For More Information and Help...

"The power of the Web is in its universality. Access by everyone regardless of disability is an essential aspect."
- Tim Berners-Lee, W3C Director and inventor of the World Wide Web

This quotation leads off the home page of the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) at the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). As you might expect, the standard-setting W3C has lots of information and resources on accessibility of the Web.

Here are some sites with additional and intriguing information:

• The World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C) Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) - Read how to get started with Web accessibility, frequent questions, resources, guidelines, lots more.
  
• AccessAdobe - If you're using Adobe's Portable Document Format (PDF) to post documents on the Web, visit this site for help in producing content "that is accessible to as many people as possible."
  
• The Growing Digital Divide in Access for People with Disabilities: Overcoming Barriers to Participation - White Paper by Cynthia D. Waddell, J.D. Presented in May, 1999 at “Understanding the Digital Economy” conference.
• The National Library Service, part of the Library of Congress, administers a free library program of Braille and audio materials (audio cassettes) circulated to eligible borrowers in the United States. A Digital Talking Book (DTB) Standard is now under development. According to the National Information Standards Organization (NISO), "the next-generation technology for this application will be digitally-based, bringing many improvements in sound quality, document navigation, and searching."
  
• Electronic Texts: Texts and Publishing: This Library of Congress Internet Resource page provides a large collection of links to and about electronic texts.
• "Voice Browser" Activity — Voice enabling the Web! - Read about what's coming...this technology "will allow any telephone to be used to access appropriately designed Web-based services, and will be a boon to people with visual impairments or needing Web access while keeping theirs hands & eyes free for other things."
  
• Distance Learning: Access Guidelines for Students with Disabilities - from the High Tech Center Training Unit, in Collaboration with the Distance Education Accessibility Workgroup, Chancellor’s Office, California Community Colleges.
• HTML-Kit - This one is a tool. It's a powerful (free) text editor for coding, formatting, and validating HTML and other languages. It has built-in help, preview, and publishing features. Let it point out errors and suggest improvements to your HTML code.