Disability Awareness and the Internet

A column in today's Mercury News, a Silicon Valley publication, highlighted the latest efforts of Yahoo! to educate web designers and developers about the importance of universal design.

The author, Mike Cassidy, visited the Yahoo Accessibility Lab, where he was asked to simulate the effects of having a stroke by typing with one hand while holding a ball. The lab also employs blindfolds and vision-altering goggles to simulate visual impairments. Alan Brightman, one of the two founders, says, ""My goal in having people come in here, is that when they walk out of here, they don't see the world in the same way ever again."

Yahoo and other companies have been taking steps to make websites compatible with screen readers, on-screen keyboards, and navigable by keystrokes only.

You can read the article here: http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_14698496.

For more information about accessible technology, see the following resources at the CeDIR Library:

DO-IT: Universal access to computing (VHS)

The universally designed classroom: accessible curriculum and digital technologies

Teaching every student in the Digital Age: universal design for learning