Learner Description:

This page has been prepared for high school English Language Arts students as part of a post graduate program at Boise State University.

Overview:

As you interact with various internet browsers and content during high school and beyond, it is helpful to understand the accessibility features on offer to help maximize the experience for all users, specifically those requiring visual assistance. Further, as you create your own websites for class projects throughout the year, you will want to revisit this page to ensure you are offering the best experience for all users of your site. Below are just a few of the latest web advances for the visually challenged and web designers alike:

Text:

Screen readers will read web content directly for the user to maximize the browsing experience. These are also helpful if you are an auditory learner and prefer to have the text read to you. The following article reviews the best screen readers for the three major platforms: Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Google Chrome.

For those with limited vision, a collection of online resources is also available to ensure users know how to enlarge text, hide images for less complicated viewing, and even how to change the fonts of a webpage, just to name a few of the helpful resources. Go to the following site to see the "tips and tricks" available for users to maximize their browsing experience:

Image:

Most web developers now include "alternative text" on their website and social media images to describe the images to users who need it. App developers have gone one step further to create image readers to make the experience even easier for these users. Read the following article to learn more about Alt Text Box, one such image reader.

Color:

While web developers have the full color spectrum at their disposal to design jaw-dropping websites designed to appeal to a variety of emotions based on color choices, not everyone is able to experience the beautiful designs on these sites.

• Users

Companies like Visolve have created the technology needed to ensure persons with color-blindness may discriminate between colors on the internet. Take a look at their website. Further, Google Chrome has created a browser extension to help transform websites for their color blind users. Read this review by PC World.

• Web Designers

Now that research on color-blindness has become readily available, designers now ensure that their content's color selections do the following (You can read the full article here.):

1. Use both colors and symbols
2. Use patterns and acceptable contrasting colors
3. Use a limited color palette.

• Experience it yourself!

1. Go to the following website and type in the URL of one of your favorite sites to experience it as a person with color-blindness (this is also a resource for web designers).
2. Try uploading an image of your favorite spot to hang out with friends on this website, and see how a person with color-blindness might see it.
3. Not sure if you're colorblind? The following website offers a simple test. Try it out!

Website Checkers:

Once designers, including each of you, have completed their websites, they are able to use a variety of web checkers, including this website to ensure that their website has met all of the criteria for making their site accessible.

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