Keys to Accessibility

• Current Guidelines
• Further Research

What are the keys to accessible information design?

The primary route to accessibility is to make sure that information is always accessible via more than one input/output method.  For PCs, if information can be accessed via a mouse, it should be accessible via a keyboard.  If you would normally view the information via a monitor, that information should also be accessible via screen readers.  If your content is strictly visual, make sure that an audio component appears as well – e.g. a description.  If you are designing a notification device that relies on audible cues to signal the user, make sure that the device includes a vibration mechanism or other tactile cue.  Never create a design that relies exclusively on one method of access.

More specifically, there are guidelines for accessibility available from a number of major vendors, like Sun Microsystems (http://www.sun.com/access/developers/updt.HCI.advance.html) and Microsoft (http://www.microsoft.com/enable/).  These guidelines differ in details but share many of the same goals and implementation strategies.  For the Web, the primary accessibility guidelines are published by the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).

-- More Information --

What is a screen reader?  Most literally and simply, a screen reader is a program that reads the information displayed on the screen using a computer’s sound card.

There are a number of good screen readers out on the market. JAWS, from Freedom Scientific (http://www.hj.com/JAWS/JAWS.html), and Vocal-Eyes, from GW Micro (http://www.gwmicro.com), are probably the two most popular.

Other popular tools include screen magnifiers, which magnify portions of your screen, and on-screen keyboards, which allow users who cannot use a keyboard to “type” using a pointing device.

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