What is Web Accessibility
Web accessibility means that people with disabilities can use the Web. More specifically, Web accessibility means that people with disabilities can perceive, understand, navigate, and interact with the Web, and that they can contribute to the Web. Web accessibility also benefits others, including older people with changing abilities due to aging.
Web accessibility also benefits people without disabilities. For example, a key principle of Web accessibility is designing Web sites and software that are flexible to meet different user needs, preferences, and situations. This flexibility also benefits people without disabilities in certain situations, 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.
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Why Web Accessibility is important
The Web is an increasingly important resource in many aspects of life: education, employment, government, commerce, health care, recreation, and more. It is essential that the Web be accessible in order to provide equal access and equal opportunity to people with disabilities. An accessible Web can also help people with disabilities more actively participate in society.
The Web offers the possibility of unprecedented access to information and interaction for many people with disabilities. That is, the accessibility barriers to print, audio, and visual media can be much more easily overcome through Web technologies.
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Different Types of Disability
Disabilities can affect people in different ways, even when one person has the same type of disability as another person. Some disabilities may be hidden or not easy to see. There are many types of disability:
- Visual Disability - Blindness or Low Vision
- Hearing Disability - Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing
- Speech and Language Disabilities
- Cognitive Disabilities - Learning disabilities, distractibility, inability to remember or focus on large amounts of information
- Physical Disabilities - Inability to use a mouse, slow response time, and limited fine motor control
- Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorders
Assistive Technology for Different Disability
Assitive Technology is any device, piece of equipment, software, or computer system that is used to increase, maintain, or improve the capabilities of individual with disabilities. The following is the resources that give you an idea how people with different disability experience daily activity and access learning content.