TechInfo

NY Policy 99-3 at SUNY Cortland

The State of New York enacted a policy that requires all web pages within NY state domains to comply with accessibility guidelines effective December 31, 2000. Federal Section 508 mandates accessible web pages with language that is similar to NY 99-3.

Page Contents

• About the guidelines
• About the law
• About the mandatory Priority 1 guidelines
• A Free Course on Accessible Web Design
• Check your pages at these Sites
• Federal Section 508 in plain language
• Go Directly to the Technical Tutorial
• Local resources
• Lynx check — how to
• More resources
• Multimedia assistance
• In the News
• Screen Readers
• Sites of general interest
• Tutorial on Accessible Web Design

According to the World Wide Web Consortium (the W3C) Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI), following the guidelines “will also make Web content more available to all users, whatever user agent they are using (e.g., desktop browser, voice browser, mobile phone, automobile-based personal computer, etc.) or constraints they may be operating under (e.g., noisy surroundings, under- or over-illuminated rooms, in a hands-free environment, etc.). Following these guidelines will also help people find information on the Web more quickly. These guidelines do not discourage content developers from using images, video, etc., but rather explain how to make multimedia content more accessible to a wide audience.”

About the NY State Law

“It is the policy of the State that persons with disabilities have access to information – via the World Wide Web – which is equivalent to that available to persons without disabilities.”

“Universal Accessibility for NYS Web Sites” – 09/30/1999: “The purpose of this technology policy is to require that all New York State agencies’ web sites provide universal accessibility to persons with disabilities. The World Wide Web (WWW) is a valuable resource for information sharing and communication. However, the very features, including graphics and sound, that make it useful and exciting for some individuals present potential barriers to others. In 1998, a work group formed to make recommendations to the NYS Office for Technology on improving access to State agency information via the WWW… this policy is a result of their recommendations.”

The Guidelines

The State of New York has adopted these guidelines, specifically. Web Access Initiative, Priority 1 is mandatory

A summary of accessibility guidelines appears in the following image, provided by the W3C:

Another excellent way to follow the guidelines is to use the checklist form.

Sites that Help You Check Pages

• Ask Bobby to check your pages for accessibility; Bobby checks for all three levels…you must apply some checks manually.
• Betsie a tool that rearranges page content to make it more legible for people using text to speech converters or screen readers.
• Colorblind? See your pages the way the colorblind see using Vischeck — a fascinating experience.
• HTML Validator In general, well coded HTML is accessible HTML.
• Old browser emulator Ever wonder what your page looks like in the old Mosaic?
• Screen size tester Test your pages for varying monitor sizes and resolutions.
• Text Only Maker, TOM will tell you if your pages need a text only equivalent and, if so, TOM will create a text only version for you. This URL has been erratic lately but the site is worth a look if it comes back online.
• The Alt-ifier to help you add ALT text to images.
• WAVE Another nifty page checking site; also has a beta version for compliance under Federal Section 508.
• Written reports A free LIFT trial at UsableNet site. LIFT is a Macromedia product that works with Dreamweaver and UltraDev.

Local Resources

Training Sessions at the Technology Training Center, consisting of an overview of the law, a break, an HTML editing session, discussion on the new web design template, and open Q & A:
• Local Examples of Compliance (view the source):

  • Cortland.Edu and a compliant new design template will soon be available for use.
  • Memorial Library all pages within the library server validate in XHTML 1.0 Transitional and comply with priority one guidelines. Contact Amanda Hollister for more information about the library web site (753-5717).

Individual Assistance — call Tera Doty-Blance 753-4056 for an appointment.

More Resources

Adobe Acrobat PDF and GoLive Related:
• Adobe PDF files and GoLive Accessibility Numerous recent developments have improved accessibility features of Adobe products.
• Adobe’s PDF Conversion by E-Mail
• PDF extraction and conversion tool
• A plugin that may assist screen readers with PDF

Excellent Resources, in General
• Apple Special Needs Resources for Macintosh users
• Boston University Library defines disabilities and offers links to more information.
• Checkpoint Checker A useful list of Accessibility checks
• Chuck Letourneau’s Accessible Web Design by Chuck Letourneau
• Colour Blind Design Hints and Tips
• Color Table A list of non-dithering colors and the code.
• Design for vision impairments and other accessibility issues
• Designing for the Color-Challenged: A Challenge
• EVAS access solutions (hardware systems) for individuals, educators, businesses and state and federal agencies.
• Illinois Library web resources list.
• Library Accessibility “SUNYergy”
• Memphis U. Presentation on accessibility.
• Microsoft Enable Windows 2000 and other microsoft products make strong claims for product accessibility.
• Office 2000 Accessibility
• Revising for Universal Access
• Safe web colours for colour-deficient vision
• Trace Center A HUGE List of Resources from the Trace Center at University of Wisconsin
• Universal Usability
• Upshaw Institute Lengthy list of vendors of accessibility products, such as web browser screen readers.
• Viewable With Any Browser: Accessible Site Design Helpful overview of accessible web design
• WebAble An EXCEPTIONAL resource, from which much accessibility information can be drawn.

Screen Readers

• HAL and other screen readers
• JAWS for Windows.
• OutSpoken Solo (Mac Version too).
• Simply Web
• Window Eyes.
• WinVision.

Multimedia Assistance

• The Caption Center
• Closed Captioning Web
• Closed Captioning: The LAW
• Descriptive Video Services
• EASI A reasonably priced transcripting and captioning service for educational institutions.
• Microsoft® Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange SAMI “simplifies captioning for developers, educators, and multimedia producers and designers”
• Speech and Transcript Center For those who use multimedia, transcripts for educational multimedia might be located via this URL.

Lynx Check

It is very useful to read your pages in a text only browser. On Windows machines, do the following

1. Do the start button command
2. Do the run command
3. Type telnet snycorva.cortland.edu
4. Log in as you would to the alpha mail system
5. Type menu (enter)
6. Type i (for internet tools) (enter)
7. Type l for lynx (enter)
8. Use the G for the go command
9. Type the URL and (enter)

On a Mac, open the telnet program and follow similar procedures (you don’t have to type the word telnet — just snycorva.cortland.edu)

Other Sites of Note:

• About Disability Video Series (some titles not available yet, but will soon include Web Accessibility and other computer accessibility topics)
• American Council of the Blind
• American Foundation for the Blind
• National Association for the Visually Handicapped
• National Federation of the Blind
• Smithsonian Exhibit Kiosk

Memorial Library
SUNY Cortland
607.753.2221