Accessible Technology Initiative

Resources

Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 has 16 specific checkpoints we are required to check on each page of a website. Unfortunately, software can't automatically check them all and some manual evaluation will have to take place.

Tools

  • Chrome Toolbar: To evaluate web content for accessibility issues directly within Chrome.
  • Color Contrast Analyzer (Mac & PC): Tool for measuring contrast and simulating color blindness and other visual conditions

PDF, Word, Flash

The CSU ATI website has resources regarding PDF, Word, Flash, etc.

Tables & forms

More resources

The Web Accessibility In Mind (WebAIM) initiative out of Utah State University has a number of articles related to both HTML and rich media accessibility.

Here are some links from the Community of Academic Technology Staff Accessibility Resources.

If you've never used a screen reader on your operating system, here's two demonstrations.

  • U.C. Berkeley's Web Accessibility team published a page that explains "What is a screen reader anyway?" and produced a video that shows how one is used.
  • Introduction to Screen Readers (video, not captioned, 27 minutes). This shows Yahoo engineer, Victor Tsaran, demonstrating how to "hear" a webpage using only keyboard shortcuts.

DigitalGov is a site to help manage U.S. Government websites, which have adhered to 508 standards for years.

The Pacific Disability and Business Technical Assistance Center in Oakland, California, includes an ADA center devoted to bringing together the business and disability communities towards universal design.