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Building Accessible Websites

Navigate the Site

Not All Websites are Equally Accessible

Legislative and Judicial Push for Standards

Physical Handicaps Limit Access

Accessibility Begins With the User

Designers' Practical Experience

Self–Help

Identify Accessible Sites

Accessibility Hardware and Software

The Future: As I See It

Not All Websites are Equally Accessible

I have known about internet accessibility problems for some time, as my legally blind mother has never been able to surf the net. While it is true that she is in her 90’s, the internet is a foreign concept to her, and she suffers from a host of physical problems, it is also true that she is intelligent, she has full use of her mental faculties, and she gets lonely while cooped up in her home. She has as many reasons to embrace the internet as she does to avoid it. With the many advances coming down the internet highway, the job of the online community now seems to be to make it easier for her and others like her to rejoin the public world.

I recently became consciously aware that many internet websites are not universally accessible. (Please view the image below for an an example of confusing graphics.) Some governmental agencies have now mandated that hosts of both public and private internet sites make them universally accessible. Meanwhile, the builders and hosts of sites have recognized

This is an example of a busy background.
This is an example of a busy background.
the broader audience that accessible sites open up to them. As the internet approaches a degree of saturation, modern technology is aggressively inventing new tools to help make the world more easily accessible to all. One tool is website design: all public sites need to be designed with a greater variety of users in mind, each with differing needs. Another set of tools is an increasing array of adaptive equipment geared toward each individual’s special circumstances. This report will explore some of the difficulties, as well as some of the solutions that have already been developed.

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