fbpx

ACCESSIBILITY INTERNATIONAL

A Global Community of Local Businesses Embracing Accessibility For All....

Accessibility:  Accessibility in it’s broadest sense refers to designing products, devices, services or environments for people who experience disabilities. Times have changed and we all have to think about more than just the physical world and also consider the online cyber world when designing our business websites to ensure that they are accessible and serve all customers.

Become An Accessibility International Partner….

Accessibility International Partners understand the importance of making their business and website
“Accessible to All”.  

The new customers that you desire, want to patronize businesses that operate honestly and ethically and that care about people and our environment.

Accessibility International

Support Accessibility for all, subscribe today for your FREE membership to Accessibility International.

Accessibility Matters….

We all recognize the importance of accessibility in our physical world.  Although newer, accessibility in the cyber world is no less important.

The concept of accessible design and practice of accessible development ensures both direct unassisted access and indirect access meaning compatibility with a person’s assistive technology such as computer screen readers.  

Shopping online this year, nearly 10 million shoppers will be visually impaired, over 10 million will have a hearing impairment, and severe limits to their dexterity will affect more than four million.  

Assistive technology is used by many persons with disabilities to access websites.  For those using assistive hardware or technology to surf the web, if it is not compatible with that technology, your website will not be visited or viewed by potential customers.  There is a lot a website owner can do to make their site more accessible, which is good news.

Rules are coming, Website owners be aware!  

We all are aware how the American Disabilities Act (ADA) has affected brick and mortar businesses.  The ADA requires all public business locations to “prohibit exclusion, segregation, and unequal treatment” of persons with disabilities.  The Department of Justice (DOJ) is in the process, working on changes to Title II of the ADA to include web accessibility regulations which will affect state and local government websites.    

 

Website Accessibility  

The United States Department of Justice will police U.S. sites under WCAG 2.0 Web Accessibility Guidelines established by the World Wide Web Consortium to ensure compliance.  The European Union and individual governments will also be imposing oversight to the world wide web to ensure accessibility for all internet users.  Smart business owners will embrace both physical and web accessibility for all potential customers by ensuring that their website is accessible to persons with disabilities.  The Web Accessibility Guidelines explain how a website should be coded and arranged to ensure that it is accessible.  

Building an accessible website.  

Use best practices, forms, images and more to build your accessible web site.  These are key areas to consider:

CLEAN CODE is the first step to building an accessible site, programmers and designers need to ensure using clean, quality code.

ALTERNATIVE TEXT for visual elements of a website is important to assist the visually impaired using assistive technology to describe the image content within a tag allowing the assistive technology to translate the description into a clear phrase or sentence.  Well written text alternatives add context to the image, improving the user experience.. 

The image depicts a weathered gray wooden door set into a buildings hand laid stone wall.

Don't close the door....

"Don't close the door on potential customers with disabilities!"

The image depicts a steep wooden staircase with many steps descending to a beautiful sandy beach with the water beyond the beach.

Make your website....

"Make your website easy for customers with disabilities to navigate."

The image depicts a person in a four wheeled scooter attempting to maneuver under the barrier of a low wooden beam placed across the trail.

Welcome all visitors

"Welcome all visitors with disabilities to your website."

Create inclusive work experiences in Microsoft 365

Create inclusive work experiences in Microsoft 365

Here are some of the improvements we’ve made to accessibility in Microsoft 365 over the past few months.  Enable inclusive, flexible Microsoft Teams meetings  Online meetings are a staple of hybrid work – and we’ve gotten some great feedback from the deaf and hard of...

read more

What the US DoJ Web Accessibility Guidance Requires?

On March 18th, 2022 the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) published their Guidance on Web Accessibility and the ADA.   Here’s what's important that you know: What’s covered? The guidance covers the application of Title II and Title III of the ADA to web sites and...

read more

How You Can Improve Your Site’s Web Accessibility

15 Ways to Improve Web Accessibility An estimated 15% of the world’s population has some form of permanent disability. There are also temporary disabilities — such as musculoskeletal injuries that impede movement — and age-related, degenerative disabilities such as...

read more
What is Web Accessibility?

What is Web Accessibility?

What is web accessibility? Web accessibility is the practice of making websites usable for all visitors, including those with disabilities, impairments, and limitations. Web accessibility involves following certain design principles which ensure that people who...

read more
Accessibility Lies, Damned Lies, Overlays and Widgets

Accessibility Lies, Damned Lies, Overlays and Widgets

Lies, Damned Lies, Overlays and Widgets Basic Definitions There’s been a fair amount written about digital accessibility overlays and widgets, including some pretty extensive dissections of a few prominent vendors. In this series of posts, I’ll explain why these...

read more
How AI is being used to improve disability employment

How AI is being used to improve disability employment

The post How AI is being used to improve disability employment appeared first on Microsoft Accessibility Blog Sammy was diagnosed with Autism at a young age. I first met him through his Microsoft internship application and followed him on his path to becoming a...

read more
Hospitality and Travel Needs to Embrace Accessibility

Hospitality and Travel Needs to Embrace Accessibility

As the use of digital formats continues to grow, it's more important than ever for hotels and restaurants to ensure that all of their services are accessible to all. The recent pandemic accelerated changes that have been long in coming.  Today, for most consumers,...

read more
Why Accessibility is More Important than Ever

Why Accessibility is More Important than Ever

I had someone ask me recently why we say accessibility is more important than ever. Hasn’t accessibility (removing barriers to digital access by people with disabilities) always been important? Yes, it has!  However, up until the recent pandemic there have been...

read more
How Hospitality Needs to Address Accessibility

How Hospitality Needs to Address Accessibility

With more experiences beginning on a digital format, hotels and restaurants must ensure their services are accessible to all. Tim Springer, CEO, Level Access The pandemic accelerated a change that has been long in coming: Consumers’ dining and travel experiences now...

read more
Why is it Important for Your Content to be POUR?

Why is it Important for Your Content to be POUR?

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are the most widely-used and most trusted digital accessibility standards. WCAG is constructed by groupings of related success criteria that form guidelines. Guidelines are themselves organized by four key accessibility...

read more

Become An Accessibility International Partner….

Accessibility International Partners understand the importance of making their business and website
“Accessible to All”.  

The new customers that you desire, want to patronize businesses that operate honestly and ethically and that care about people and our environment.

Accessibility International

Support Accessibility for all, subscribe today for your FREE membership to Accessibility International.

Accessibility Toolbar