Accessibility Resources

Knowledge Unit 1: Disability Awareness

Disability Awareness Resources

Quick Links to Topics

Basic categories of disabilities



Different Types of Disabilities: List of 21 Disabilities

Details of various types of disabilities. This is a list of 21 disabilities identified under RPWD Act 2016 and their causes, examples, symptoms, treatment etc.

13 Categories of Disability Under IDEA Law

Post with the list of categories of disabilities. Defined by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

Simulation Games

Simulate the effects of different disabilities (color blindness, auditory, physical, blindness, low vision) in different games. It helps understand different categories of disabilities using practical examples.

Categories of User Impairment

"Abstract: This work presents a novel classification scheme for human impairments and aims at being as small as possible while simultaneously representing the vast diversity of users with impairments with sufficient accuracy..."

13 categories of disabilities under IDEA

4 minutes youtube video that list 13 different categories of disabilities

Working Together: People with Disabilities and Computer Technology

Post that introduces different types of disabilities and i/o methods that are used by each group

Motivations for accessibility

The Internet's accessibility problem

TED Talk. Raises awareness about the gap between the large number of disabled people and the small number of accessible websites.

Tikkun Olam Makers (TOM)

TOM: Melbourne creates, develops and delivers Assistive Technology Solutions for people living with disabilities through Makeathons, Universities and weekly ...

Magnitude, temporal trends, and projections of the global prevalence of blindness and distance and near vision impairment: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Research paper published in 2017. Raises awareness about the important number of people who have a visual disability.

National Prevalence of Disability and Disability Types Among Adults in the US, 2019

Research paper published in 2019.

Which one? What kind? How many? Types, causes, and prevalence of disability among U.S. adults

Research paper that quantifies the number of people with disabilities with their different types of disabilities. Results are drawn from data collected in 2010.

Permanent, Temporary, and Situational Disabilities

2 minutes YouTube video that introduces and defines permanent, temporary, and situational disabilities

Fundamentals of achieving accessible content

Distinguishes permanent, temporary and situational disabilities and introduces standards that need to be satisfied in order to make a document accessible. Introduces situational disabilities by opposing them to permanent and temporary disabilities

Understanding Situational Disabilities and Situational Awareness in Disasters

Research paper published in 2019. Provide a better understanding of situational disabilities using a scenario-based analysis

Is Website Accessibility a Legal Requirement?

Defines web accessibility. Mention a few laws as well as tools that are available.

U.S. Business Potentially Spent Billions on Legal Fees For Inaccessible Websites in 2020

Article about expenses and legal issues that result from inaccessible websites.

Feds Prod Universities to Address Website Accessibility Complaints

Article that mentions how universities are under legal pressure to make their websites more accessible and how of a challenge it is for them.

Michigan woman fights for accessible websites in U.S. school districts

Article about a woman who has filed numerous federal complaints concerning the accessiblity of U.S. school disctrict websites

PADA class actions allege websites inaccessible to blind, visually impaired consumers

Article about a website accessiblity lawsuit.

Web Accessibility & the Disabled Access Tax Credit

Article that mentions the Disabled Access Tax Credit offered by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). This is a tax incentive for small businesses that made accessibility improvements to their website.

Form 8826, Disabled Access Credit

Find form 8826 on this page. Definitions and requirements are mentioned.

An Explanation of the ADA Tax Credit for Accessible Businesses

A 2-minute video that provides a better understanding of the ADA Tax Credit/ Form 8826. This is a good way to show that incentives are being created.

Better Website Accessibility Also Means Tax Breaks

Encourages people to invest in web accessibility.

Is Your Website ADA compliant?

Blog post that raises awareness about regulations concerning accessibility. Failure to comply with those regulations can lead to lawsuits, financial liabilities, and damage to one’s reputation. This creates an economic and legal incentive for creating accessible websites.

Key Questions Around Website Accessibility Remain Unanswered

Mentions how little guidance is offered to business communities about whether and under what circumstances commercial websites need to be made accessible and what it means to be accessible.

