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WikiCED manual: Difference between revisions
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As many are aware, navigating the world as a person with disabilities often results in frustration or complete denial to everyday services. Resolving these problems one step at a time yields unexpected benefits. When a curb is cut for wheelchairs, blind people can use sidewalks more easily. Navigation is also made easier for those with baby strollers, bicycles and inattentive walkers. The same is true of ramps and elevators - making a change for disabled persons improves the situation for everyone. This leads to a shift in thinking towards [[wp:universal design]] - the idea that instead of treating accessible design as an afterthought, it is instead a way to lead overall design. | As many are aware, navigating the world as a person with disabilities often results in frustration or complete denial to everyday services. Resolving these problems one step at a time yields unexpected benefits. When a curb is cut for wheelchairs, blind people can use sidewalks more easily. Navigation is also made easier for those with baby strollers, bicycles and inattentive walkers. The same is true of ramps and elevators - making a change for disabled persons improves the situation for everyone. This leads to a shift in thinking towards [[wp:universal design]] - the idea that instead of treating accessible design as an afterthought, it is instead a way to lead overall design. | ||
Using technology, this is enabled by the fact that most information is stored in one way or another in text format. Email is text, Web pages are generally text. The low level format of Web pages is HTML, which accommodates accessible features. Suddenly, individuals with mobility, cognitive or vision disabilities (estimated to be 700 million people around the world, or one in seven Canadians) are on a more equal footing with everyone else - they're tremendously enabled. | Using technology, this is enabled by the fact that most information is stored in one way or another in text format. Email is text, Web pages are generally text. The low level format of Web pages is HTML, which accommodates accessible features. Suddenly, individuals with mobility, cognitive or vision disabilities (estimated to be 700 million people around the world, or one in seven Canadians - not including the elderly) are on a more equal footing with everyone else - they're tremendously enabled. | ||
Consider a well implemented Web page. Behind the scenes, presentation is separated from content. Headings are used to indicate sections. A person with vision disabilities, whether it's very common colour blindness, contrast problems, or acute focus problems, can use a variety of techniques to access this information. They can change the font size in their browser, they can replace colours. They can use a screen reader, which reads the document using text to speech, treats headings as a table of contents, and allows the individual to easily scan the page rather than forcing them to "read" it top to bottom. | Consider a well implemented Web page. Behind the scenes, presentation is separated from content. Headings are used to indicate sections. A person with vision disabilities, whether it's very common colour blindness, contrast problems, or acute focus problems, can use a variety of techniques to access this information. They can change the font size in their browser, they can replace colours. They can use a screen reader, which reads the document using text to speech, treats headings as a table of contents, and allows the individual to easily scan the page rather than forcing them to "read" it top to bottom. | ||