Eliminating Invisible Barriers: Health Web Site Accessibility

2003 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 70-86
Author(s):  
Christine Rzepka
Keyword(s):  
Health Information ◽  
Web Sites ◽  
Web Site ◽  
People With Disabilities ◽  
High Tech ◽  
Accessibility Issues ◽  
Accessibility Guidelines ◽  
Use Of The Internet ◽  
Simple Evaluation ◽  
The Web

One of the top reasons given for use of the internet is the ability to search for health information. However, much of the planning for web-based health information often fails to consider accessibility issues. If health care organizations and community agencies’ web sites have the latest, most wellresearched information on the health topics of the day, it is useless to those who cannot access it because of invisible technological barriers. Many flashy, high-tech sites were designed only to appeal to the needs of the mainstream population, with no consideration given to how people with disabilities must adapt their use of the web in order to access information. This article addresses issues of access specific to web site development, and will explore barriers to accessibility frequently experienced by web users with disabilities, requirements for ADA compliance, and how people with disabilities use the web. Web site accessibility guidelines, as well as simple evaluation tools, will be discussed. A thorough review of the article will enable even the least tech-savvy of health educators to enhance their skills in planning and evaluating web sites to promote access for people with disabilities.

Eliminating Invisible Barriers

2003 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 70-86
Author(s):  
Christine Hagion Rzepka
Keyword(s):  
Health Information ◽  
Web Sites ◽  
Web Site ◽  
People With Disabilities ◽  
High Tech ◽  
Accessibility Issues ◽  
Accessibility Guidelines ◽  
Use Of The Internet ◽  
Simple Evaluation ◽  
The Web

One of the top reasons given for use of the internet is the ability to search for health information. However, much of the planning for web-based health information often fails to consider accessibility issues. If health care organizations and community agencies’ web sites have the latest, most wellresearched information on the health topics of the day, it is useless to those who cannot access it because of invisible technological barriers. Many flashy, high-tech sites were designed only to appeal to the needs of the mainstream population, with no consideration given to how people with disabilities must adapt their use of the web in order to access information. This article addresses issues of access specific to web site development, and will explore barriers to accessibility frequently experienced by web users with disabilities, requirements for ADA compliance, and how people with disabilities use the web. Web site accessibility guidelines, as well as simple evaluation tools, will be discussed. A thorough review of the article will enable even the least tech-savvy of health educators to enhance their skills in planning and evaluating web sites to promote access for people with disabilities.

scholarly journals Eliminating Invisible Barriers

2003 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 70-86
Author(s):  
Christine Hagion Rzepka
Keyword(s):  
Health Information ◽  
Web Sites ◽  
Web Site ◽  
People With Disabilities ◽  
High Tech ◽  
Accessibility Issues ◽  
Accessibility Guidelines ◽  
Use Of The Internet ◽  
Simple Evaluation ◽  
The Web

One of the top reasons given for use of the internet is the ability to search for health information. However, much of the planning for web-based health information often fails to consider accessibility issues. If health care organizations and community agencies’ web sites have the latest, most wellresearched information on the health topics of the day, it is useless to those who cannot access it because of invisible technological barriers. Many flashy, high-tech sites were designed only to appeal to the needs of the mainstream population, with no consideration given to how people with disabilities must adapt their use of the web in order to access information. This article addresses issues of access specific to web site development, and will explore barriers to accessibility frequently experienced by web users with disabilities, requirements for ADA compliance, and how people with disabilities use the web. Web site accessibility guidelines, as well as simple evaluation tools, will be discussed. A thorough review of the article will enable even the least tech-savvy of health educators to enhance their skills in planning and evaluating web sites to promote access for people with disabilities.

