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Hundreds of resources are available on the Internet covering accessibility and related issues. The following resources will be helpful to those seeking information about accessibility issues. Where another resource provides well organized links, I provided the link to that list and not repeated all of the individual links here. In most cases I included only the highest level link, and encourage you to drill down to find more information as applicable.
Page contents:
General Accessibility Organizations
W3C Web Accessibility
Guidelines and Techniques
Government Laws, Regulations, Policies,
Standards, and Support
Tools
Style Sheets (CSS)
Color
Selected Corporate
Accessibility Initiatives and Specific Tool Links:
Selected Legal Actions
Web Accessibility Logos
Listing Accessible Web Sites, Services,
and Products
Publications
World Wide Web Consortium (W3C): www.w3.org – The W3C develops specifications, guidelines, software, and tools for the Web.
Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI): www.w3.org/wai – WAI pursues accessibility of the Web, promoting a high degree of usability for people with disabilities. In coordination with organizations around the world, WAI focuses on five primary areas of work: technology, guidelines, tools, education and outreach, and research and development.
Trace R&D Center: www.trace.wisc.edu – the Trace Center’s mission is to prevent the barriers and capitalize on the opportunities presented by current and emerging information and telecommunication technologies, in order to create a world that is as accessible and usable as possible for as many people as possible. Trace has been a pioneer in the field of technology and disability since its founding in 1971.
Accessible Web Authoring Resources and Education (AWARE): aware.hwg.org – AWARE has an extensive list of resources, including articles on accessibility and related topics.
Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST): www.cast.org – CAST uses technology to expand opportunities for all people, including those with disabilities. CAST developed Bobby (http://bobby.cast.org), a popular web accessibility evaluation tool.
CPB/WGBH National Center for Accessible Media (NCAM): ncam.wgbh.org – this is a research and development facility that works to make media accessible to underserved populations, such as disabled persons, minority-language users, and people with low literacy skills. NCAM is the developer of Media Access Generator (MAGpie) (ncam.wgbh.org/webaccess/magpie/index.html), a tool for adding captions to multimedia files.
Web Accessibility In Mind (WebAIM): www.webaim.org – WebAIM offers articles and resources, particularly related to improving accessibility for individuals with disabilities in postsecondary online learning opportunities.
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 (WCAG): www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10 – explain in detail how to make a Web site accessible for people with a variety of disabilities. Links to Techniques for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines: www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10-TECHS, which provides detailed markup examples and explanations of how to implement the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.
Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 (ATAG): www.w3.org/TR/ATAG10 – tool for software developers explains how to make a variety of authoring tools support the production of accessible Web content, and also how to make the software itself accessible. Links to Techniques for Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines: www.w3.org/TR/ATAG10-TECHS, which provides detailed examples and explanations for software developers on how to implement the Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines.
User Agent Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 (UAAG): www.w3.org/TR/UAAG10 – guidelines for software developers explain how to make accessible browsers and multimedia players, and assistive technologies that interface with them. Links to Techniques for User Agent Accessibility Guidelines: www.w3.org/TR/UAAG10-TECHS, which provides detailed examples and explanations for software developers on how to implement the User Agent Accessibility Guidelines.
W3C WAI Education and Outreach Working Group: www.w3.org/WAI/EO – current activities will provide excellent resources to those managing accessibility. Watch for on-going work in the areas of: planning web accessibility training, how people with disabilities use the web, customizing a business plan, business case sample, implementation plan samples, factors affecting cost of implementation, auxiliary benefits of accessible design for business case, and a WAI endorsement checklist that helps you evaluate web accessibility conformance and activities of others, and report it yourself.
Comparison of EITAS Paragraphs and WCAG
Checkpoints (PDF): 
www.uiaccess.com/eitas_wcag_charts.pdf – lists the
technical standards of the Electronic and Information Technology
Accessibility Standards (EITAS) and compares the EITAS web
standards with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 (WCAG)
from the Word Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Accessibility
Initiative (WAI).
Section 508 Web Standards and WCAG Priority 1 Checkpoints A Side-by-side Comparison: www.jimthatcher.com/sidebyside.htm – detailed comparison with comments.
Policies Relating to Web Accessibility: www.w3.org/WAI/Policy – includes information on web accessibility activities in Australia, New South Wales, Canada, Denmark, the European Union, France, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America.
