Accessibility
What is Accessibility?
"Accessibility is the
degree to which a product, device, program, service, resource, or environment is
available to a given user. If a building on campus has a wheelchair ramp
leading to its main entrance, that entrance is accessible to wheelchair
users."
Excerpt from the University of Washington website: Accessible Technology - Getting Started with Accessibility.
What is Accessible technology?
"Accessible technology is technology that has been designed in a way so
that it can be accessed by all users. This includes electronic documents,
websites, software, hardware, video, audio, and other technologies. People who
interact with technology are extremely diverse. They have a wide variety of
characteristics, and we cannot assume that they’re all using a traditional
monitor for output, or keyboard and mouse for input."
Excerpt from the University of Washington website: Accessible Technology - Getting Started with Accessibility.
Why is Accessible technology
important?
The DORS mission is to maximize opportunities for
people in Connecticut with disabilities to live, learn and work independently.
Access is an essential component of this work, and our goal with this page is to
provide resources and tips on how to meet your responsibility for ensuring
access. You will find tips on how to create accessible technology, such as Word
documents, PDFs and websites to ensure all users have access to the information
you provide.
Below are a variety of resources and tips for creating
accessible technology:
Word Documents
WebAim's Microsoft Word: Creating
Accessible Documents
WebAim's Word: Accessibility Checker
University of Washington: Creating Accessible Word Documents
PDFs and PDF Forms
WebAim's PDF: PDF Accessibility article
WebAim's PDF Forms: Accessible Forms in Acrobat
University of Washington: Creating Accessible PDFs from Microsoft
Word
Websites
University of Washington: Developing Accessible Websites
ADA Best Practices Tool Kit
for State and Local Governments: Website Accessibility Chapter
5
Overview
University of Washington: Overview of Accessible Documents