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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."

What Makes an Accessible Fillable PDF Form? P

What Makes an Accessible Fillable PDF Form? P

People with disabilities, many of whom use assistive technology (AT), are unable to access and use forms if they aren’t both fillable and usable with their screen readers and connected Braille displays. Accessible fillable PDF forms are usable by everyone help prevent...

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Helping the Helpers Be More Inclusive: A 4 Part Series P

Introducing a series to help philanthropists understand how and why to communicate with accessibility in mind. A few weeks ago, I complained loudly about the philanthropic and NPO support organizations that fail to meet the access requirements that allow people with...

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6 Tips to Make Online Grant Applications More Accessible P

Nonprofit organizations understand they are competing for limited resources. When applying for grants, we aim to make our case succinctly and to be compelling in expressing our mission and goals. We work hard to complete applications with efficiency because we—and our...

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Helping the Helpers Be More Inclusive: A 4 Part Series *

Introducing a series to help philanthropists understand how and why to communicate with accessibility in mind. A few weeks ago, I complained loudly about the philanthropic and NPO support organizations that fail to meet the access requirements that allow people with...

read more
Make disability inclusion your 2021 resolution P

Make disability inclusion your 2021 resolution P

What is disability inclusion? Organizations are working harder in the technology age to promote diversity and inclusion among their employees and customers.  This includes people with disabilities. According to the CDC, diversity inclusion means “understanding the...

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A Brief History of Screen Readers P

A Brief History of Screen Readers P

It is hard for a sighted user to imagine navigating the web without actually seeing a page or using a mouse. Blind screen reader users have no problem navigating a web page that is coded correctly and follows basic accessibility guidelines. A screen reader is an...

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4 Ways to Make PDF Accessibility Faster P

4 Ways to Make PDF Accessibility Faster P

When you’re building an engaging, informative, accessible website, PDF accessibility might not be your top priority, but it’s no less important than captioning videos and describing images with alt text. Even one inaccessible PDF is enough to render your website...

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Equidox is Now Your Solution for Accessible PDF Forms

Equidox is Now Your Solution for Accessible PDF Forms

  Equidox PDF remediation software now supports accessible PDF forms! Remediators can now add tooltips and headings and correct reading order on fillable forms quickly and easily in Equidox. Equidox supports field types including checkboxes, radio buttons,...

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Sharing our learnings to create a more accessible world *

Sharing our learnings to create a more accessible world *

A More Accessible and Inclusive World Organizations across the globe are increasingly recognizing people with disabilities as talent and setting them up for success through accessible technology. United Kingdom: GlaxoSmithKline, a multi-national pharmaceutical...

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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.

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