Game Maker’s Toolkit

A YouTube channel that reviews the accessibility of games

Inclusive Design Toolkit

“Resources to estimate the proportion of the British population who would be unable to use a product or service because of the demands it places on the users’ capabilities.”

The Impact of Accessibility Research on Society

Encourage people to invest in web accessibility.

Assistive technology



Working Together: People with Disabilities and Computer Technology

Post that introduces different types of disabilities and i/o methods that are used by each category.

Assistive technology for people with disabilities and older adults

3 minutes youtube video posted by FOX News that introduces some AT.

Assistive technology interventions for adolescents and adults with learning disabilities: An evidence-based systematic review and meta-analysis

EResearch paper that studies the effectiveness of AT in learning disabilities. 2017.

The Effects of Text-to-Speech on Reading Outcomes for Secondary Students With Learning Disabilities

Research paper. Investigates the effectiveness of TTS. 2018.

Technology supports for individuals with disabilities in New York State: A survey of current status

Paper that examines the use of technology/AT for support of individuals with learning disabilities (2018)

"Siri Talks at You": An Empirical Investigation of Voice-Activated Personal Assistant (VAPA) Usage by Individuals Who Are Blind

Research paper published in 2018. Investigates the usage of VAPA by blind people. The method used is interviews.

Tools and Techniques

Page that introduces some techniques and tools that people with disabilities use to interact with the web

Assistive Technology Examples for People with Disabilities

Blog post with 6 examples of Assistive Technology

An Introduction to screen readers

Fact sheet about screen readers.

What is a screen reader, and why are they important

Explains how screen readers work, and why it is important, contains a 7-minute video that shows how it is used by a disabled person on his desktop.

10 Free Screen Readers for Blind or Visually Impaired Users

An article about the screen readers that are available for free.

Tony - Given Freedom Through his Speech Generating Device, Shackled by Policy

5-minute youtube video that demonstrates the use of a speech-generating device

Assistive Devices for People with Hearing, Voice, Speech, or Language Disorders

By the NIH (National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders). Walk through different types of assistive devices for people with hearing, voice, speech, or language disorders.

3-D Printing Prosthetics Process | Move to Include

5 minutes video that shows how 3-D printing has created a worldwide community of volunteers to design and print prosthetics for those with physical disabilities and provide them at little or no cost.

What is Braille?

Article introducing Braille.

4 Common Myths About Braille and Web Accessibility

Blog post debunking myths about Braille and web accessibility.

Ethics



The Ten Commandments of Computer Ethics

List of 10 principles computer scientists should follow.

ACM Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct

Association for Computing Machinery's guidelines for how computing professionals should act.

The Belmont Report: Ethical Principles and Guidelines for the Protection of Human Subjects of Research

Report detailing ethical principles that researchers should follow when working with human subjects.

CITI Program: Research, Ethics, and Compliance Training

Program that provides training for researchers working with human subjects.

Basic models of disability



Four models of disability

Introduction to four basic models of disabilities (The medical model, the social model, the charitable model, and the human rights model)

Social Model of Disability

2 minutes youtube video that explains the social model of disability

Human Rights Model of Disability - Featuring Ellie the Equality Emu

3 minutes youtube video that explains the Human Rights Model of Disability in opposition to the medical, charitable, and social model of disability

Models of Disability - What model do you want to be?

4 minutes youtube video that primarily discusses the social and human rights model of disability. Also, mention the medical model, and charitable model mentioning the tradeoffs

Models of Disability - What model do you want to be?

4 minutes youtube video that primarily discusses the social and human rights model of disability. Also, mention the medical model, and charitable model mentioning the tradeoffs

Experiences of disability



Visual disabilities

Contains a section for blindness, low vision, and color blindness.

Types of Vision Problems

Post with the most common types of vision problems (low vision) for adults and children. Definitions, risk factors, and examples.

Common Eye Disorders and Diseases

Contains links to learn more about each type of vision problem (low vision)

Types of Colour Blindness

Explains the three different types of color blindness and how they impact the way people see.

You'll be amazed how people with color blindness see the world (57 pics)

Pictures showing how people who are colorblind see the world.

