Current+Challenges+in+Making+the+Web+Accessible+for+All

//20 years after the Americans with Disabilities Act//
The Americans with Disabilities Act, “a wide-ranging civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability signed into law by President George H.W. Bush in 1990” celebrated its twentieth anniversary on July, 26th of this year. In a Washington Post online interview, Andrew J. Imparato, president and CEO of the [|American Association of People with Disabilities], outlined some of the success and shortfalls of putting the Act into action. According to Imparato, one of the major areas of improvement still waiting to be addressed by federal legislation is online content and technology accessibility. Currently, Imparato is “working hard on HR 3101 at the moment,” a technology accessibility bill, but there is still much more work to be done. Many websites today provide content, which includes audio or visual streaming media that is completely inaccessible to the deaf or blind.

Too many sites today fail to look at their website and online tools from the point of view of a disabled individual. Even governmental websites are having difficulty meeting the standards that are set by the Disability Act. In a recent critique, the “newly-created Section508.gov Web site took a hit for its alleged lack of accessibility.” The criticism came from Web Axe, a “podcast and blog on practical web design accessibility tips.” Common web site users and creators must be increasingly more diligent to ensure that all people have access to the website available online, as well as identify and report those sites that are inaccessible.

It takes very little time and effort to ensure that a site meets the needs of all people. Site checkers designed to examine the accessibility of a website, such as WAVE, are becoming increasingly popular by organizations to ensure that they are not inhibiting those with disabilities from having access to their site. As educators, committed to a variety of students with varying abilities, it is vitally important that we are cognizant of how others will access, view, and interact with the online information and content that we create. The same dedication that we have in ensuring that //all// students can access the curriculum in our classes should fuel our work to ensure that //all// students can access our content online.

Sources:

"Americans with Disabilities Act Anniversary." //Washington Post// 26 July 2010: n. pag. Web. 8 Aug 2010. .

Lipowicz, Alice. "Federal Web sites chided for accessibility, usability issues." //Washington Technology// 28 July 2010: n. pag. Web. 8 Aug 2010. .