Stanford Online Accessibility Program

Introduction

The Stanford Online Accessibility Program has been established to provide guidance to the Stanford Community as they use various online means to share information to their respective constituents. The program has the mandate to assist web designers and online content creators in producing material that is accessible to the greatest audience possible. The program achieves this through the promotion of Universal Accessibility and web standards compliance.

This website is a key component of this program; here you will find a number of resource materials outlining best practices, policies, development guidelines and more. It also provides tips, tricks and tutorials geared towards the web developer/designer - from the novice to the experienced. The developer's toolbox has a variety of tools that all content creators can employ as they create and publish online material on campus. Finally, information is provided regarding the number of consulting services offered, from training and compliance assessment to assistance in the design and development process - whether done in-house or contracted outside of the campus.

Online accessibility awareness is increasing at an enormous rate. Content owners more than ever understand that ensuring accessible content is both smart and the right thing to do. Today's multitudes of web-enabled devices rely on online content that has been optimized, not for a specific browser, but rather for Universal Accessibility.

In 2004 a study commissioned by Microsoft showed that among adult computer users in the United States:

• 1 in 4 has a vision difficulty
• 1 in 4 has a dexterity difficulty
• 1 in 5 has a hearing difficulty

The Microsoft Survey also found that 16% of users have a cognitive difficulty or impairment, and few (3%) have a speech difficulty or impairment.

(Source: Study Commissioned by Microsoft Corporation and Conducted by Forrester Research, Inc. - www.microsoft.com/enable/research/computerusers.aspx)

Online @ccess = Online SUccess

The anonymity of internet usage makes tracking users and user requirements for your particular web site difficult to impossible. But by looking at general population numbers and statistics it should become very clear that between 20% and 25% of the average web site user-base will benefit from ensuring that accessible design and development techniques are incorporated into your current or next-generation web property.

We encourage you to use the resource we have assembled and to take advantage of the services provided by this program. We welcome your feedback, and look forward to assisting you in optimizing your online content.

Unless indicated otherwise, this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.