Guidelines

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BSI (British Standards Institute) (1 Link)  PAS (Publicly Available Specification) 78 Guide to Good Practice in Commissioning Accessible Websites (RTF Format - 355Kb). This specification, developed by the DRC (Disability Rights Commission), outlines good practice in developing accessible websites. It can be also be purchased from BSI.

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CanCore (1 Link)  CanCore Guidelines for the "Access for All" Digital Resource Description Metadata Elements March 2006. CanCore have integrated the IMS ACCMD (AccessForAll Meta-data) Specification into their LOM (Learning Object Meta-data) guidelines. Each element listed has technical implementation notes, vocabulary recommendations, a text example, and an XML (eXtensible Mark-up Language) example. Further information is availble from the Project Summary and from the Podcast of CanCore interview with Jutta Treviranus (MP3 Format, 12.7Mb, 14 minutes in length) or Transcript of CanCore interview with Jutta Treviranus. There is also an overview of the reasoning behind the development of the CanCore metadata elements: CanCore Guidelines for the "Access for All" Digital Resource Description Metadata Elements Overview.

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DAISY (1 Link)  DAISY Specification This specification from the Daisy Consortium defines a format for talking books that enables navigation within a sequential and hierarchical structure consisting of (marked-up) text synchronized with audio.

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Dublin Core (2 Links)  DCMI (Dublin Core Metadata Initiative) Accessibility Special Interest Group. A discussion list for issues relating to the DCMI. 

DCMI (Dublin Core Meta-data Initiative) Accessibility Working Group The working group has created a DC AccessForAll Application Profile and have set up the DCMI Accessibility Working Group Wiki to capture comments regarding the issues surrounding this. </li></ol>

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Government Guidelines (3 Links)  Government of Canada Internet Guide Includes guidelines for accessible web design and standards for a common look and feel. </li>

Guidelines for UK Government Websites Various documents that give a general overview of web management and legislation issues. </li>

New Zealand Government Web Guidelines. Includes guidelines for accessible web design, bilingual issues, and rural issues.</li></ol>

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IMS (3 Links)  IMS ACCLIP (Accessibility for Learner Information Package) Specification Version 1.0 This specification allows preferences for content, display, and interface control to be recorded and described for all users, so that learning materials can be easily accessed from any location (e.g. school, home, office, library or while using mobile devices) in the way that the user requires regardless of physical, environmental or hardware limitations. See also Briefing: IMS Accessibility for LIP (ACCLIP) Specification. </li>

IMS ACCMD (AccessForAll Meta-data) Specification Version 1.0 This specification defines the meta-data that can be used to describe a learning resource's accessibility and its ability to match a learner's preferences. See also Briefing: IMS AccessForAll Meta-data (ACCMD) Specification. </li>

<b>IMS Guidelines for Developing Accessible Learning Applications Version 1.0; Linee guida IMS per lo sviluppo di applicazioni accessibili per la formazione (Italian Version of the Guidelines)</b> These guidelines are a set of recommendations and resources that aim to make e-learning accessible to everyone regardless of ability or environment. Topics include: Design recommendations; Text, audio, images, multimedia; Communication tools; Interfaces and interactive environments; Testing and assessment; and Topic specific accessibility, e.g. maths, science, music. See also Briefing: IMS Guidelines for Developing Accessible Learning Applications (Accessibility Guidelines).</li></ol>

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Information About e-Learning Standards (7 Links)  Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Learning Standards but were Afraid to Ask by Wayne Hodgins and Marcia Conner, Autumn 2000. A brief overview of learning standards bodies. </li>

JISC (Joint Information Systems Committee) Technology and Standards Watch The Technology and Standards Watch keeps track of developments in information and communication technologies that might impact on the core business of the FE (Further Education) and HE (Higher Education) communities. </li> Making Sense of Learning Specifications and Standards: A Decision Maker's Guide to their Adoption (PDF format - 1.11Mb) by The Masie Centre, November 2003. This guide describes and explains e-learning and standards, learning objects, metadata and conformance. </li>

SALT (Specifications for Accessible Learning Technologies) A collaboration between NCAM (National Center for Accessible Media) and IMS, which aims to make online learning resources accessible to people with disabilities by developing and promoting specifications and effective models. </li>

The Way Forward with Web Standards This article gives reasons and makes a commercial case for adopting web standards. </li>

User-Centred Accessibility Supported by Distributed, Cumulative Authoring by Liddy Nevile, La Trobe University, Melbourne, 2005. This paper discusses the benefits of matching e-learning resources to an learner's needs and preferences. It suggests that such "just-in-time" accessibility is more effective and efficient than "universal" accessibility. </li>

Web Standards Project The Web Standards Project is a coalition group fighting for standards that ensure simple, access to web technologies for all.</li></ol>

