Accessibility Resources
The AIM Center is fully aware that instructional materials reach far beyond today’s printed textbooks. In order to support educators who may be interested in learning more about accessible computer applications, assessments, documents, e-book readers, e-learning systems, meeting software, multimedia, survey tools, and the web, we have begun developing a resources page that will grow richer over time. We welcome your feedback and suggestions. Please let us know about resources that you have found to be especially helpful.
Accessible Instructional Materials—Textbooks and Related Core Instructional Materials
- AIM Center—All About Accessible Instructional Materials:
http://aim.cast.org/learn/accessiblemedia/allaboutaim - Post-Secondary Ed. Commission on AIM:
http://aim.cast.org/collaborate/p-s_commission - Post-Secondary Ed. Commission on AIM:
http://www2.ed.gov/about/bdscomm/list/aim/index.html
Applications
- Software: http://www.washington.edu/doit/Brochures/Technology/design_software.html
- Software—AT Compatibility Guide: http://www.atia.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3505
- Webinars: http://www.section508.va.gov/Section_508_Webinar_Requirements.asp
Assessments
- APIP:http://www.imsglobal.org/apip/alliance.html
- Global IMS QTI:http://www.imsglobal.org/question/
- NCEO:http://www.cehd.umn.edu/NCEO/
Documents (Word, PDF, Excel, Powerpoint, etc.)
- PDF Accessibility Checker (PAC v1.2)http://www.access-for-all.ch/en/pdf-werkstatt/pdf-accessibility-checker-pac.html
- University of Toronto—ADOD: http://adod.idrc.ocad.ca/
- Utah State—WebAIM:http://webaim.org/
- Word 2010 Accessibility Checker—Video User Guide:http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/videos/video-find-and-fix-accessibility-issues-in-word-2010-VA102627140.aspx
e-Book Content Standards
- ePub2 Accessibility (IDPF)http://idpf.org/epub/20/spec/OPS_2.0.1_draft.htm#Section1.6
- ePub3 Accessibility (IDPF proposed)http://idpf.org/epub/30/spec/epub30-overview.html#sec-accessibility
- DAISY3 Accessibility (ANSI/NISO Z39.86 for the Digital Talking Book, 2005)http://www.daisy.org/z3986/2005/Z3986-2005.html
- DAISY4 Accessibility (roadmap for proposed DAISY4, to include ePub harmonization)http://www.daisy.org/daisy-roadmap-2009-09.html
- DAISY4 Accessibility (Working web pages for ZedNext, planned for 2011 release)http://www.daisy.org/zw/Main_Page
e-Book Readers
- AIM Center—hardware:
http://aim.cast.org/learn/e-resources/hardware-based - AIM Center—software:
http://aim.cast.org/learn/e-resources/software-based - Joint DOJ-ED Letter to College and University Presidents on Electronic Book Readers: The U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Education have sent a letter to colleges and universities about the use of electronic book readers that are not accessible to students who are blind or have low vision. The letter points out a serious problem with some of these devices that do not have an accessible text-to-speech function. Requiring use of an emerging technology in a classroom environment when that technology is inaccessible to an entire population of individuals with disabilities—individuals with visual disabilities—may constitute discrimination prohibited by the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504). The letter can be downloaded in PDF format. Read a blog post on this from Kareem Dale, Special Assistant to the President for Disability Policy.
- Accessibility Issues in E-Books and E-Book Readers (functional criteria and overview of e-book reader accessibility):http://wac.osu.edu/ebook-access-overview
e-Learning Systems
- Georgia Tech Tutorial :
http://www.accesselearning.net/ - University of Washington DO-IT:http://www.washington.edu/doit/Resources/accessdl.html
Flash Accessibility
- Online Course from Veterans Affairshttp://www.ehealth.va.gov/508/flash
Meetings
- CART Providers Directory:http://www.stenosearch.com/_connect/cart_reporters.htm
- RWJF.org: http://www.rwjf.org/files/publications/RWJF_PlanningAMeeting.pdf
- UMN Guidelines: http://www.academic.umn.edu/equity/pdf/AccesssibleEventsbrochure.pdf
Multimedia (video, audio, etc.)
- American Council of the Blind Audio Description Project: http://www.acb.org/adp/about.html
- WGBH NCAM Accessible Digital Media Guidelines: http://ncam.wgbh.org/invent_build/web_multimedia/accessible-digital-media-guide
Operating Systems
- Apple accessibility for Mac OS, iPad2, iPod nano, iPhone, iPod touch, and braille displays: http://www.apple.com/accessibility/
- Windows accessibility and personalization information is available in 58 regions and 41 languages: http://www.microsoft.com/enable/worldwide/default.aspx
Survey Tools
- Ohio State University: http://wac.osu.edu/workshops/survey_of_surveys/
Web Accessiblity Checkers
- IBM Policy Tester Accessibility Edition: http://www-01.ibm.com/software/awdtools/tester/policy/accessibility/
- University of Toronto ATRC AChecker: http://achecker.ca/checker/index.php
- Utah State WebAIM WAVE: http://wave.webaim.org/
Web Accessibility Guidelines
- WAI W3C WCAG: http://www.w3.org/WAI/guid-tech.html
- Section 508: http://www.access-board.gov/sec508/standards.htm
- Section 508 Refresh (proposed): http://www.access-board.gov/sec508/refresh/draft-rule.htm
- Plain(er) Language Version of the Draft Section 508-255 Refresh:http://508-255-refresh.trace.wisc.edu/content/plainer-language-version-508-255-anprm
- Comparison of Section 508 and the Draft Section 508-255 Refresh:http://508-255-refresh.trace.wisc.edu/content/comparison-508-chapter-1-255-chapter-1
Web Accessibility Resources
- BBC—My Web My Way: http://www.bbc.co.uk/accessibility/
- California State University Maritime: http://www.csum.edu/web/faculty-and-staff/ati-accessible-documents
- Utah State—WebAIM: http://webaim.org/
- Utah State—WebAIM 508 Checklist: http://webaim.org/standards/508/checklist
- Utah State—WebAIM WCAG 2.0 Checklist: http://webaim.org/standards/wcag/checklist
- WebAIM—Evaluating Cognitive Web Accessibility: http://webaim.org/articles/evaluatingcognitive/