Where It's AT – Assistive Technology Blog

Images

Difficulty: Beginner

Category:

• Content
• Presentation

Images can enhance accessibility. The expression “a picture is worth a thousand words” very much applies to accessibility as well. Complex concepts and content can be presented through images, illustrations, charts, graphs, etc. Icons can present complex functionality or information in a very small amount of space. As long as images are given appropriate alternative text and are presented in accessible ways, they can greatly improve the functionality, understandability, and accessibility of a web page.

Accessible Technology Coalition (ATC)
If you haven’t heard of the AT Coalition, now is the time to learn more. The mission of the AT Coalition is to develop a consumer driven, grassroots program that provides people with disabilities, and those that work with them, accurate answers to their technology questions allowing them to identify appropriate solutions – particularly for those who do not have access to a local AT Center.

AT in the news for the week of 9/9 thru 9/13

New Study Says Obamacare Will Boost Consumer Medical Device Market To $10 Billion

Aphasia patients in Maywood using pen pals to communicate

Giving paralyzed people control and independence

Autism, Horses, iPads: New Alternative Treatment Significantly Improves Verbal Skills In Autistic Children

Hospital to pay $55K for failing to accommodate family members who are deaf

An overview of PDF accessibility on mobile devices

Service Dogs Teach Educators About Disabilities

AT Device: Sprint introduces an accessible phone. The phone has a built-in text to speech engine to read

The FES bicycle can lead to greater mobility! Watch it work!

Hoaloha Robotics’ founder on how robots can serve a growing senior population

When ALS Silences a Voice, Low-Tech Communication Offers Many Advantages

National Down Syndrome Registry Goes Live

Robohand uses 3D printing to replace lost digits

New toy helps students with vision disabilities feel the words

Participate in the G3ict survey: Accessibility of Banks & Financial Institutions

Classroom technology must be accessible to those with disabilities

‘Brain-to-brain interface holds hope for disabled’

Comcast to roll out a talking TV Guide

Digital education shouldn’t bypass disabled

Video Game Ups Cognitive Control in Elderly

Evaluation Tools

Difficulty: Beginner

Category:

• Validation

Web accessibility evaluation has many aspects. No automated evaluation tool can tell you if your site is accessible. A good evaluation tool will guide a person through evaluation of true accessibility. While guidelines and checklists are useful, a site can be compliant to an accessibility guideline, standard, or checklist, yet still be totally inaccessible to some users. Screen reader or other user testing is a wonderful way to ensure accessibility for that user, but may not provide sufficient insight into true accessibility. Only a combination of effective automated testing, manual checks, and user testing will provide a good assurance of the accessibility of a site.

See the WAVE Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool.