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Re: Compliance

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From: Jon Gunderson
Date: Aug 11, 2004 8:30AM

You may also want to link accessibility to use of Web standars
compliant design. In the next few years the lack of use of
web standards is going to effect alot of people and casue a
crissis in web development. A major example is LCD
technologies that are producing higher resolution displays.
Images used to stylize text on the web are going to shrink to
unreadible sizes as LCD increase their resolution. People are
going to continue to demand high resolution LCDs to increase
until they can match the resolutions of laser printers so that
people can read just as easily from a computer screen as they
can from a piece of paper. Web designers will no longer be
able to use the mythical 800x600 resultion for their designs
anymore.

The same princples needed to make web pages usable on
different resolution screens are the same as those needed by
people with disabilities. There are many other issues, but his
is going to be an issue that will be emerging in the next few
years. At UIUC we are developing a best practices document to
address accessibility and standards complaince issues for
forward looking web design.

http://cita.rehab.uiuc.edu/uiuc-web-best-practices.htm

Jon



---- Original message ----
>Date: Wed, 11 Aug 2004 10:16:49 -0400
>From: "khall51"
>Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Compliance
>To: "WebAIM Discussion List"
>
>
>RC,
>A quick look over your homepage shows a number of
accessibility problems that should be addressed. You can view
an automated (and thus incomplete) report on your 508
compliance at
http://www.contentquality.com/mynewtester/cynthia.exe?rptmode=-1&;amp;url1=http%3A//www.tulsacc.edu/.

>
>As a community college you are likely receiving federal funds
and should aim for full 508 compliance. Details on what is
expected from a web site under 508 can be found at
http://www.access-board.gov/sec508/guide/1194.22.htm.
>
>WebAIM wrote about the topic of colleges and 508 a few years ago:
>"The question of the applicability of Section 508 to colleges
and universities is even more difficult to answer. Some claim
that universities must comply with Section 508 by virtue of
the Assistive Technology Act of 1998. This Act supplies monies
to states on condition of compliance with Section 508 rules
and regulations. If this interpretation is accepted, however,
Section 508 is still a procurement law, and might not apply to
Web content developed at the university itself. In addition, a
state could, in theory, refuse the monies from the Assistive
Technology Act, and thus exempt itself from compliance to
Section 508 regulations. The picture is a bit murky from a
legal perspective at this point regarding some aspects of
Section 508, but one thing is clear: universities are still
bound by the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. Both of these laws
require equal access for people with disabilities."
>
>I hope that this helps. Also keep in mind that accessibility
isn't really something we have to do becuase the government or
someone else is making us, it's something we should want to
do, particularly in an academic setting where inclusion and
equal access to information are core ideals.
>
>Regards,
>-Kevin Hall
>
>