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ISO/IEC (International Organization for Standardization/International Electrotechnical Commission) (2 Links) <ol> <li>JTC1 (Joint Technical Committee 1) SC36 (SubCommittee 36) Individualized Adaptability and Accessibility in E-learning, Education and Training This standard integrates the IMS ACCLIP (Accessibility for Learner Information Package) and IMS ACCMD (AccessForAll Meta-data Specifications) into a single multi-part standard. The different parts are as follows: <ul> <li>ISO/IEC 24751-1:2008 Individualized Adaptability and Accessibility in E-learning, Education and Training Part 1: Framework and Reference Model. Part 1 of the multi-part standard. It lays out the scope and defines the reference model for Parts 1 and 2 below. Status: International Standard. Published: 16th September 2008. </li>

<li>ISO/IEC 24751-2:2008 Individualized Adaptability and Accessibility in E-learning, Education and Training Part 2: "Access For All" Personal Needs and Preferences for Digital Delivery. Part 2 of the multi-part standard. It covers the IMS ACCLIP Specification and defines accessibility needs and preferences, which can then be matched to resources (as defined in Part 3 below). Status: International Standard. Published: 16th September 2008. </li> <li>ISO/IEC 24751-3:2008, Individualized Adaptability and Accessibility in E-learning, Education and Training Part 3: "Access For All" Digital Resource Description. Part 3 of the multi-part standard. It covers the IMS ACCMD Specification and defines the accessibility meta-data that expresses a resource's ability to match the needs and preferences of a user (as defined in Part 2 above). Status: International Standard. Published: 16th September 2008. </li>

<li>NP 24751-4, Individualized Adaptability and Accessibility in E-learning, Education and Training Part 4: Access for All Non-digital Resource Description. Part 4 of the multi-part standard. This will describe how non-digital learning resources can be referenced using meta-data. Status: Approved as new project 18th April 2007. Target Publication Date: 31st December 2010. </li>

<li>NP 24751-5, Individualized Adaptability and Accessibility in E-learning, Education and Training Part 5: Personal Needs and Preferences for Non-digital Resources. Part 5 of the multi-part standard. This will describe how preferences for non-digital learning resources can be referenced. Status: Approved as new project 18th April 2007. Target Publication Date: 31st December 2010. </li>

<li>NP 24751-6, Individualized Adaptability and Accessibility in E-learning, Education and Training Part 6: Personal Needs and Preferences for Description of Events and Places. Part 6 of the multi-part standard. This will describe how preferences for physical places (such as classrooms) can be referenced. Status: Approved as new project 18th April 2007. Target Publication Date: 31st December 2010. </li>

<li>NP 24751-7, Individualized Adaptability and Accessibility in E-learning, Education and Training Part 7: Description of Events and Places. Part 7 of the multi-part standard. This will describe how preferences for physical places (such as classrooms) can be referenced using meta-data. Status: Approved as new project 18th April 2007. Target Publication Date: 31st December 2010. </li>

<li>CD 24751-8, Individualized Adaptability and Accessibility in E-learning, Education and Training Part 8: Language Accessibility and Human Interface Equivalencies (HIEs) in e-Learning Applications. Part 8 of the multi-part standard. This will describe how language and learning preferences will be referenced. Status: Committee Stage: Voting/Comment Period Closed 29th August 2008. Target Publication Date: 31st December 2009. </li></ul></li>

<li>JTC1 (Joint Technical Committee 1) SC36 (SubCommittee 36) Special Working Group on Accessibility This working group is gathering user requirements, as well as publishing an inventory of all known accessibility standards, in order to identify any gaps.</li></ol>

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W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) (15 Links) <ol> <li>ATAG (Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines) These guidelines aim to assist developers in designing authoring tools that produce accessible Web content, and in creating an accessible authoring interface. </li>

<li>CSS (Cascading Style Sheets), Level 2, Specification This specification also includes guidelines for aural stylesheets. Work is also being undertaken to update the current CSS Specification to fix several bugs and to add some minor features (CSS Level 2.1 - currently at Candidate Recommendation status (as of February 2008)). Major features will be incorporated in CSS Level 3 which is still under development as a Working Draft (as of February 2008). </li>

