About Accessibility

Good ID accessible design

Mencap have a two-page PDF about making websites accessible to people with intellectual disabilities which can be downloaded from the ‘guides to accessibility’ page in the accessibility section of their website

These sites either target visitors with significant intellectual disabilities, or have attempted to address the accessibility needs of this group. Most of the sites need additional work to meet with WAI accessibility guidelines:

Mencap

http://www.mencap.org.uk
Mencap is the UK's largest ID charity and a prominent lobbyist and service provider for people with ID. Their general audience site provides some accessibility features targeting ID visitors, including server-side text-to-speech audio via ReadSpeaker.

Ask Mencap http://www.askmencap.info/
Mencap also provide an online information service for people with ID. This site uses Adobe Flash to deliver content through a combination of Change Picture Bank line images, spoken audio and simple text.

Learning Disability Coalition

http://www.learningdisabilitycoalition.org.uk/

is the homepage of a coalition of UK campaigning group for people with ID. The site is for general audience but includes additional accessibility enhancements for ID users. Notable inclusions are server-side text-to-speech, via ReadSpeaker, and an animated, talking help avatar, via SitePal. An easy read text as an Adobe Acrobat download is also provided and this includes simplified text supported by accessible concept images from Photo Symbols. Adobe's inclusion of easy to use text-to-speech functionality in Acrobat Reader has added greatly to the accessibility of such documents for non-readers.

Peepo

http://www.peepo.com/
Peepo is a long established picture directory for people with ID. Text and sound are sometimes used to support the primary content which is pictorial (SVG images).

Newham Easy Read

http://www.newhameasyread.org/

This site is a transition portal linking to numerous mini-sites created by people with ID. Sites are built using a serious of simple forms which allow easy upload of audio, video, images and text. Some users record and upload their own audio versions of the text, though the server converts text to mp3 audio where no user audio is provided.

Common Knowledge Glasgow

Common Knowledge http://www.ckglasgow.org.uk/
Common Knowledge is a social networking site developed for and around a group of ID users in Glasgow. The site relies mostly on images to support its text based content and services but also provides games and other interactive content throughout the site.

Symbol World

Symbol World http://www.symbolworld.org
Symbol World is a popular symbol based news, magazine and reference site created by Widgit Software. Text-to-speech is optionally provided via BrowseAloud and Widgit's own Web helper application Webwide. The Widgit-Rebus symbols used to support text on this site are the most commonly employed symbol system in the UK, although other similar notably those of Makaton, BLISS and PCS are also in widespread use.

Ookjij

http://www.ookjij.nl
A Dutch site for people with a learning disability. It uses sounds and pictures so it is easy and fun to use - even if you don't speak the language.

Top

Some accessibility sites are downright ugly, but the problem lies with those sites’ designers and not with accessibility, which carries no visual penalty.

Jeffrey Zeldman, Designing with Web Standards, 2003

Although serving the needs of people with disabilities should of course be a concern, the far wider issue – that accessibility is a matter of usability – has rarely been discussed. As designer professionals, we should be designing our content so it is globally accessible and meets the needs of as many people as is possible and practical given our specific circumstances, regardless of their abilities or the type of device they choose to access the Web

Andy Clarke, Transcending CSS: the fine art of web design, 2006