EDIT 526 Web Accessibility George Mason University Spring 2005

I began this course as a timid Internet user, understanding very little about "surfing the Web". Websites were a complete mystery and to think of creating one was overwhelming! With a possible new job pending, and knowing that this course would hold valuable information, I embraced the course!

This course was an intriguing look at the internet with design for universal accessibility.  It was amazing to consider all the ramifications of posting a site without accessibility in mind.  To put ourselves in the shoes of those who find roadblocks at every turn in life is to realize the importance of “Universal Design.”  With a little forethought and a little extra effort, people who have no vision can access a website and “travel around the world!”  People who have even one controllable muscle can access the Internet with the manipulation of a switch.  People who are colorblind won’t have background and foreground blend together into a non readable blur!  And people with low vision won’t see patchy illegible splotches that are pictures of text enlarged.  Small efforts such as including “alt tags” for pictures and “D” links cause no problem to the sighted visitors yet help those who need screen readers to fully understand all the material presented.  Including headers and skip navigation links are important to help those imprisoned by useless or over active muscles navigate allowing the scanner to easily skip the repetitive navigation links. Making sure that the contrast between colors is adequate and avoiding certain color combinations is very helpful to many people with visual issues.  Making sure that videos are accompanied by real time captions make videos more accessible to those who are blind and those who are hard of hearing.   All these little steps can make such a difference to people who have special needs!

This link takes you to my final project for the course.   
http://mason.gmu.edu/~skenney2/fp/index.html

The following Website was created in 1997 by NC State University, The Center for Universal Design, an initiative of the College of Design

Compiled by advocates of universal design, listed in alphabetical order: Bettye Rose Connell, Mike Jones, Ron Mace, Jim Mueller, Abir Mullick, Elaine Ostroff, Jon Sanford, Ed Steinfeld, Molly Story, & Gregg Vanderheiden

http://design.ncsu.edu/cud/univ_design/princ_overview.htm

Web site for Region 4
http://chd.gse.gmu.edu/ttac/

T-TAC On-Line
http://www.ttaconline.org/staff/s_home.asp

State wide Website of Virginia’s Department of Education Training and Technical Assistance Center
http://www.vcu.edu/ttac/AboutUs/ttacstatewide.htm

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