Improving academic library website accessibility for people with disabilities

2014 ◽  
Vol 35 (8/9) ◽  
pp. 565-581 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Billingham
Keyword(s):  
Web Sites ◽  
Web Site ◽  
Academic Library ◽  
People With Disabilities ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Initial Testing ◽  
Wcag 2.0 ◽  
Version 2.0 ◽  
Accessibility Guidelines ◽  
The Web

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explain how Edith Cowan University (ECU) Library improved the accessibility of their web site, aiming for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) version 2.0 Level AA. It describes the results obtained. Design/methodology/approach – Initial testing by consultants was conducted in October 2012. The web site was defined as all webpages which appear part of the library web site, including supplier webpages, plus pages from the university web site and library web site. Library staff applied the recommendations to pages which they could edit, and discussed the recommendations with suppliers to improve their product ' s accessibility. The web site was re-tested in June 2013. Findings – ECU Library web site failed WCAG 2.0 Level A standard in the initial testing and re-testing. Many individual pages which failed initially passed the re-test. The smallest improvement was seen in suppliers’ web sites. Practical implications – This paper could help libraries to improve web site accessibility, as it covers negotiating with suppliers to upgrade their web sites, plus upgrading editable webpages. It shows initial and re-test results, allowing libraries to compare their results to those of ECU. Legislation and guidelines state web sites should be accessible to all users and organisations providing non-accessible web sites risk being sued. Social implications – A web site not complying with WCAG version 2.0 would be very difficult for people with disabilities to access. Upgrading ECU Library ' s web site will provide all users with more equal access to the resources. Originality/value – This study describes problems in upgrading academic library webpages and related supplier web sites and organisation web site to improve accessibility for people with disabilities.

Accessibility Issues of Educational Web Sites

2012 ◽  
pp. 277-286
Author(s):  
Serhat Kurt
Keyword(s):  
Web Sites ◽  
World Wide ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
Web Accessibility ◽  
Current Status ◽  
The World ◽  
Accessibility Issues ◽  
Accessibility Guidelines ◽  
Practical Recommendations ◽  
The Web

The World Wide Web (Web) has become an essential part of our daily life. Web accessibility remains an important issue because many people have limited access to the Web. It is essential to make this content accessible to all people. This chapter provides an overview of the importance of web accessibility. It explains the current status of the issue, accessibility guidelines and techniques to evaluate and achieve web accessibility. Useful resources and practical recommendations to increase accessibility are also included.

Accessibility Issues of Educational Web Sites

2013 ◽  
pp. 54-62
Author(s):  
Serhat Kurt
Keyword(s):  
Web Sites ◽  
World Wide ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
Web Accessibility ◽  
Current Status ◽  
The World ◽  
Accessibility Issues ◽  
Accessibility Guidelines ◽  
Practical Recommendations ◽  
The Web

The World Wide Web (Web) has become an essential part of our daily life. Web accessibility remains an important issue because many people have limited access to the Web. It is essential to make this content accessible to all people. This chapter provides an overview of the importance of web accessibility. It explains the current status of the issue, accessibility guidelines and techniques to evaluate and achieve web accessibility. Useful resources and practical recommendations to increase accessibility are also included.

scholarly journals Classification of digital stitch lines in machine embroidery

2021 ◽  
Vol 72 (05) ◽  
pp. 538-544
Author(s):  
DANIELA SOFRONOVA ◽  
RADOSTINA A. ANGELOVA
Keyword(s):  
Web Sites ◽  
High Tech ◽  
Apparel Design ◽  
Systematic Classification ◽  
Software Products ◽  
Software Product ◽  
Textile And Apparel ◽  
Large Application ◽  
The Web

Despite the large application of the machine embroidery in textile and apparel design and high-tech clothing items, there is а lack of systematic arrangement of the digital stitch lines, used by embroidery machines and embroidery designers. Since 2010 information on embroidery stitch lines could be mostly found in the web sites of the embroidery machine manufacturers and software product manuals. However, in the instruction manuals the instruments for creating various embroidery objects are simply described without providing systematic information on the types of the stitch lines. Even more, different names of the stitch lines and different ways to achieve the same design are observed. Single authors offer their own classifications based entirely and logically on the stitches of the hand embroidery. Another group of authors relied on already developed techniques and strategies for digitizing stitches in various software products or took into account the final appearance of the stitch lines or their application. Our study aimed to develop a detailed and systematic classification of the digital stitch lines in the machine embroidery, which has not been presented in the literature.

