Making E-communication Accessible
12 Where to get more help
There is a huge amount of resources available both on the World Wide Web and in books offering information and guidance about building websites. It would be impossible for SAIF to cover all the topics you may need to consider in this supplement. Equally, it is impossible to supply every link to every resource that might prove helpful to your organisation. What we have tried to do in this section is offer a reasonable selection of links that will act as a gateway to other, more specific resources that you may find useful. In most cases this has been done by listing the web address for each resource.
Websites
The Guild of Accessible Web Designers
A world-wide association of organisations and accessible web designers and developers.
|www.gawds.org|
Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) at W3C
WAI, in co-ordination with organisations around the world, pursues accessibility to the web through five primary areas of work: technology, guidelines, tools, education and outreach, and research and development. Their website offers a vast range of resources that will be helpful whether you are a complete novice or a technical wizard, including accessibility checkers like WAVE and Bobby.
|www.w3.org/WAI|
Jim Byrne & Associates
Web consultancy and training organisation specialising in accessible websites. Jim is one of the authors of this document and was the author of the first edition.
|www.jimbyrne.co.uk|
Royal National Institute of the Blind (RNIB)
The RNIB has a range of very useful guidance notes as part of their See It Right Accessible Websites campaign. They contain lots of advice about building websites that do not exclude visually impaired people.
|www.rnib.org.uk|
The Disability Rights Commission (DRC)
Although it does not deal specifically with electronic communication, this site has a good links page containing contact details for lots of disability-focused organisations. Particularly helpful if you are looking at the information needs of specific groups.
|www.drc-g.org|
Jargon busting
Understanding websites is a lot easier if you understand some of the most commonly used terms. We recommend you access a free online dictionary like those listed below. These give definitions in plain language for words, phrases and abbreviations that are related to computer and internet technology.
|www.webopedia.com|
|www.whatis.com|
|www.wikipedia.org|
The Web Standards Project
The Web Standards Project aims to improve access to legal and advice information on the internet. This is a joint programme between the London Advice Services Alliance and the Community Legal Service in England. However, it is relevant and useful for organisations in Scotland. The project aims to improve searching and access for visually impaired people, so that all users can more easily locate the information they need.
|www.webstandards.org.uk|
Philip and Alex's Guide to Web Publishing
An online book offering advice and free tutorials for anyone trying to build and/or run a website in an accessible and efficient way. A useful source of support for staff. Published some time ago but still useful.
|www.philip.greenspun.com/panda|
Sucky to Savvy
This is a web style guide written by Jeff Glover, a self-styled website expert. It contains a lot of useful dos and don’ts written in an amusing and accessible way. It also explains lots of technical internet language in layman’s terms.
|www.jeffglover.com|
Scottish Enterprise E-Commerce Team
This website contains lots of fact sheets and other tools mainly aimed at the business sector but relevant to all organisations. Particularly useful topics covered include security, data protection and copyright.
|www.scottish-enterprise.com/ebusiness|
Books
Bulletproof Web Design: Improving Flexibility and Protecting Against Worst-Case Scenarios With XHTML and CSS
Dan Cederholm, 2006, ISBN 0321346939
60 Hot to Touch Accessible Web Design tips – the Tips No Web Developer Can Live Without!
Jim Byrne, 2006, ISBN 978-1-4116-6729-7
Don’t Make Me Think! A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability
Steve Krug, 2000, ISBN 0789723107
Designing Web Usability: The Practice of Simplicity
Jakob Nielsen, 2000, ISBN 156205810X
Designing with Web Standards
Jeffery Zeldman, 2003, ISBN 0735712018
Information Architecture for the World Wide Web
Louis Rosenfeld & Peter Morville, 1997, ISBN 1565922824
Web Accessibility for People with Disabilities
Michael Paciello, 2000, ISBN 1929629087
Constructing Accessible Web Sites
Jim Thatcher et al, 2002, ISBN 1904151000
Web Accessibility: Web Standards and Regulatory Compliance
Jim Thatcher et al, 2006, ISBN 1590596382
Online reports
Research - eAccessibility of public sector services in the European Union
November 2005
|www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/e-government/eaccessibility|
The Web. Access and Inclusion for Disabled People. A formal investigation conducted by the Disability Rights Commission
2004, ISBN 0 11 703287 5
|www.drc-gb.org/library/formal_investigation_report_w.aspx|
Feedback
As we have mentioned before, the World Wide Web is changing and developing at an incredible pace and we would welcome any feedback you have on these or other sites to inform future editions of this supplement.
Please use our feedback form for any comments or email us at [email protected].
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