Disabilities+and+the+use+of+the+Web

Jacquelyn D. Hall How People with Disabilities use the Web

“Users with disabilities, and the elderly, may experience problems in accessing content on the World Wide Web. These problems however can be solved by using a various innovations to technology. Innovative technology can be defined as any product, instrument, and equipment or technical system used by a person with a disability, which prevents, compensates for, supervises, alleviates or neutralizes the effects of the disability when accessing internet content. Such technologies facilitate processes of interaction and access to page content and also help to get the most out of the browser. Today's browsers not only interpret web server content to display it correctly, but they also offer a wide range of options to tailor web content to the user's preferences. In the case of persons with disabilities, the browser's adaptation capabilities will be a determining factor in gaining access to internet content and therefore the careful selection of a browser and taking advantage of its technical possibilities will influence the final performance of the application. “The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 ([DDA]), an act by the UK parliament, defines disability in the following way: A person has a disability if he or she has a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his or her ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. There are five main groups of disabilities: visual, auditory, physical, language-related and cognitive / neuro-sensorial disabilities. “Visual disabilities can range in intensity from colorblindness (difficulty in distinguishing color) to impaired vision or total blindness. There are a number of auditory disabilities ranging from mild hearing problems to partial or total deafness. There are a number of physical disabilities affecting different body parts such as: weakness, muscle control limitations (involuntary movements, lack of coordination or paralysis), numbness, joint problems and/or missing limbs. “ In today's society, computers have become a vital tool for work as well as for social life and entertainment. This has benefited people with disabilities by allowing them to take part in activities from which they were formerly excluded. At the same time, information technologies are also creating barriers, given that computers by default do not pay attention to user diversity.

Web Accessibility Evaluation Curriculum (2005). Retrieved October 16, 2010 from http://www.support-eam.org/waec/en/02_disabilities.html