<li>Dynamic Accessible Web Content Roadmap The W3C PF (Protocols and Formats) Working Group is working on a draft of a roadmap for making dynamic web content more accessible. "This roadmap is designed to create a bridge to fix the interoperability problem with assistive technologies today by incorporating the appropriate meta data in today's XHTML markup to support today's accessibility API. It will incorporate some of the advanced accessibility features in technologies like XHTML2. The intent of XHTML 2 is to make the enablement of web applications and documents easier for authors". Specifications being developed as part of this Roadmap, include: <ul> <li>States and Adaptable Properties Module -aims to make static and interactive web content more usable and accessible to users and assistive technologies by providing "a cross-platform role model for dynamic Web content that allows for content adaptations based on role information. The result is to provide an interoperable way for associating behaviors with document-level markup";</li> <li>Role Taxonomy for Accessible Adaptable Applications - aims to define attributes which "provide XML languages with the ability to add extra information about the behavior of an element. States and Adaptable Properties are mapped to accessibility frameworks (such as a screen reader) that use this information to provide alternative access solutions. Similarly state and author properties can be used to dynamically change the rendering of content using different style sheet properties. The result is to provide an interoperable way for associating behaviors with document-level markup";</li> <li>XHTML2 Specification (includes XForms).</li></ul> Status: The Roadmap is currently at Editor's Draft level (as of February 2008). </li>

<li>HTML (HyperText Mark-up Language) 4.01 Specification This specification defines HTML 4.01, which supports multimedia, scripting languages, style sheets, and a greater degree of accessibility. </li>

<li>MathML (Mathematical Mark-up Language)  Specification MathML allows mathematical notation to be described by using XML (eXtensible Mark-up Language). </li>

<li>Ruby Annotation Ruby Annotations are short runs of text alongside the base text, used in East Asian documents to indicate pronunciation or to provide a short annotation. This specification defines markup for Ruby, in the form of an XHTML (eXtensible HyperText Mark-up Language) module. </li>

<li>SMIL (Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language) SMIL aims to define an XML-based language that allows authors to write interactive multimedia presentations, and allow reusing of SMIL syntax and semantics in other XML-based languages. </li>

<li>SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) Specfication SVG is a language for describing two dimensional graphics in XML (eXtensible Mark-up Language) and can be useful for a semantic web approach. </li>

<li>Speech Recognition Grammar Specification This specification defines syntax for representing grammars for use in speech recognition so that developers can specify the words and patterns of words to be listened for by a speech recognizer. </li>

<li>Ubiquitous Web Applications The Ubiquitous Web Applications Working Group has taken over the work of the Device Independence Working Group (which in turn has taken over the work of the CC/PP (Composite Capability/Preference Profiles) Working Group). It will be taking a multi-layered approach to user interfaces so that the the concerns of application developers can be separated from the details of how the user interface is realized on specific devices and browsers. It will provide rich descriptions of devices, and the means to expose this to Web applications to enable them to dynamically adapt to changes in user preferences, device capabilities and environmental conditions. Status: Candidate Recommendation level (as of February 2008). </li>

<li>UAAG (User Agent Accessibility Guidelines) User agents are software, such as browsers, multimedia players, and other programs, which access and display web content. There is a UAWG (User Agent Accessibility Guidelines Working Group) mailing list for discussion. </li>

<li>WAI-ARIA Roadmap (Web Accessibility Initiative Roadmap for Accessible Rich Internet Applications) This working draft addresses the accessibility of dynamic Web content by describing "the technologies to map controls, AJAX live regions, and events to accessibility APIs, including custom controls used for Rich Internet Applications". It also "outlines new navigation techniques to mark common Web structures such as menus, primary content, secondary content, banner information and other types of Web structures", which can improve accessibility. It includes: <ul> <li>WAI-ARIA Roles (Web Accessibility Initiative Roles for Accessible Rich Internet Applications) - provides a means of identifying roles in dynamic web content, in order to improve interoperability with assistive technologies.</li> <li>WAI-ARIA States and Properties (Web Accessibility Initiative States and Properties Module for Accessible Rich Internet Applications) - enables the behaviour of an element to be included in XML (eXtensible Mark-up Language). This can then be used in conjunction with assistive technologies or to dynamically render content via different style sheets.</li> <li>WAI-ARIA Primer - The primer "explains the accessibility problems posed by hybrid technologies such as DHTML and Ajax". JuicyStudio also has some information about AJAX and accessibility.</li></ul> Status: Currently at Working Draft level (as of February 2008). </li>

<li>WAI (Web Accessibility Initiative) Interest Group Mailing List. A discussion list for issues relating to the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) WAI Guidelines. </li>

<li>WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) 2.0 WCAG may be considered the de facto standard for web-based accessibility. WCAG 1.0 has now been superceded by WCAG 2.0. The guidelines also include: WCAG 2.0 at a Glance, WCAG 2.0 Documents, How to Meet WCAG 2.0: A Customizable Quick Reference, Understanding WCAG 2.0 and How to Update Your Website from WCAG 1.0 to WCAG 2.0. There is also a WCAG discussion list. </li>

<li>XAG (XML Accessibility Guidelines) These guidelines explain how to design accessible applications using XML.</li></ol> End of Guidelines: Back to Top of Page