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Accessibility: Design, Teaching, and Other Resources

Tips, tricks for Universal Design, Design for All

Everyone will experience limitations in accessibility at some point in their life.

Disabilities are barriers that occur when this is a mismatch between the interaction of a person's body with life situations.

The World Health Organization uses disability as an umbrella term to cover:

  • impairments
  • activity limitations
  • participation restrictions

Visual comparison between equality versus accommodation versus accessibility

Equality

  • Treat everyone the same way
  • Some users may encounter obstacles

Accommodation

  • Help people overcome these obstacles
  • Equity

Accessibility

  • Anticipate obstacles
  • Remove barriers

Web accessibility means that websites, tools, and technologies are designed and developed so that everyone can use them.
More specifically, people can:

  • perceive, understand, navigate, and interact with the Web
  • contribute to the Web

Image: "Equality, Accommodation and Accessibility in Education" published in Forward with FLEXibility by Alise de Bie & Kate Brown, McMaster University, 2017. CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

This image is based on a popular meme about equality.

Handicapped pictogram.

Disabilities

A person in a wheelchair has an obvious, visible disability.

In fact, it is the international symbol of access.

Image: Wikimedia Commons

Wheelchair in motion icon.

The Accessible Icon

There are efforts to update that symbol. MOMA has already added the Accessible Icon to its permanent collection.

Not all disabilities are visible.

Not All Disabilities Are Visible

However, there are many types of disabilities.

Image: Ellen From Now On

Disability Awareness Month logo with symbols for different types of disabilities arranged in a circe.

Types of Disabilities

They are often categorized by limitations with

  • sight
  • hearing
  • movement
  • thinking

Image: University of Omaha
Also, check out the 2019 Disability Awareness Month and Observance Calendar.

Visual Impairment Icon.

VIsual

  • Blindness
  • Low Vision
  • Color Blindness

Image: Global Reach

Hearing impairment icon.

Auditory

  • Deafness
  • Hearing Loss

Image: Global Reach

Motor impairment icon.

Physical or Motor

  • Damage of Limbs
  • Paralysis
  • Tremor
  • Muscle Pain or Stiffness

Image: Global Reach

Cognitive impairment icon.

Cognitive

  • Attention Deficit
  • Memory Deficit
  • Problem Solving Deficit
  • Learning Disabilities

Image: Global Reach

Grid comparing similar disabilities in context.

Disabilities Are Context Dependent

Permanent

  • Legally blind
  • Aging

Temporary

  • Broken leg
  • Recovering from a concussion

Situational

  • Looking at a phone screen in bright sunlight
  • Watching a video without headphones

Image: Microsoft Inclusive 101 Toolkit | View larger version

Compares examples of one-armed limitations.

Comparing Similar Disabilities in Context

Examples where a person is limited to using only one arm:

  • Permanent: Have one arm
  • Temporary: Have a broken arm
  • Situational: New parent carrying baby with one arm

Image: Microsoft Inclusive 101 Toolkit

Accessibility preferences icon.

Accessibility Preferences

Look for this type of icon to get to a device's or web site's accessibility information.

Image: WikiProject Accessibility

Make More Money

Read about the Business Case for Web Accessibility

Accessibility has been part of OXO's philosophy since the company started:

Create everyday tools inspired by hands that need extra help, and by helping those hands, you’re helping all hands.

Design for one, design for all

Clearing a path for people with special needs clears the path for everyone.

It's the Law

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) is an international working group developing standards specifically for the web. WCAG 2.1 is currently in development.

Accessible web sites are often required by law. Each country or jurisdiction may have its own set of rules governing accessibility,

For more information, visit these links:

This page features stories of accessibility barriers in daily life.

Screen Reader Demos

Videos showing screen readers in action - on good and bad pages:

Articles

Mead, Nick Van. “Access Denied: Wheelchair Metro Maps versus Everyone Else's.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 21 Sept. 2017, www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/sep/21/access-denied-disabled-metro-maps-versus-everyone-elses.

medievalpoc. "Please Stop Requesting my Presence at Your Inaccessible Academic Events." People of Color in European Art History, ca. 2016. medievalpoc.tumblr.com.

McCabe, Kim. "Posters & Talks: Can you read me now?" A Thirty-Something Flying Blind, 12 Mar 2018. flyingblind30.wordpress.com/2018/03/12/posters-talks-can-you-read-me-now/

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