AccessIT

The National Center on Accessible Information Technology in Education (AccessIT) provides resources to help educational entities purchase, develop and use information technology that is welcoming to, accessible to, and usable by everyone, including people with disabilities. AccessIT was funded for five years by the U.S. Department of Education (grant #H133D010306).

AccessIT resources continue to be updated and enhanced by NSF AccessComputing with funding from the National Science Foundation (grant #CNS-0540615, -0837508, and -1042260).

The following resources developed by AccessIT continue to be available online and managed and updated by the DO-IT Center as part of its contribution to AccessComputing, a project funded by the National Science Foundation (grant #CNS-0540615,CNS-0837508, and CNS-1042260) and co-sponsored by the UW Department of Computer Science.

Fully Integrating Accessibility into Web Design Courses

Free Web Design & Development Curriculum

The introductory course curriculum on web design and development, now known as WebD2, integrates accessibility into a mainstream course. It was created for grades 9-12, but has been used at academic levels ranging from middle school to community college. It includes eight units covering introductory design and site planning, HTML coding, cascading style sheets, JavaScript, graphic design, site design and management, and use of web authoring tools. Students end the course by designing an accessible website for their school or local community organization.

The curriculum is cross-platform and vendor-neutral, so teachers can use it regardless of which operating system, web browser, graphic software, and web authoring tool they have installed in their schools.

Integrating Accessibility into Existing Web Design Courses

The publication Universal Design of Web Pages in Class Projects shares examples of how teachers can integrate accessible design into all or part of any curriculum on creating web pages.

Information Technology in Education Accessibility Checklist -->

IT Accessibility Guidance

The Accessible Technology website provides extensive information, including resources that support development of accessible web and multimedia content and applications. The site includes an example of accessible IT guidelines. Highlights at this site include the following:

• Getting Started
• Creating Documents
• Creating Videos
• Developing Websites

DO-IT hosts multiple collections of resources on accessible technology, assistive technology, legal issues, and more:

• Accessible Technology
  Explore resources provide information about accessible technology design and the design of technology spaces and online learning.
• Assistive Technology
  Review software and hardware designed specifically for individuals with disabilities.
• Laws, Policies & Standards
  Explore laws and legal cases that guide the accessibility requirements for every postsecondary institution.

More resource collections can be found on the Popular Resource Collections web page.