Personalization Systems and Their Deployment as Web Site Interface Design

2011 ◽  
pp. 147-155
Author(s):  
Nanda Kumar
Keyword(s):  
Human Computer Interaction ◽  
Web Sites ◽  
Interface Design ◽  
Web Site ◽  
Practical Relevance ◽  
Direct Impact ◽  
Design Decisions ◽  
Communication Capability ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Web

This chapter reviews the different types of personalization systems commonly employed by Web sites and argues that their deployment as Web site interface design decisions may have as big an impact as the personalization systems themselves. To accomplish this, this chapter makes a case for treating Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) issues seriously. It also argues that Web site interface design decisions made by organizations, such as the type and level of personalization employed by a Web site, have a direct impact on the communication capability of that Web site. This chapter also explores the impact of the deployment of personalization systems on users’ loyalty towards the Web site, thus underscoring the practical relevance of these design decisions.

The Ethics of Web Design

2008 ◽  
pp. 3410-3429
Author(s):  
Jack S. Cook ◽  
Laura Cook
Keyword(s):  
Web Sites ◽  
Web Site ◽  
World Wide ◽  
Web Design ◽  
Web Accessibility ◽  
The World ◽  
Technological Issue ◽  
Accessibility Issues ◽  
Web Designers ◽  
Complete Access

Web accessibility is really not a technological issue but rather a cultural problem. A Web site is said to be Web accessible if anyone, regardless of capabilities or disabilities, using any kind of Web browsing technology to visit the site has full and complete access to the site’s content and has the ability to interact with the site if required. If properly planned from the start, a Web site can be functional, accessible and aesthetically pleasing. This chapter focuses on ensuring access to information available on the Internet. The overall objective is to increase awareness of Web accessibility issues by providing rationale for why Web designers should be interested in creating accessible sites. Specifically, this chapter identifies some of the emerging digital barriers to accessibility encountered by those with disabilities. Current efforts to address these barriers legally are identified and their effectiveness for breaking down barriers is discussed. The World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C’s) Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) is discussed, followed by a study of the 50 most visited Web sites. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the importance of this topic and future developments.

Understanding Brand Web Site Positioning in the New EU Member States

2011 ◽  
pp. 99-117
Author(s):  
Shintaro Okazaki ◽  
Radoslav Škapa
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Multinational Corporations ◽  
Web Sites ◽  
Web Site ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
Analysis Technique ◽  
Similarity Ratings ◽  
New Eu Member States ◽  
The Web

This chapter examines Web sites created by American Multinational Corporations (MNCs) in the Czech Republic. Utilizing a content analysis technique, we scrutinized (1) the type of brand Web site functions, and (2) the similarity ratings between the home (U.S.) sites and Czech sites. Implications are discussed from the Web site standardization versus localization perspective.

A Service Oriented Ontological Framework for the Semantic Validation of Web Accessibility

2011 ◽  
pp. 522-540
Author(s):  
Rui Lopes ◽  
Konstantinos Votis ◽  
Luís Carriço ◽  
Spiridon Likothanassis ◽  
Dimitrios Tzovaras
Keyword(s):  
Web Sites ◽  
Web Site ◽  
Web Design ◽  
Web Accessibility ◽  
Scale Free ◽  
Service Oriented ◽  
Development Processes ◽  
Accessibility Guidelines ◽  
Post Hoc ◽  
Ontological Framework

The Web serves as the principal mediator for information sharing and communication on a worldwide scale. Its highly decentralized nature affords a scale free growth, where each endpoint (i.e., Web site) is created and maintained independently. Web designers and developers have the onus of making sure that users can interact without accessibility problems. However, coping with users with disabilities poses challenges on how to ensure that a Web site is accessible for any kind of user. When (and if) this is done, designers and developers do it in a post-hoc way, (i.e., verify and tweak Web sites according to guidelines such as WCAG). In this Chapter the authors present SWAF, the Semantic Web Accessibility Framework, a base framework for supporting the integration of accessibility services into Web design and development processes. SWAF affords both tailoring accessibility to user needs and specifying the semantic validation of accessibility guidelines in different application situations.

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