Types of hearing loss

1-minute YouTube video that introduces different types of hearing loss

Physical disabilities

Post that mentions different types of physical disabilities. Contains links to learn more about each type

Colblindor

Website containing different information about color blindness and resources

Computing in Crip Time

Article discussing the ways that disabled people experience time

Ableism & Etiquette



Are disabled people treated with equality and respect?

BBC discussion on the topic

I'm not your inspiration, thank you very much

TED talk given by Stella Young, a disabled woman who talks about the presumptions people make about disabled people.

Disability Etiquette: How to Respect People with Disabilities

Share tips to interact with disabled people

Ableism

Blog posts discussing ableism

Intersectionality



Disability Intersectionality: At a Glance

A 2-minute video that explains disability intersectionality and its importance.

An Introduction to Race, Gender, and Disability

Article discusses the relationship between race, gender, and disabilities.

Race and Disability: From Analogy to Intersectionality

Research paper discusses the intersection of race and disability.

Use common assistive technology



Using a switch in Book Creator for iPad

A minute video that demos a switch used in Book Creator on an iPad

How to navigate your iPhone or iPad with VoiceOver - Apple Support

4 minutes video tutorial published by Apple on Youtube

How to use dictation and edit text with Voice Control on your iPhone - Apple Support

3 minutes video tutorial published by Apple on Youtube

Assistive Technology for Users with Mobility Disabilities: iOS Switch Control

Blog that introduces iOS Switch Control and explains how to activate it on a device

Guide to AT

List of different types of AT organized by different categories of disabilities (Vision, Hearing, Speech communication, Mobility, seating, positioning, etc.) Shows that AT encompasses a wide range of categories not always related to software each answering specific needs

TOM Design Solutions

TOM Makeathon Report

Tikkun Olam Makers (TOM) organization’s assistive technologies design made to help people with disabilities. Shows that there is a wider array of AT that has been developed. Introduction to a wider array of AT with practical real-world examples.

Assistive Devices for People with Hearing, Voice, Speech, or Language Disorders

By the NIH (National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders). Walk through different types of assistive devices for people with hearing, voice, speech, or language disorders.

3-D Printing Prosthetics Process | Move to Include

5 minutes video that shows how 3-D printing has created a worldwide community of volunteers to design and print prosthetics for those with physical disabilities and provide them at little or no cost.

Make a case for accessibility



U.S. Business Potentially Spent Billions on Legal Fees For Inaccessible Websites in 2020

Article about expenses and legal issues that result from inaccessible websites.

Advanced models of disability



The Social and human rights models of Disability: towards a complementary thesis

Analysis of the relationship between social and human rights models. View these two as being complementary rather than contradictory.

Social Model vs Medical Model of Disability

Defines the social model and medical model. Provides examples of how those two models impact attitudes and beliefs.

Human Rights Model of Disability - Featuring Ellie the Equality Emu

3 minutes youtube video that explains the Human Rights Model of Disability in opposition to the medical, charitable, and social model of disability.

Models of Disability - What model do you want to be?

4 minutes youtube video that primarily discusses the social and human rights model of disability. Also mention the medical model, and charitable model mentioning the tradeoffs.

Disability identities



Why I dislike “Person First” language

Blog post discussing issues with person first language.

History of accessibility



Rehabilitation Act of 1973

See section 508 (Federal Electronic and Information Technology)

Section 508 Compliance: Website Accessibility Requirements

Provides an overview and better understanding of section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act.

The Assistive Technology Act (fact sheet)

Fact sheet. Introduces the Assistive Technology Act and the concept of assistive technology

The Assistive Technology Act

Complete act

Americans with Disabilities Act

Introduction to the Americans with Disabilities Act

Guidance on Web Accessibility and the ADA

Guidance in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act

Colorado's House Bill 21-1110

Pdf format of the bill

Everything you need to know about Colorado's House Bill 21-1110 Compliance

Blog that covers Colorado’s House Bill 21-1110 Compliance

Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

See Article 9 about accessibility

International Web Accessibility Laws: An Overview

Mention a bunch of international laws related to accessibility

Executive Order on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility in the Federal Workforce

Executive Order to promote DEIA.