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Introduction
In recent years, with the explosion of Internet and Web use, colleges
and universities have recognized the need to provide traditional
onsite services remotely to students living at considerable distance
as well as those living nearby. These new communication tools greatly
expand the opportunity to serve students including students with
disabilities. There are, however, several necessary design considerations
required to effectively serve this population over the Internet
and to provide services that live up to the requirements of legislation
guaranteeing equal services for students with disabilities. Section
504 of the 1973 Vocational Rehabilitation Act guarantees students
with disabilities an equal opportunity to obtain an education. The
1990 Americans With Disabilities Act, Title ii, guarantees the provision
of equal communication, within reasonable limits, and in a timely
manner. This has been interpreted to mean interpretation of oral
communication for the Deaf and alternative access to written information
for those deemed to have a print disability.
While neither law mentions the Web or Internet, courts have included
those as forms of covered communication. The recent amendments to
Section 508 of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act does specifically
relate to electronic information and developed a set of Web standards
for access by people with disabilities. While it is not clear to
what degree Section 508 standards will apply to colleges and universities,
it provides a convenient measuring tool for the courts when evaluating
whether online services for students with disabilities are, in fact,
equal services.
What's Involved in Serving Students with Disabilities
at a Distance?
There are many different disabilities, and each group will have
somewhat different problems. Some groups will need special hardware
and software to get online, and this may impact the design of your
information. Students who are blind cannot read the computer monitor
and will use screen reader software that translate written information
on the monitor into synthetic speech. Students with low vision and,
perhaps, some students with learning disabilities will use screen
magnification software to manipulate the size of information on
the monitor and also alter foreground and background colors. Students
with motor impairments that prevent effective use of the keyboard
or mouse will use one of several alternative input devices to simulate
keyboard and mouse input. Later, we will touch on how these adaptive
computer technologies will impact your information design.
The first question is whether or not the school is obligated to
provide remote students with this special hardware or software and
also provide training on its use. Computer support staff understandably
try to limit the variety of hardware and software packages they
will support. Usually, they limit themselves to supporting one or
two operating systems, one or two browsers and the same for e-mail
systems and word processors.
Limiting which adaptive technology packages are supported also
makes sense. The courts require a college to have support for a
fully functional screen reader program, etc., but it specifically
does not require the school to support whichever program a student
may prefer. The college is required to already provide onsite support
for such software including limited training, and this person should
be integrated into the delivery of online services. If a student
with a disability is having a problem accessing some online information,
someone needs to have an awareness of how adaptive technology interacts
with standard interfaces such as a Web browser. However, if the
college does not provide all students with a computer and software,
it should not be required to provide those for students with disabilities.
Where colleges are mandating students to have computers and including
it in tuition packages, it may be responsible to provide students
with disabilities with the adaptive technologies they require to
use those computers.
When staff are eager to provide services to students with disabilities,
there is no sure, simple way to identify those students. Onsite
students frequently register with an office for disabled student
services, but others prefer to remain anonymous. Online services
can display notices in prominent places on the Web expressing a
willingness to meet special needs of special students. Faculty can
place a similar notice in course syllabi. The more that online services
and those provided it project an approachable and warm persona,
the more students with disabilities will be willing to self identify.
Frequently, such students are shy and may have been embarrassed
in previous situations where they did identify themselves. Therefore,
the attitude that is projected by faculty and staff is very important.
Interface Issues
Interface Navigation
Clean, Simple Design
Graphics
Columns, Tables and Charts
PDF Documents
Multimedia
The two major interfaces in use are e-mail and the Web. The e-mail
system will be on the student's computer and the college only needs
to be concerned with the accessibility of the content being delivered.
The Web interface is on the school's computer system and it's accessibility
is a college responsibility.
Section 508 of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act provides 16 standards
required for Federal agencies to achieve Web accessibility for people
with disabilities: http://www.access-board.gov,
and the Web Accessibility Initiative of the World Wide Web Consortium
as a set of guidelines which provides an even higher level of accessibility
available at http://w3.org/wai.
Both sites provide online training materials as does WebAIM at http://www.webaim.org.
