LibGuides: Resources for Web Accessibility: Home

Introduction to Web Accessibility

According to the World Wide Web Consortium (WC3):

"Currently, most Web sites and Web software have accessibility barriers that make it difficult or impossible for many people with disabilities to use the Web."
"Web accessibility encompasses all disabilities that affect access to the Web, including visual, auditory, physical, speech, cognitive, and neurological disabilities."
People without disabilities can also benefit from Web accessibility, "such as people using a slow Internet connection, people with 'temporary disabilities' such as a broken arm, and people with changing abilities due to aging."

The WC3's Web Accessibility Initiative provides a wealth of information on making web content accessible to everyone. Helpful starting points include:

Another helpful resource is WebAIM's Introduction to Web Accessibility, which includes information on implementing web accessibility and principles of accessible design. WebAIM also provides many services, articles, resources, and discussion forums.

In this brief video from WebAIM, students share some of their experiences with the web and accessibility:

Resources

Accessible Course Content
UC Berkeley
Assistive Technology
Florida Atlantic University
The DAISY Consortium
Tools, standards, advice, and best practices for publishing and reading to ensure accessibility for people with print disabilities in both specialist and mainstream formats.
Design for Accessibility [VIDEO]
Canva
How Do I Create Online Math Content That is Accessible to Students Who Are Blind?
University of Washington
Images Tutorial
WC3 (See also Alt Decision Tree.)
Open Washington: Accessibility
Includes an overview of accessibility, plus steps for choosing and using accessible video, images, course material, and open textbooks.
Ten Reasons Why Captioned Educational Video Is a Must
Cielo24
Top Ten Tips for Making Your Website Accessible
UC Berkeley
WebAIM's Articles
Best practices for the accessibility of fonts, images, videos, forms, tables, hypertext links, PDF documents, Word documents, PowerPoint presentations, and more.
Write Good Alt Text to Describe Images
Harvard University

Evaluation Tools

AChecker
This tool evaluates HTML content for accessibility problems by entering the location of a web page, uploading an html file, or by pasting the complete HTML source code from a Web page.
Color Contrast Checkers
Adobe's Color Contrast Analyzer Tool and WebAIM's Color Contrast Checker not only check for contrast problems, but also help you identify colors that meet accessibility requirements.
Google Lighthouse
This tool rates the accessibility of a web page by performing an audit and generating a numeric score.
NoCoffee Vision Simulator
A Firefox extension for understanding the problems faced by people with slight to extreme vision impairment.
Spectrum
A Chrome extension that simulates how web content looks to people with different types of Color Vision Deficiency.
tota11y
A tool that helps visualize how your site performs with assistive technologies. See also tota11y for Chrome.
WAVE Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool
An extension that evaluates web content for accessibility issues directly within Chrome and Firefox browsers.

Helpful Applications

Accessibility features:
- Apple devices
- Windows
NV Access
Free screen reader for Windows.
RoboBraille
An e-mail and web-based service capable of automatically transforming documents into a variety of alternate formats for the visually and reading impaired. This video explains.
Subtitles Viewer
An app that allows you to view subtitles on your iOS device synchronized with what you are watching on television or at the movies.

Accessibility Tutorials [VIDEOS]
A playlist of short tutorials on remediating PowerPoint, Word, Excel, and PDF documents.
Add Captions or Subtitles in PowerPoint
Depending on the version of PowerPoint you're using, you can use built-in features, an add-in, or workarounds to add closed captions or subtitles to videos and audio files in your presentations.
Making an Accessible PowerPoint [VIDEO]
Florida Atlantic University
Making PDFs Accessible from Start to Finish [VIDEO]
University of Central Florida
Microsoft Word: Creating Accessible Documents
WebAIM
Office Accessibility Center - Resources for People with Disabilities
- Office 365: Accessible by Design
- Make your PowerPoint Presentations Accessible
PowerPoint Accessibility
WebAIM

Add Your Own Subtitles & Closed Captions

For Librarians

Accessibility of Research Library E-Resources [VIDEO]
A webinar hosted by the Library Accessibility Alliance and presented by Grey L. Pierce, Assistant Director, MSU Usability/Accessibility Research and Consulting, Michigan State University.
Introduction to Web Accessibility [VIDEO]
A webinar hosted by the Furman University Scholar Exchange and presented by Jared Smith, Associate Director of WebAIM.
Library Accessibility Alliance
A partnership between the Association of Southern Research Libraries (ASERL) and the Big Ten Academic Alliance. Resources include the Library Accessibility Toolkit, a "living document that provides libraries with resources related to library accessibility."
Making LibGuides Accessible [VIDEO]
A webinar hosted by the Furman University Scholar Exchange and presented by representatives from Springshare.
Web Accessibility Toolkit
Association of Research Libraries
Website Accessibility and Library Resources [VIDEO]
A webinar hosted by the Library Accessibility Alliance and presented by Sara Belmont, Web Developer, William & Mary Libraries.
Working With Deaf Patrons
Although this article pertains to in-person communication rather than web accessibility, these tips from Gallaudet University.are useful at the reference desk and in the classroom.