Curb Cuts in Cyberspace

In our Phase II workshop, Curb Cuts in Cyberspace, we learned about Web 2.0 and web accessibility for people with disabilities. We also learned how people can connect with each other via the Internet. We looked at myspace.com, a social networking site that is very popular but was a first for some of us. Wendy Chisholm, who used to work for the Web Accessibility Initiative at the World Wide Web Consortium and who now works for DO-IT, lead the workshop.

We learned that lots of websites are not accessible to individuals with disabilities. Accessibility barriers include websites that use text that cannot be increased in size, sites that can only be navigated with a mouse, and those incompatible with screen-reading software (typically used by people who are blind). We also learned that it is important for web authors to limit the use of Flash (a type of web design software), include headings, and associate labels and form elements.

We learned how to evaluate websites for accessibility using the AIS Web Accessibility Toolbar. Finally, we had a lot of fun making our own video about web accessibility.