EASI (Equal Access to Software and Information) conducts regular
month-long, instructor-led courses and also a Certificate in Accessible
Information Technology at http://easi.cc.
There are also online accessibility checkers, and the best known
is Bobby available at http://www.cast.org/bobby.
Creating an accessible interface is much easier than it is to repair
one that is inaccessible later. Including the most essential access
features in the early design need not be difficult and will avoid
later problems. Many of these features also improve the general
design of the interface and make it simultaneously accessible to
non-disabled users with slow connections, older software or who
may be connecting with small hand-held devices.
Interface Navigation
Simple, clear navigation mechanisms that are consistent across
all pages makes moving around a site better for everyone. However,
here is where explaining a bit more about how some adaptive software
functions will help you design to help students with disabilities.
Screen magnification software, by making the writing and pictures
on the monitor perhaps 3 to 6 times larger, (the software will enlarge
to 16 times), turns the computer monitor into a small window looking
at a Web page. Much of the page spills off both sides, top and bottom
of the screen. The user spends a lot of energy scrolling to get
the whole picture, and, in confusing pages, can get lost. Consistent
and simple navigation buttons and links make this easier. This will
be true for many students with low vision and for some with learning
and cognitive disabilities. Students with motor control and motor
impairment problems may have trouble hitting on small buttons. Be
sure to give them good targets.
Other users of adaptive technology interfaces will not be able
to use the mouse at all. Screen readers used by students who are
blind cannot use the mouse and navigate a site by using the tab
key. Users who require an alternative to the keyboard will usually
be using software that simulates the use of the tab key. One adaptation
shows a keyboard on the monitor with the cursor moving across it.
When it reaches the desired key, the user can trigger a switch to
activate that key. Voice recognition users on the Web usually command
the computer to use the tab key too. What this means in page navigation
is that depending on the sequence of buttons and links, the user
may need to tab 10 or 20 times to reach the desired item. If there
is a navigation bar preceeding the content on every page, the user
may have to tab past it on every page over and over again. One of
the Section 508 standards require providing a means to let the user
skip the navigation bar if so desired.
Clean, Simple Design
The designer of a web page frequently has a couple basic conflicts.
When the designer is not the content provider, he/she may want to
display their skill with flashy design features which is sometimes
called "eye candy." If this furthers the communication
of the content that is good. If it shows off the designer's skills
but distracts from the content then that is one of the conflicts.
Good design should further the communication. Whatever distracts
from the communication for the typical web user will be a larger
distraction for users who are blind, low vision, learning disabled,
cognitively disabled and have attention deficit disorders. The other
conflict is that the designer frequently wants to convey the entire
message on the first screen fearing that the user may not go any
further. That is a real worry. However, if the page becomes confusing,
and if it becomes difficult to unscramble the main point, that becomes
problematic for all users and again even more fore for those with
disabilities.
Graphics
The Web has been enriched by the use of pictures, images and other
kinds of graphical material. A screen reader used by someone who
is blind can only read text. When authoring a web page, it is simple
to include a text tag which provides a label for the graphic. The
screen reader will read this to the student who is blind. Where
the graphic conveys complex, rich information that a short label
cannot capture, it is appropriate to provide a link to a longer
text description. The most recent HTML versions provides a "longdesc"
tag for including longer descriptions, but as of 2002 most browsers
do not support it. The text tag should describe the function of
the graphic. For example, if it is a picture of a mailbox, and if
it is being used as a link for sending mail, then instead of a tag
saying "picture of mailbox," it would be better to have
a tag saying "send e-mail." It is also appropriate to
point that good use of graphics can actually enhance comprehension
for some students with visual and cognitive processing difficulties.
Columns, Tables and Charts
Screen reader software normally speaks the text on the computer
monitor from left to right. This means that material in collumns
usually becomes incomprehensible. Recent screen reader software
rapidly creates a temporary web page with one collumn under the
other resolving this issue. Tabular material presents a similar
problem. Some tables do make sense read left to right. Others make
good sense read one column below the other. Still other tables are
more complex and become a real challenge for a student who is blind.
