Ensuring the Provision of Accessible Digital Resources

A lack of awareness of disability issues in the provision of digital educational material is resulting in a situation where much of this material is, to some degree, inaccessible to people with certain disabilities. Current and proposed disability legislation in countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom means that any educational material produced by institutions, and which has accessibility barriers, may soon be illegal. This paper discusses the issues involved in the provision of accessible digital material, with a heavy emphasis on Web-based resources, with a view to raising awareness and avoiding a potentially embarrassing situation for educational institutions. The various assistive technologies used by disabled people to access digital material are discussed, along with the problems by inaccessible material, illustrated by examples of inaccessible Web pages. Solutions for ensuring the accessibility of digital material are provided, including a discussion of open standards and guidelines and principles of accessible content design