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Websites built with '''accessibility''' in mind are flexible in meeting different user needs, preferences and situations. Though these methods can increase [[Development:Usability|usability]] for everyone who uses the web they are often legally required to be implemented in a specific effort to prevent discrimination against people with disabilities.

See the tracker under [http://tracker.moodle.org/browse/MDL-7396 Accessibility Compliance in Moodle 1.8] and [http://tracker.moodle.org/browse/MDL-7860 Compliance with Italian Legislation on Accessibility] for more information on what we are doing for Moodle 1.8.


== Starting points ==

These are some readable introductions to accessibility that cover; what accessibility is, why it is important, as well as practical advice.
* [http://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/accessibility.php Web Accessibility Initiative's ''Introduction to Web Accessibility'']
* [http://diveintoaccessibility.org/ Mark Pilgrim's ''Dive into Accessibility'']
* [http://joeclark.org/book/ Joe Clark's ''Building Accessible Websites'' book]

== Standards, guidelines and legislation ==

=== International & USA ===

* [http://www.w3.org/WAI/ Web Accessibility Initiative]
** [http://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/wcag.php Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)]
** [http://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/wcag20 Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 (draft)]
*** An article on the [http://www.alistapart.com/articles/tohellwithwcag2 problems with WCAG2] from A List Apart
* [http://www.section508.gov/ Section 508]

=== Other countries ===
* UK: 
: [http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/ld200001/ldbills/003/2001003.htm SENDA - Special Educational Needs and Disability Act/Bill]
: [http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1995/1995050.htm Disability Discrimination Act 1995] 
 
* Germany: 
: [http://www.einfach-fuer-alle.de/artikel/bitv/ Barrierefreie Informationstechnik-Verordnung - BITV]

== Tools ==

* [http://firefox.cita.uiuc.edu/ Firefox Accessibility Extension] by the Illinois Center for Information Technology and Web Accessibility (iCITA)
* [[Web developer extension]] for [[Firefox]]
* [[Blank_Your_Monitor_and_Easy_Reading_extension_for_Firefox|Blank Your Monitor and Easy Reading Extension]] for Firefox
* [[W3C validation]] (for [[HTML in Moodle]], [[CSS]] and [[RSS]]) 
* [http://wave.webaim.org/ Web accessibility evaluation tool]
* [http://cynthiasays.com/ Cynthia Says accessibility checker]
* [http://www.standards-schmandards.com/projects/fangs/ Fangs – the screen reader emulator] for Firefox
* [http://www.nvda-project.org/ NVDA NonVisual Desktop Access] - open source screen reader for Windows 

see also this [http://www.w3.org/WAI/ER/tools/complete long list of accessibility tools].

== Resources ==

* [http://webstandards.org/action/atf/manifesto/ Web Standards.org's ''Accessibility Task Force Manifesto'']
* [http://alistapart.com/topics/userscience/accessibility/ Accessibility articles from ''A List Apart'']
* [http://diveintomark.org/archives/2003/08/29/semantics Mark Pilgrim's ''Won’t somebody please think of the gerbils?'']
: [http://diveintoaccessibility.org/ Dive Into Accessibility] by Mark Pilgrim
* [http://joeclark.org/access/webaccess/ Joe Clark's writings on accessibility]
: [http://joeclark.org/book/ Building Accessible Websites] by Joe Clark (online version)
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_accessibility Wikipedia article on ''Web Accessibility'']
* [http://juicystudio.com/article/validity-accessibility.php ''Validity and Accessibility'']
* [http://www.edtec.unsw.edu.au/inter/support/accessibility/access_vids.cfm Videos showing as student accessing another Learning Management System via Screen Reader software]

== See also ==

* [[Moodle Accessibility Specification]]
* [[Semantic HTML]]
* [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/view.php?f=820 Accessibility forum on Moodle.org]
* Using Moodle [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=85119 New Accessibility Themes] forum discussion 
* [http://www.easy.pro.br/ EASY: Interface Between The Virtual Environment Moodle Learning and People with Visual Impairments]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/bbcinternet/2008/03/homepage_accessibilty.html BBC blog post on how their Web 2.0 homepage was made accessible]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/accessibility/ BBC Accessibility Help]
* [[Usability FAQ]]


[[Category:Accessibility]]