Accessibility Resources

OSU Departments

Office of Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity

Responsible for overseeing compliance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and The Americans With Disabilities Act, responding to complaints of discrimination, and working with administrative units in responding to requests for accommodation from faculty, staff and other employees with disabilities.

Disability Access Services

Disability Access Services (DAS) facilitates the success of students with disabilities as well as assisting staff and faculty that work at Oregon State University. DAS promotes and provides education and training to staff, faculty and the campus community. DAS also provides a variety of student services such as note taking, captioning and other assistive technology needs.

Online Tools

W3 Validation Services

Validation services can help you make sure your HTML is properly formed. It checks for syntax errors that could potentially cause users to render your page incorrectly. It is recommended that you always check your markup for validity.

aDesigner

This free service will allow you to test web pages and help expose and repair barriers to accessibility and encourage compliance with existing accessibility guidelines, such as Section 508 and the W3C's WCAG.

Cynthia Says™

Cynthia is a web content accessibility validation solution, it is designed to identify errors in design related to Section 508 standards and the WCAG guidelines. The main purpose of this portal is to educate web site developers in the development Web Based content that is accessible to all. This online test only validates one page at a time. Note this demo will test about one (1) page per minute / per site.

Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)

WAI, in coordination with organizations around the world, pursues accessibility of the Web through five primary areas of work: technology, guidelines, tools, education and outreach, and research and development. This initiative is a subset of the W3C.

www.Section508.gov

Section 508 requires that Federal agencies' electronic and information technology is accessible to people with disabilities. The Center for Information Technology Accommodation (CITA), in the U.S. General Services Administration's Office of Governmentwide Policy, has been charged with the task of educating Federal employees and building the infrastructure necessary to support Section 508 implementation. Federal employees and the public can access tools for understanding and implementing the requirements of Section 508 at www.section508.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=Content&ID=8.

HTML Writers Guild: AWARE

The HTML Writers Guild AWARE Center (Accessible Web Authoring Resources and Education) serves as a central resource for web authors learning about web accessibility. It contains a comprehensive list geared specifically for web designers who wish to learn more about accessible web authoring.

National Center for Accessible Media

The National Center for Accessible Media is a growing collection of resources for developers and users interested in ways to make rich media accessible to people with disabilities.

Relevant Standards Websites

Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973

Any contract in excess of $10,000 entered into by any Federal department or agency for the procurement of personal property and nonpersonal services (including construction) for the United States shall contain a provision requiring that the party contracting with the United States shall take affirmative action to employ and advance in employment qualified individuals with disabilities.

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973

No otherwise qualified handicapped individual in the United States shall, solely by reason of his or her handicap, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.

Establishes principle of programmatic access to federally-funded programs. Does not directly address the internet, Web, or information technology, but lays foundation for accessibility to the services ("programs") of federally-funded programs.

Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 Accessibility Requirements

Entities subject to Title II or III of the ADA must provide effective communication to individuals with disabilities.

USA, Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1998, Section 508

Requires Federal agencies, or members of the public seeking information or services from a Federal agency, to use electronic and information technology that allows employees with disabilities to have access to and use of information and data that is comparable to the employees without disabilities, unless an undue burden would be imposed on the agency.

Section 508 is a procurement law covering hardware and software.

World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)

The W3C is an international industry consortium of approximately 500 organizations.

W3C was created to establish web standards and lead the Web to its full potential by developing common protocols that promote its evolution and ensure its interoperability.

Definitions

Emerging Technologies

New and developing hardware and software technologies used to store, receive, transmit or otherwise process information.

Biometrics

Biometrics is the science and technology of authentication (i.e. establishing the identity of an individual) by measuring the subject person's physiological or behavioral features. The term is derived from the Greek words "bios" for life and "metron" for measure.

WCAG

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.

CSS

Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) is a simple mechanism for adding style (e.g. fonts, colors, spacing) to web documents.

SVG

Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) is a platform for two-dimensional graphics. It has two parts: an XML-based file format and a programming API for graphical applications. Key features include shapes, text and embedded raster graphics, with many different painting styles. It supports scripting through languages such as ECMAScript and has comprehensive support for animation.