this section to illustrate the types of disabilities affected by each technique. Blindness Low vision Color-blindness Hearing Mobility Learning Health

• Web pages are documents published on the World Wide Web. Bios, syllabi, lecture notes, articles, reading lists, and text typed into a course management system are common instructional Web pages.
  
  
• Images include photos, logos, illustrations, simple animations, charts, graphs, and other types of graphic content.
  
  
• Online conferencing (bulletin boards and forums) is asynchronous (not immediate) communication. It is usually supported by a course management system or other type of software.
  
  
• Chat is synchronous, or real-time, communication. AOL Instant Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, and MSN Messenger are common chat tools.
  
  
• Audio and video is any presentation that includes sound and/or moving images.
  
  
• Microsoft PowerPoint can be used to create slide presentations for display in the physical or online classroom.
  
  
• Adobe PDF files look and print the same way on a variety of computers. Research reports, syllabi, and other documents that require specific formatting are often published in Adobe PDF format.
  
  
• Advanced HTML features include language identification, frames, and forms.
  
  
• Multimedia programs can be used to create presentations that include a combination of text, images, audio, video, animations, and other Web-based media. Flash, Shockwave, Java, and electronic whiteboards are examples of multimedia programs.

The techniques in this section will help you create Web documents that comply with the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. Your university's office of disability services may be able to offer you further information about accessibility requirements.

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