About the Australian DDA: www.uiaccess.com/dda-aus.html – addresses the applicability of the Australia's Disability Discrimination Act 1992 to web sites. Includes list of resources.
Common Look and Feel (CLF) Standards Accessibility Section: www.cio-dpi.gc.ca/clf-upe/1/1_e.asp/a> – for the Government of Canada web sites.
Employment Equity Enabling Resource Centre for Persons with Disabilities: www.psc-cfp.gc.ca/eepmp-pmpee/program_overview/eeerc_e.htm – includes web accessibility design guidelines and web accessibility tests.
Recommended Guidelines for Public Sector Organisations:: www.taoiseach.gov.ie/viewitem.asp?id=291&lang=ENG – Section 7 addresses accessibility guidelines.
About the UK DDA: www.uiaccess.com/dda-uk.html – addresses the applicability of the UK's Disability Discrimination Act 1995 to web sites. Includes list of resources.
Web Accessibility and the DDA, The Journal of Information, Law and Technology (JILT): elj.warwick.ac.uk/jilt/01-2/sloan.html – discussion of the United Kingdom law that guarantees civil rights to people with disabilities, the Disability Discrimination Act of 1995 (DDA).
Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001: http://www.hmso.gov.uk/acts/acts2001/20010010.htm - text of the act itself.
U.S. Legal Activities on Web Accessibility: www.uiaccess.com/us-legal.html – provides a summary of the applicability of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, Section 255 of the Telecommunications Act, and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to web accessibility.
Recent Government Laws Relating to Disability and Product Design: trace.wisc.edu/legal/recent_laws.htm – very good, concise summary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Section 255 of the Telecommunications Act, and Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, with links to more information.
Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board (Access Board): www.access-board.gov – this is an independent Federal agency devoted to accessibility for people with disabilities, as defined by section 508, the Access Board was responsible for developing the section 508 standards.
Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility Standards (EITAS): www.access-board.gov/sec508/508standards.htm – states the 508 standards including preamble; scope; technical standards on software applications and operating systems, Web-based intranet and Internet information and applications, telecommunications products, video and multimedia products, self contained closed products, and desktop and portable computers; functional performance criteria; and information, documentation, and support.
Section 508 EITAS Technical Assistance to Ensure Successful Implementation: www.access-board.gov/508.htm – launch point for 508 law, Federal Acquisition Regulation (rule incorporating the standards into the Federal government's procurement regulations), and related information.
Federal Information Technology Accessibility Initiative (FITAI): www.section508.gov – an interagency effort coordinated by the General Services Administration to offer technical assistance and to provide an informal means of cooperation and sharing of information on implementation of Section 508. Offers information on the laws and regulations, current hot topics, policy and guidance, training and the FITAI membership directory.
U.S. Access Board Electronic And Information Technology Accessibility Standards Economic Assessment: www.access-board.gov/sec508/assessment.htm – Discusses and quantifies the costs and benefits of the electronic and information technology accessibility standards under Section 508.
Comparison of EITAS Paragraphs and WCAG
Checkpoints (PDF):
www.uiaccess.com/eitas_wcag_charts.pdf – lists the
technical standards of the Electronic and Information Technology
Accessibility Standards (EITAS) and compares the EITAS web
standards with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 (WCAG)
from the Word Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Accessibility
Initiative (WAI).
Section 508 Web Standards and WCAG Priority 1 Checkpoints A Side-by-side Comparison: www.jimthatcher.com/sidebyside.htm – Detailed comparison with comments.
Applying the ADA to the Internet: A Web Accessibility Standard: http://www.rit.edu/~easi/law/weblaw1.htm - An interesting article that discusses legal requirements for accessible web design
DOJ Americans With Disabilities Act ADA Home Page: www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/adahom1.htm
Applicability of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) to Private Internet Sites. commdocs.house.gov/committees/judiciary/hju65010.000/hju65010_0f.htm.
Proposed Addition to the Record, House Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on the Constitution, February 9, 2000, Oversight Hearing on The Applicability of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to Private Internet Sites at: trace.wisc.edu/docs/ada_internet_hearing
Telecommunications Act of 1996: www.fcc.gov/telecom.html – Includes general information about the Act with links to details. Section 255 covers access to telecommunications products and services by persons with disabilities, requiring manufacturers to ensure that equipment is designed, developed, and fabricated to be accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities, if readily achievable.