In such cases, it is important to use the HTML column and row headers
which permits recent screen readers to better interpret the information
to the user.
When tables or charts pack a lot of complex information into a
small space, it is helpful for someone visually to get an overview
of the information. However, students who are blind, low visionhave
a learning disability may find it donfusing. Providing a text overview
description of the information may let the student puzzle out the
details more easily. You may want to include a link to such a description
rather than including it on the page itself.
PDF Documents
PDF is a widely used format for placing information on the Web.
Until recently, it has been totally inaccessible to users with screen
readers. Those with screen magnification software frequently cannot
enlarge the PDF material without badly distorting it and making
it useless. Adobe has recently worked with adaptive technology producers
to remedy this situation, and information is at http://access.adobe.com.
This requires that the PDF document is created with the newest Adobe
production software and that the user have a new version of the
adaptive technology. Even then, the degree to which the end product
is fully accessible depends on the complexity of the PDF document
being converted. Many information providers still provide both HTML
and PDF versions of a document.
Multimedia
Audio content on the Web is obviously inaccessible to students
who are Deaf. So is the audio track of a video. When using audio,
there needs to be a link pointing to a text transcript. Many hearing
users benefit from being to have the text of an audio to print and
study later in more detail. It serves a much larger purpose than
reaching the Deaf. The visual of a video will not be seen by a student
who is blind. Whether or not the video requires descriptive video
descriptions for these students depends a lot on the video. The
more that the flow of the audio explains the visual material, the
less it is needed. Training teachers using video to verbalize what
is happening and what they are doing will greatly reduce the need
for video description and hence reduce expenses.
Tips for Service Staff and Content Providers
Students with Disabilities are Students
It's About People and Not Technology
Do NOT Replicate Face-to-face Situations or the
Classroom
Be a Virtual Host
Model the Behavior You Want from Your Students
Be Interactive
Modularize Your Material
Beware of Techies!
Remember E-Mail
Design for Universal Access
Students with Disabilities are Students
We urge you to focus on the student qualities of each student and
not on the disability. You need not overlook or ignore the disability
but do not make it their unique personhood. If you focus on the disability,
you may unconsciously treat the student in a condescending way and
undermine a positive interaction. Treat them as students and just
relax. Many of the other tips below hold for everyone, but we'll try
to point out the special aspects that also relate to a student with
a disability.
It's About People and Not Technology
You are using technology to teach, to communicate. Keep your focus
on the student and the content not on the technology. When you begin
using technology for communication, there is the natural temptation
to focus on it; how it works; what it does; and how it seems to come
between you and the student. Think of it like a blackboard, just a
tool. Try to forget about it as much as possible and focus on the
student. Remember that the student with a disability has to struggle
with more than the communication technology but usually has some special
technology they have to master as well. You need to be clear and focus
on person to person interactions.
Do NOT Replicate Face-to-face Situations or
the Classroom
Find out how best the technology works and use it for your advantage.
Don't force it to do what it is not good at doing. Again, the less
the technology gets in the way of the communication, the better it
is for everyone.
Be a Virtual Host
Your students won't see you or at least not "in the flesh."
You need to work to show you are present. Look ffor ways to be a virtual
host and create a welcoming online atmosphere. Many students with
disabilities will be shy and embarrassed about revealing their disability
and asking for assistance. Help them to discover you as a caring person.
Model the Behavior You Want from Your Students
Obviously, you will use the syllabus or other beginning of the course
materials to describe the course structure and explain how it will
function. Nevertheless, there is nothing like modeling the behavior
you want from your students. Again, many students with disabilities
may be less confident than others and will need tips and clues to
know how to interact online.
Be Interactive
The uniqueness of the Internet is its potential for interaction. Make
the most of it. Many studies of the impact of the Internet and the
personal computer is that both tend to flatten power relations. This
has also been shown true for distance learning. While some teachers
find the lessening of power to be threatening, others find it liberating.
In many ways, computer mediated communication provides a more level
playing field for students with disabilities.
