Open AccessWeb Site Accessibility At Institutions Of Higher Education: An Introduction To Accessibility Awareness
Author(s) -
Linda Jo Calloway
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
journal of college teaching and learning/journal of college teaching and learning
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2157-894X
pISSN - 1544-0389
DOI - 10.19030/tlc.v1i11.2241
Subject(s) - web accessibility , digitization , legislation , the internet , internet privacy , world wide web , web accessibility initiative , web site , field (mathematics) , business , public relations , computer science , political science , web standards , web development , telecommunications , web application security , mathematics , pure mathematics , law
The proliferation of information in electronic format does not guarantee its accessibility. The fact that many Web sites are not accessible to large segments of the disabled community has created a digital divide. Web accessibility is especially important in University communities, since the Internet and the digitization of information have changed the ways education is delivered. Over 9 percent of entering freshmen reported disabilities in 1998. There have been significant developments in the field of accessible design, legislation and institutional effort to remove inaccessibility of Web sites. But this research reveals that by far the majority of people surveyed in a representative University community are unaware of these developments, although they are positive that removing any inaccessibility will be a wise and mutually beneficial step. As aging of America continues, the number of people with disabilities is expected to increase.