Telecommunication Act Accessibility Guidelines: www.access-board.gov/telecomm/html/telfinal.htm – Access Board guidelines for accessibility, usability, and compatibility of telecommunications products covered by Section 255 of the Telecommunications Act.
WAI Evaluation, Repair, and Transformation Tools for Web Content Accessibility: www.w3.org/WAI/ER/existingtools.html – An extensively annotated, linked list of tools. Optavia uses several of these tools, including:
Alternative Web Browsing: www.w3.org/WAI/References/Browsing – a comprehensive list of specialized browsers and screen readers. Introductory material provides a general understanding of how and when alternative web browsing is used. For demonstration and testing, Optavia most commonly uses:
Authoring Tools: www.w3.org/WAI/AU/tools - ists web authoring tools; includes links to reviews of conformance to ATAG for Amaya, asWedit, HomeSite, and HoTMetaL. See also Authoring Tool Conformance Reviews: www.w3.org/WAI/AU/reviews.
Tablin: http://www.w3.org/WAI/Resources/Tablin/comma - java filter that can linearize HTML tables and render them accordingly to preferences set by the end-user, developed by WAI Evaluation & Repair (ER) group.
Vischeck: www.vischeck.com – Vischeck's color vision simulator shows how an individual image of an entire web site looks to people with various sorts of color deficiency.
nColor: http://www.yoyodesign.org/outils/ncolor/ncolor8.html.en - color picker for web designers that shows background and text colors comparison.
Colour Picker and Tester: http://www.tesspub.com/colours.html - dynamically shows you how selected text and background colours look with various vision conditions.
Considering the Color Blind Design Evaluation: http://newmanservices.com/colorblind/default.asp - filters color values. Note that it remove style sheets and ignores images and therefore might take extra work to get relevant results.
W3C CSS: www.w3.org/Style/CSS – Launch page for the activities of the W3C CSS group, including CSS2 Specification (www.w3.org/TR/REC-CSS2).
W3C CSS Validator: jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/validator-uri.html – Validates cascading style sheet by URI, with a text area, or source file by upload.
Accessibility Features of CSS: www.w3.org/TR/CSS-access – Detailed technical discussion of features in W3C's Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) that support accessibility of Web content when CSS is used to control the presentation (visual or auditory display) of HTML documents.
WebReview.com's Style Sheet Reference Guide: www.webreview.com/style/ – Includes a Master Compatibility Chart: (www.webreview.com/style/css1/charts/mastergrid.shtml), a vital resource for determining browser compatibility.
CSS Pointers Group: css.nu – Source of information, examples, and links to other external resources.
Effective Color Contrast: Designing for People with Partial Sight and Color Deficiencies: www.lighthouse.org/color_contrast.htm – Contains basic guidelines for making effective color choices that work for nearly everyone. Covers basics on three perceptual attributes of color: hue, lightness, and saturation.
Color Blindess and Color Descrimination: http://www.stcsig.org/usability/topics/colorblind.html - lists links to basic infromation, design tools, and corrective tools.
Safe Web Colours for Colour-Deficient Vision: www.labs.bt.com/people/rigdence/colours/index.html – oncludes a short Background of color vision deficiency, testimonials, and links to related sites and products.
People Who Are Colorblind or Have Different Color Vision: webexhibits.org/causesofcolors/2.html – thorough coverage of colorblindness, including types, and incidence statistics.
Apple: www.apple.com/disability – All about accessibility and the Apple platform, including profiles of specific solutions for people with disabilities.
IBM: www.ibm.com/able – Extensive information about accessibility products available from IBM, including links to free downloads related to accessibility, and discount offers.
Microsoft: www.microsoft.com/enable – The Microsoft main page for accessibility, including corporate information, news and events listings, links to accessibility-related products available from Microsoft, training materials, and policies and guidelines.
Sun Microsystems: www.sun.com/access – Profiles Sun Microsystems' Accessibility Program, including background information and an interview with the leader of accessibility efforts at Sun.
access.adobe.com: access.adobe.com – This resource is designed to help people with visual disabilities work more effectively with Adobe® Acrobat® software and Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) files.