Modularize Your Material
Break your presentations into small units with good opportunities
for interaction after each unit. Instead of posting the equivalent
of a 40-60 minute presentation, break it into its smallest units
and post modules of 2-5 pages or their equivalent. Most students
with disabilities will have more than the usual difficulty in skimming
through a long presentation to pick out an item they are looking
for. Modules will lessen this frustration.
Beware of Techies!
Techies are frequently enamored with the technology. In distance learning,
the technology is only the means to an end and not the end in itself.
Technical experts want to tell all of the fabulous features built
into the software application. You want to limit the technical information
to only what is needed to take your course. Studies have shown that
most software users only use 20% of its commands. Remember the student
with a disability may also have to master special software in order
to use the computer.
Remember E-Mail
E-mail is still the best and most simple and universal interactive
tool on the Internet. All students including those with disabilities
will come to distance learning familiar with e-mail already. This
will make communicating easier for both of you. Frequently, Web sites
try to collect information by using forms. These can be tricky to
encode to make them fully accessible for a student with a disability.
Provide an alternative opportunity for the student to contact you
through traditional e-mail.
Design For Universal Access
Design your materials to meet a wide variety of learning styles,
socio-economic backgrounds and different user interfaces. Strive
to achieve clear communication rather than trying to impress your
students with glitz. You can create complex pages that look slick
on a larger monitor but that become junky and overcrowded on a smaller
screen. Assume that your students may have a 386 computer with a
14 inch monitor and a 28.8 modem or even slower. This is especially
true if you have a number of students from remote rural areas and
from overseas countries. These same students are also probably using
older versions of Internet browsers.
If you send word processor documents, do not use the latest version
of your processor. Your students probably have not upgraded to a
recent version. Where possible, transmit materials using text files
rather than word processor documents. If you do this, you will automatically
meet many of the potential problems for students using special adaptive
technologies.
Aiming at a fairly generic technology means there is more probability
that it will function well with the special technology used by students
with disabilities.
Beyond the Delivery of Online Information
Online learning systems almost always have some traditional delivery
using the US Postal Service or other letter and package delivery
companies. Usually text books are sent from the college bookstore
rather than leaving students to obtain them on their own. Students
with disabilities on campus now have some department in the college
provide them with or help them obtain books in alternative formats
when that is required. Students at a distance with disabilities
will have to have the school help them similarily. Integrate the
need for texts for distance students into the same system used for
students on campus.
There are still other materials that will be delivered online for
most students but for which the school will have to make special
arrangements for students with disabilities. Presently, there is
no adequate technology to provide online delivery of complex math,
drawings, maps and visual art for students who are blind. The richness
of a painting cannot be placed in an image text tag nor even in
a longer text description. The three dimensional aspects of a map
nor even that of a complex two-dimensional drawing cannot be translated
into simple text. The basic computer code does not include many
math symbols, and these are produced with images inaccessible to
screen reader software. Currently, there is work being done to extend
HTML to include advanced math, and this work includes work aimed
to make this accessible online for users with disabilities. Meantime,
these are a few of the situations when a distance learning course
may have to mail hard copy to a student in advance. This means mailing
alternative media hard copy. The courts have held that Braille is
the most suitable alternative format for higher math delivered to
a student who is blind. Even this requires a specialized Nemeth
Braille code and takes specialized knowledge to reproduce. Schools
may need to have this Braille production outsourced. See the resource
section for this technical support.
Hard copy raised line graphics can be used to reproduce drawings,
graphics and maps. Theoretically, a student could download files
from the school and create his or her own hard copy. In truth, it
usually requires a bit more technical know-how than can be expected
from a student, and the equipment costs more than would be expected
from a single student. Unless the school has a lot of hard copy
tactile graphics to provide, outsourcing may again be the best solution.
In both of the situations above, the student will require having
the material before the time that it is being covered in the class.
This will require careful planning and scheduling in order to provide
these materials in a timely fashion as the law requires.
Orientation to Online Learning
Students taking online courses also need to have orientation to
the college when they first register and enter the program. Students
with disabilities need this preparation for school even more. Online
orientation should make it clear to a student which kinds of computers,
operating systems, browsers and such that the college will support
for distance students. How much support as well as which systems
will be supported will vary depending on the nature of the typical
student signing up to take online courses at a particular school.
