Introduction to accessibility

Business benefits of accessible web design
This document is one of several resources created to assist the preparation of a business case for the implementation of web accessibility. It describes the many business, technical and other benefits to the organisation above and beyond the straightforward benefits to people with disabilities that can be realised by applying the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines to websites.
Considering the user perspective: a summary of design issues
A useful summary of accessible design challenges and solutions.
Words With Dignity
"Often, web developers and others responsible for producing accessible web content are at a loss to describe the various forms of disability their users may be dealing with."
Words Matter: Accessible and inclusive communication with people with a disability (PDF, 1015 KB, 32 pages)
A guide for people who work or live with people with disabilities, developed by Manningham Council. (Please note that the PDF version of this guide has not been optimised for accessibility. Contact the Manningham MetroAccess Community Development Officer on metroaccess@manningham.vic.gov.au if you have difficulties accessing this document)
Disability types: visual
This article discusses a range of visual disabilities, from poor eyesight through to blindness, low vision and colour blindness.
Disability types: auditory
Most developers don't think about individuals who are deaf when they think of web accessibility. For too many developers, web accessibility consists of adhering to a few guidelines that ensure accessibility to screen readers for the blind. On one level, this is understandable. People who are blind will have the most trouble, since the web is a visual medium... or is it?
Disability types: motor
Have you ever thought of the Internet as being essential or a lifeline for many disabled people? Think about it for a minute. There are certain things that people with disabilities simply cannot do for themselves. But, if they can use a computer connected to the world via the Internet, they have a high degree of independence. They can read the news, research areas of interest, purchase supplies, and access the world--at least potentially. They are independent as long as the sites that they want to access are designed to permit disability access.
Disability types: cognitive
Cognitive disabilities are not well understood. This article provides an overview of a range of cognitive disabilities that affect people's use of the web and concludes that in many cases, the techniques for more making web content accessible to people with cognitive disabilities are nothing more than techniques for effective communication.
Getting started: making a website accessible
A collection of resources from the World Wide Web Consortium's Web Accessibility Initiative aimed at those with no former experience of accessible design.
Introduction to web accessibility
Paul Bohman of WebAIM provides a useful introduction to web accessibility.

Personas, user profiles and case studies

Accessibility Videos and Podcasts
See screen readers and screen magnification software in action. From University of Wisconsin-Madison.
AssistiveWare videos on computer accessibility
Amazing stories of people whose lives have been changed by computers.
"From Where I Sit" Video Series
"From Where I Sit" is a powerful video series of eight CSU students with disabilities who share their experiences in the college classroom." From California State University.
How people with disabilities use the web
This document provides an introduction to use of the web by people with disabilities. It illustrates some of their requirements when using websites and web-based applications, and provides supporting information for the guidelines and technical work of the World Wide Web Consortium's Web Accessibility Initiative.
Living with Disabilities
"Personas, or user profiles, can be particularly helpful when designing websites that will accomodate people with disabilities. Unlike advertising-type personas that focus on psychology, personas for persons with disabilities have a tangible physiological and technological component as well. Personas can make it easier to design for persons with very different life experiences from your own."
Personas
Talks about using personas in User-Centered Design (UCD), how to include accessibility considerations when developing personas and provides two examples.
Succeeding in College and at Work: Students with Disabilities Tell Their Stories
"In the videos, students with disabilities share strategies to successfully stay in school, graduate and get jobs. Students reveal their struggles with self-reporting their disability, and negotiating accommodations in school and at work."
User profiles
Profiles of people with various disabilities.