Acrobat Solutions for Accessibility: www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/solutionsacc.html – Scroll down to find the free MakeAccessible plug-in for Acrobat 5.0 (Windows only) that enables creation of tagged Adobe PDF files from untagged PDF files; also, how to create accessible Adobe PDF files, and QuickTime movies with instructions on how to improve the accessibility of documents using Acrobat 5.0.PDF.
Techniques for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines: www.w3.org/WAI/GL/2000/12/pdf.html – This is still an internal working draft at the W3C.
Macromedia Accessibility: http://www.macromedia.com/macromedia/accessibility/ – Includes tools, guidelines, features, and many other links Kit.
java.sun.com/products/jfc – Provides overview information, downloads, and a wide variety of related links for the Java Foundation Classes; includes links to accessibility resources.
java.sun.com/features/2000/03/accessibility.jplat_ns.html – Explains four basic components of accessibility on the Java platform: and provides links to additional information.
java.sun.com/docs/books/tutorial/index.html – Extensive tutorials: including Java basics, GUI construction, and more.
www-3.ibm.com/able/accessjava.html – Information about the joint effort by IBM and Sun: to increase Java accessibility; includes guidelines for making Java applications accessible.
www.trace.wisc.edu/world/java/java.htm – Discusses Java accessibility and usability: projects; includes links to examples.
www.microsoft.com/enable/dev/default.htm – All about MSAA – Microsoft® Active Accessibility®, a developer technology that makes computer programs more accessible to people who use assistive technology. Downloads, technical documentation, and more.
www.microsoft.com/enable/dev/guidelines/software.htm – The Microsoft Windows Guidelines for Accessible Software Design provides developers and others with the information they need to design and build accessible applications.
www.microsoft.com/enable/dev/web – Describes Microsoft’s web accessibility initiatives and how to use Microsoft tools to achieve web accessibility.
JavaScript and Dynamic HTML Accessibility: www.trace.wisc.edu/world/java/jscript.htm – provides examples and links.
Reader's guide to Sydney Olympics accessibility complaint: www.contenu.nu/socog.html – A thorough analysis of issues surrounding the Maguire vs. SOCOG web accessibility case, with links to the supporting document.
National Federation of the Blind/America Online Accessibility Agreement: www.nfb.org/Tech/accessibility.htm
NFB Sues AOL: www.nfb.org/bm/bm99/bm991201.htm
W3C web Content Accessibility Guidelines Conformance Logos: www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG1-Conformance.html
W3C HTML logo: www.w3.org/Icons/valid-html40
W3C CSS logo: jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/images/vcss.gif
W3C CSS buttons: www.w3.org/Style/CSS/Buttons/Menu
CAST Bobby icon guidelines: www.cast.org/bobby/index.cfm?i=317
NCAM web accessibility symbol: ncam.wgbh.org/webaccess/symbolwinner.html
Buy Accessible: section508.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=Content&ID=2
List of (self-reported) Bobby approved sites: www.cast.org/Bobby/ApprovedSites318.cfm
List of NCAM symbol sites: ncam.wgbh.org/webaccess/symbolsites.html
Half the Planet: www.halftheplanet.com – Lists disability-related services and products, news, and more.
List of Health and Disability Portals: www.icdri.org/Portals.htm
See also: Books on Web Accessibility
Accessibility column in Internetworking, the newsletter of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES) Internet Technical Group (ITG): www.internettg.org/newsletter/newsletter.html. Of particular note:
Adapting the Design Process to Address More Customers in More Situations. (www.uiaccess.com/upa2001a.html) Proceedings of the UPA 2001 Annual Conference.
Software Usability and Accessibility Standards: Progress, Issues, and Implications. Proceedings of IEA/HFES 2000 (International Ergonomics Association / Human Factors & Ergonomics Society annual meeting).
Usability screening techniques: evaluating for a wider range of environments, circumstances, and abilities. (www.uiaccess.com/upa2000a.html) Proceedings of the Usability Professionals' Association 2000 Conference.
Tests for screening product designs prior to user testing by people with functional limitations. Proceedings of HFES '99 (Human Factors & Ergonomics Society annual meeting).
Waving Magic Wands: Interaction Techniques to Improve Usability Testing Low Fidelity Prototypes. Proceedings of the UPA 2000 Annual Conference.
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