The same will be true for students with disabilities. You need to
decide which adaptive technologies and which versions of that software
will get online help from the school. All students should be strongly
encouraged to be familiar with the technology they will use well
in advance. This is even more true for students with disabilities.
In particular, they should be strongly urged to become proficient
in the use of the special adaptive technology
Academic Counseling and Career Planning
The National Science Foundation has found that the major barrier
to success in the fields of science and math for students with disabilities
is negative social attitudes. Just because the counselor cannot
imagine doing some course with a particular disability does not
mean that it cannot be done. There may be times to point out to
a student the unique difficulties of taking a particular class using
adaptive technologies. If a student does not understand the demands
of a particular career, providing a reality check may be needed.
When the academic counselor or career counselor has limited experience
with students with disabilities and none using adaptive technologies,
counseling becomes very difficult.
Not only can your negative attitudes stand in the way of a student's
success, but his own insecurities and negative attitudes can be
even more harmful. If a student had a warm, supportive home, he
or she may have self confidence and motivation. Many do not. To
add a physical disability on top of personal insecurity creates
a real problem. Students may need the counselor to provide an emotional
support system.
Library Services
Most of what librarians need to know about delivering online library
services to students with disabilities will be found under topics
about Web design and online text delivery. Many students with disabilities
will fall into the category previously defined as being print disabled.
With information being put in digital format, libraries become potentially
accessible to this population for the first time in history. Librarians
have an opportunity to help make a radical difference in the lives
of these students.
The American Library Association has recognized the challenge and
opportunity of opening up digital information to consumers with
disabilities. This led to the ALA passing a resolution that it would
make its information accessible and urging all libraries to do the
same. This resolution is online at http://www.ala.org/ascla/access_policy.html.
Limited Web Design for Non-Web Masters
The Web Accessibility Initiative (for Complete Guidelines &
Checklist: http://www.w3.org/WAI)
has not only provided an extensive set of guidelines on creating
accessible Web sites, the have boiled down ten basic tips on a business
card. Here they are:
- Images & animations
Use the alt attribute to describe the function of each visual.
- Image maps
Use client-side MAP and text for hotspots.
- Multimedia
Provide captioning and transcripts of audio, and descriptions
of video.
- Hypertext links
Use text that makes sense when read out of context. For
example, avoid "click here."
- Page organization
Use headings, lists, and consistent structure. Use CSS for layout
and style where possible.
- Graphs & charts
Summarize or use the longdesc attribute.
- Scripts, applets, & plug-ins
Provide alternative content in case active features are inaccessible
or unsupported.
- Frames
Use NOFRAMES and meaningful titles.
- Tables
Make line by line reading sensible. Summarize.
- Check your work
Validate. Use tools, checklist, and guidelines.
Technical Accessibility Information for Web Masters
The Section 508 Web Standards and the Web Accessibility Initiative's
guidelines are the two most authoritative sources for making web
pages accessible for users with disabilities. Extensive resources
on Section 508 are available at http://www.access-board.gov
and the WAI guidelines are at http://w3.org/wai.
Instructor led courses are available from EASI (Equal Access to
Software and Information) at http://www.rit.edu/~easi/workshop.htm.
Web designers should provide training for faculty and staff who
post content to the web, and this training should only focus on
the one or two most common features these groups will encounter
like providing text tags for images. Do not expect this audience
to be web accessibility experts. The school or the department responsible
for distance learning should develop a simple policy to guide content
providers.
- A text equivalent for every non-text element shall be provided
(e.g., via "alt," "longdesc" or in element
content).
- Equivalent alternatives for any multimedia presentation shall
be synchronized with the presentation.
- Web pages shall be designed so that all information conveyed
with color is also available without color.
- Documents shall be organized so they are readable without requiring
an associated style sheet.
- Redundant text links shall be provided for each active region
of a server-side image map.
- Client-side image maps shall be provided instead of server-side
image maps except where the regions cannot be defined with an
available geometric shape.
- Row and column headers shall be identified for data tables.
