Universal Design and Web Accessibility: Unexpected Beneficiaries

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Universal Design and Web Accessibility
Unexpected Beneficiaries

• Terry Thompson, AccessIT
• University of Washington, tft_at_u.washington.edu

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Can Everyone Access Your Web Content?

• People using different web browsers
• People using different screen resolutions
• People using handheld display units
• People using audible web interfaces
• People who are unable to hear
• People who cant use a mouse
• People who cant perceive color differences
• People who are easily distracted

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Universal Design

• the design of products and environments to be
  usable by all people, to the greatest extent
  possible, without the need for adaptation or
  specialized design.
• The Center for Universal Design
  http//www.design.ncsu.edu/cud

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DRAFT W3C WCAG 2.0

• Perceivable
• Operable
• Understandable
• Robust

Source w3.org/TR/wcag20
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Web Accessibility Techniques Who benefits?
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Text Alternatives?
Who benefits from

• Users of screen readers
• Users of text-only browsers
• Users of audible browsers
• Users with low bandwidth
• Users of PDAs and phones
• Your site (better search engine placement)

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Closed Captioning?
Who benefits from

• Users who are deaf or hard of hearing
• Users in noisy environments (airports)
• Users learning a new language
• Users without speakers (libraries)
• Your site (facilitates archival search)

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Mouse independence?
Who benefits from

• People who dont use a mouse due to a mobility
  impairment
• People who cant see the mouse pointer
• People who dont use a mouse due to personal
  preference
• People whose mice are dirty or broken
• Laptop users
• Users of audible browsers
• Users of PDAs, phones, and pen computers(cant
  mouseover with stylus)

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Color Independence?
Who benefits from

• People who are color blind
• People with single-color displays (including
  PDAs and phones)
• People with custom color settings style sheets

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Accessible CSS-Based Layout?
Who benefits from

• Users of screen readers
• Users of emerging web-enabled devices
• Users who are connecting at slower speeds (pages
  load much faster)
• Web developer (easier to maintain)

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Accessible Forms?
Who benefits from

• Users of screen readers
• Users of audible browsers
• Mouse users (click on label to select a checkbox
  or radio button)
• Data collectors

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Explicitly-Stated Natural Language?
Who benefits from

• Users of screen readers
• Users of audible browsers
• Users with cognitive impairments
• Poor readers
• Your site (better search engine placement)