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• About this Website
• Web Accessibility
• Why Accessible?

UA Policy:

It is the policy of the University of Arizona to ensure that University Web pages will be usable by people with disabilities.

• UA Non-Discrimination Policy

Federal Regulations:

Section 508 requires that Federal agencies have accessible web sites. This legislation has raised awareness about accessibility issues in both the public and private sector. Some interpretations of this new regulation state that Section 508 applies to non-federal agencies that collect federal funding. Other interpretations say that it doesn't apply to these groups. Regardless, Americans With Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act does apply to public institutions, such as universities. It is interpreted to apply to the Internet as well as physical spaces. In addition, states may voluntarily adopt 508 guidelines as state policy, which may again affect public universities.

• Americans with Disabilities Act
• Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act

It is Easy To Do:

Making a web site accessible is not difficult. We will help with training and support. To make web pages accessible, special "tags" are placed within the HTML code, enabling alternative access to information that would otherwise be purely visual or auditory. Most web authoring software tools make the process of including accessibility tags easy, even for those who know little or no HTML.

It is very simple to re-examine a web site and include many elements that will immediately make the site more accessible. Often this does not require changing the visual appearance or design of the site. In fact, visual information (images, movies, animations) are useful to many people who are visual learners. Providing equivalent descriptions for visual elements is an easy way to open the information to even more users and learners.

Images (including movies and animations), text, tables, forms, and navigation controls can all pose problems for people using assistive technologies such as screen readers. However, there are simple solutions to each of these categories that can be implemented at the start of a web design project or retrofitted into an existing web site.

It is The Right Thing to Do:

Making your web site work for everyone can make a huge difference to users with disabilities. An estimated 20 percent of the population in the United States (40.8 million individuals) has a disability and 10 percent (27.3 million individuals) has a severe disability. There are five types of disabilities that affect web usage. These are:

• Blind/Low Vision
• Deaf/Hard of Hearing
• Mobility Impairments
• Cognitive Impairments
• Seizure Disorders

It Works for Everyone:

Accessible web sites work well for everyone regardless of the type of software or computer they use.

• No Graphic Display:
  An accessible web site design is will work even if graphics are turned off or are not displayed in your viewer's browser.
• Using less than 'State of the Art' Technology:
  An accessible we site will work well for users viewing your site with less than state of the art computer equipment, software, and plug-ins.
• Using 'State of the Art' Technology:
  Many new popular technologies such as web-phones and Palm Pilots typically view the internet with a text-only display. Web sites that don't display in text-only format would be inaccessible to this emerging technology.

It Won't Look Different:

Making simple changes is often enough to make a site accessible without changing its appearance.