- Markup shall be used to associate data cells and header cells
for data tables that have two or more logical levels of row or
column headers.
- Frames shall be titled with text that facilitates frame identification
and navigation.
- Pages shall be designed to avoid causing the screen to flicker
with a frequency greater than 2 Hz and lower than 55 Hz.
- A text-only page, with equivalent information or functionality,
shall be provided to make a web site comply with the provisions
of this part, when compliance cannot be accomplished in any other
way. The content of the text-only page shall be updated whenever
the primary page changes.
- When pages utilize scripting languages to display content, or
to create interface elements, the information provided by the
script shall be identified with functional text that can be read
by assistive technology.
- When a web page requires that an applet, plug-in or other application
be present on the client system to interpret page content, the
page must provide a link to a plug-in or applet that complies
with §1194.21(a) through (l).
- When electronic forms are designed to be completed on-line,
the form shall allow people using assistive technology to access
the information, field elements, and functionality required for
completion and submission of the form, including all directions
and cues.
- A method shall be provided that permits users to skip repetitive
navigation links.
- When a timed response is required, the user shall be alerted
and given sufficient time to indicate more time is required.
Web Accessibility Initiative Guidelines
- Provide text equivalents for visual information. Provide text
equivalents for all images, applets, and image maps. A text equivalent
describes the purpose or function of an image, applet, image map,
or other visual information. For example, the text equivalent
for a company logo image in a link might be "Return to home
page."
- Provide descriptions of important visual information. Provide
descriptions of important information in graphics, scripts, applets,
videos, or animations if it is not fully described through text
equivalents or in the document's content.
- Provide text equivalents for audio information. Provide text
transcripts, text descriptions, or captions of auditory events
that occur in audio and video.
- Don't rely on color alone. Ensure that text and graphics are
perceivable and understandable when viewed without color.
- Use markup and style sheets properly. Mark up documents with
the proper structural elements. Control presentation with style
sheets rather than with presentation elements and attributes.
- Supplement markup to aid interpretation of text. Provide supplemental
information to facilitate pronunciation or interpretation of abbreviated
or foreign text.
- Create tables that transform gracefully. Ensure that tables
have necessary markup to be properly restructured or presented
by accessible browsers and other user agents.
- Ensure that pages featuring new technologies transform gracefully.
Ensure that pages are accessible even when newer technologies
are not supported or are turned off.
- Ensure user control of time-sensitive content changes. Ensure
that moving, blinking, scrolling, or auto-updating objects or
pages may be paused or stopped.
- Ensure direct accessibility of embedded user interfaces. Ensure
that the user interface follows principles of accessible design:
device-independent access to functionality, keyboard operability,
self-voicing, and so on.
- Design for device independence. Use features that enable activation
of page elements via input devices other than a pointing device
(for example, a keyboard, voice, and others).
- Consider interim solutions. Use interim accessibility solutions
so that assistive technologies and older browsers will operate
correctly.
- Use W3C technologies (according to specification) and follow
guidelines. Where it is not possible to use a W3C technology,
or doing so results in material that does not transform gracefully,
provide an alternative version of the content that is accessible.
- Supply context and orientation information to help users understand
complex pages or elements.
- Design clear navigation structures. Use clear navigation structures,
navigation bars, and so on to increase the likelihood that users
will find what they are looking for at a site.
- Design for consistency and simplicity to promote comprehension.
About the Author
Dr. Norm Coombs is professor emeritus at the Rochester
Institute of Technology and CEO of EASI (Equal Access to Software
and Information) which has a mission to help colleges, libraries
and other institutions make their computer and information systems
fully accessible to people with disabilities using adaptive technology.
EASI is also a core activity of the TLT Group, the Teaching, Learning
and Technology affiliate of the American Association for Higher
Education. Dr. Coombs is the principal investigator for EASI's third
dissemination grant from the National Science Foundation as well
as a partner on several other grant projects. He actively consults,
speaks, and publishes on both distance learning and adaptive technologies.
He is also a self-proclaimed computer addict.
