Useful tools are available to help Web designers make their materials accessibile. You can purchase add-on software that integrates with popular Web page design software, such as LIFT for Macromedia Dreamweaver (http://www.usablenet.com/products_services/lift_dw/lift_dw.html) and AccVerify that works with Microsoft's FrontPage (http://www.hisoftware.com/msacc/newfpIndex.html). These authoring tools help designers build accessibility into pages as they're being developed. Some authoring software also has built-in capabilities for checking accessibility of existing pages.

You can use free online tools that provide tests of Web sites for accessibility and compliance with Section 508 and WAI standards. Evaluation sites usually test one web page at a time and present users with a report of the test results.

Below are links to three popular online evaluation tools. Use them to test your own Web pages for accessibility. Some knowledge of the Section 508 and WAI guidelines is needed to be able to understand the test results. The Cynthia Says site is recommended for novice users because the report it generates is understandable to those who have less technical knowledge about accessible design.

Online Evaluation Tools for Accessibility Compliance

Bobby
http://bobby.watchfire.com/bobby/html/en/index.jsp

The Cynthia Says Portal
http://www.cynthiasays.com/

Wave 3.0 Accessibility Tool
http://www.wave.webaim.org/index.jsp

Information about other evaluation and repair tools is available at the National Cancer Institute's Usability Web site: http://www.usability.gov/accessibility/index.html#tools

Training Opportunities for Designers

Volumes of information about accessibility are available on the Internet for those who learn well by self-study. Another good way to increase your knowledge about accessibility is to participate in a workshop or course. Here are some good sources for online training opportunities (fee-based):

Accessible Web Design (7 week online course)
The HTML Writers Guild
http://www.hwg.org/services/classes/accessibilitydesign.html

EASI (Equal Access to Software and Information)
http://www.rit.edu/~easi/index.htm

EASI provides a listing of online courses and workshops. The sessions are taught by Norm Coombs and Dick Banks, both themselves visually disabled, who are experts in accessible design.

A streaming video presentation on distance learning and accessibility by Coombs and Banks is viewable at
http://easi.cc/media/arizona.htm

Let's review the information presented about accessibilty in the distance education enviroment.

You also may review what you've learned in this destination.

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