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- EASI
http://www.rit.edu/~easi/workshop.htm
EASI (Equal Access to Software and Information), provides
instructor-led courses and a Certificate in Accessible Information
Technology which not only provide technical accessibility information
but provide useful insights in how to create policies, work for
institutional change and create a campus-wide team initiative
to systematically work for accessibility in all computer and information
technology resources.
- NCAM
http://ncam.wgbh.org/
Providing captions to Internet, streamed video is a painstaking
project using SMIL, synchronized multimedia integration language,
to synchronize the text and the audio. NCAM, the National Center
for Accessible Media has a free tool that helps with this task.
MAGpie can be downloaded free from this site.
- WebAIM
http://www.webaim.org
WebAIM at Utah State University has many resources on creating
accessible Web design.
- The World Wide Web Consortium's Web Accessibility Initiative
http://w3.org/wai
WAI, in coordination with organizations around the world, pursues
accessibility of the Web through five primary areas of work: technology,
guidelines, tools, education and outreach, and research and development.
Listservs
Commerical Outsourcing
Brailling Services and Tactile Graphics
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88 St. Stephen Street
Boston, MA 02115
Phone: (617) 266-6160
Toll-free: (800) 548-7323
Fax: (617) 437-0456
http://www.nbp.org/
National Braille Press is a nonprofit braille printing and publishing
house established in 1927
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The American Printing House for the Blind, Inc.
1839 Frankfort Avenue
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 6085
Louisville, Kentucky 40206-0085
U.S.A.
Phone: 502-895-2405
Toll Free Customer Service: 800-223-1839 (U.S. and Canada)
Fax: 502-899-2274
http://www.aph.org/contact.htm
"The world's largest source for adapted educational and
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Braille Institute
741 N. Vermont Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90029
(323) 663-1111
FAX: (323) 663-0867
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Braille Transcribers
http://www.spedex.com/directories/braille.htm
An alpahabetical list of braille transcribers.
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Quik-Scrybe
http://www.quikscrybe.com/
QUIK-SCRYBE is a company which transcribes documents into braille.
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Arizona State University
richj@asu.edu
A leader in providing technical materials in Braille including
tactile graphics for their own population of students with disabilities.
As the workload permits, they do work for other institutions.
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GH LLC
3000 Kent Ave. Suite E2-201
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(765) 775-3776
info@ghbraille.com
http://www.gh7.com/braille.htm
http://www.gh7.com/graphics.htm
Specializes in technical Braille and tactile graphics.
Captioning Service Providers
When contacting a provider, you will need to explain whether you
are wanting captions for VHS cassettes or for digitized Internet
multimedia.
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EASI
PO Box 818
Lake Forest, CA 92609
(715) 235-3453 (Phone for caption service only)
http://www.rit.edu/~easi
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Caption Perfect
P.O. Box 12454
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709-2454
919-942-0693 (v)
919-942-0435 (fax)
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Henninger Digital Captioning
2601-A Wilson Boulevard
Arlington, Virginia 22201
phone 703-243-3444
fax 703-243-5697
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National Captioning Institute
NCI California Office
303 North Glenoaks Boulevard, Suite 200
Burbank, CA 91502
V/TTY (818) 238-0068
http://www.ncicap.org/
NCI developed and continues to develop close caption television
service.
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VITAC
4450 Lakeside Drive, Suite 250
Burbank, California 91505
(888) 528-4822
(818) 295-2490
(818) 295-2494 Fax
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WGBH
617-300-3600 (V/TTY)
caption@wgbh.org
http://www.wgbh.org/caption
The Caption Center is the world's first captioning agency and
a non-profit service of the WGBH Educational Foundation.
Tools
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A-Prompt Toolkit
http://www.aprompt.ca/
The A-Prompt Toolkit which helps check a page's accessibility
and assist in making actual repair to that page is downloadable
free of charge.
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Adobe information about making accessible PDF documents
http://access.adobe.com
Access.adobe.com is a resource designed to help people with
disabilities work more effectively with Adobe software, and
help content creators use Adobe software to produce content
that is accessible to as many people as possible.
- Bobby
http://www.cast.org/bobby
Bobby is an accessibility checker.
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