Introduction to
Universal Electronic
Accessibility and Jaws
PRESENTED BY ADINA MULLIKEN, MAY 2014
Today’s Intended Outcomes
» Explore concepts of Universal Design.
» Name two sets of web accessibility technical
guidelines (WCAG 2.0 & Section 508).
» Gain understanding of accessibility related policy
developments.
» Experience how some users with disabilities access
information with JAWS.
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Universal Design (UD)
» UD is a concept, or frame of mind. UD is not a set of
technical guidelines or legal requirements; we’ll get to
those.
» Elements that are good for UD sometimes coincide
with requirements to meet accessibility technical
standards (WCAG 2.0 and Section 508)
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Definition of Universal Design (UD)
“Often, designers focus on the average user. In contrast,
universal design (UD), according to the Center for Universal
Design, ‘is the design of products and environments to be
usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without
the need for adaptation or specialized design’”- CAST
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Example of UD- PDFs
» An accessible PDF is usable by a person who needs the
PDF read aloud by text to speech software, whether this
is due to:




a learning disability
a cognitive disability
blindness or low vision
a busy commuter schedule that requires listening to PDFs
while driving or riding the bus
» PDF accessibility is also required by technical
accessibility guidelines, which we will get to later
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Example of UD - videos
» An accessible, captioned and audio described video
is usable by a person:
 Who is Deaf or hard of hearing
 Who is learning the language
 Who is in a noisy Learning Commons trying to watch a
video on a display
 Who is blind or low vision
 Who needs to turn away from the screen for a moment
» Clip of audio described, captioned video
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Web accessibility - good for everyone
» “Web accessibility makes for a more progressive,
cleaner, and contemporary website.”- Cindy Barry,
Information Technology Analyst
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Federal policy
» Frequently Asked Questions About the June 29, 2010,
Dear Colleague Letter (DCL)
“ [The DCL] addresses key principles of Federal disability
discrimination law: the obligation to provide an equal
opportunity to individuals with disabilities to participate in,
and receive the benefits of, the educational program”
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Federal policy, continued
» When the requirements have been enforced through
complaint resolutions and settlement agreements,
institutions of higher education have most often
agreed to abide by WCAG 2.0 level AA.
» According to an ANPRM by the Dept. of Justice,
regulations such as WCAG 2.0 and Section 508 are
expected to be added under ADA.
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Technical Accessibility Guidelines
» Section 508 Standards. § 1194.22 Web-based intranet
and internet information and applications.
» W3C-Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)
2.0
 Includes Conformance Level A (lowest), AA,
and AAA (highest)
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Technical Guidelines in Practice
» Syracuse University Libraries will comply with WCAG
2.0 as well as Section 508 wherever possible for web
accessibility.
» WCAG 2.0 & Section 508 are not intended as
checklists for beginners. Going by trainings provided
would probably be more practical for many people.
» WebAIM offers user friendly guidance on WCAG 2.0
and Section 508.
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Resolution agreement example
» University of Montana Accessibility Resolution
Agreement
“By March 14, 2014, the University's library website shall be
accessible in accordance with WCAG 2.0 Level AA standard,
…. The …Library shall conduct monthly accessibility scans to
ascertain whether any new posted content is inaccessible. The
University shall notify content authors if corrections to pages
are needed and of reasonable timelines for corrections to be
made. The University shall note if corrective action has been
taken during the next monthly scan.”
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JAWS
» Screen reader used by people who are blind and
sometimes people with some cognitive disabilities
» Most widely used screen reader in U.S.
» Vendor, Freedom Scientific, offers free 40 min. mode
» Screen reader users navigate with a keyboard, not a
mouse. Screen readers are typically used with the
screen off.
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JAWS settings
» Users can change many settings in JAWS
» Some settings that may be relevant for Library staff to
be aware of:
 Punctuation
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A few things about using JAWS
» You can use continuous “Say All” mode, or go more
slowly (line by line, word by word, etc.)
» Cntl= Be quiet JAWS!
» JAWS has numerous keystrokes.
» JAWS has several “cursors” which we will just touch
upon
» There are different keystrokes for Internet, Word,
Outlook, etc. We’ll use Internet keystrokes.
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Page Elements to which Jaws can go
» Headings- H
» Links- visted or unvisited- V, U
» Checkboxes- X
» Bulleted Lists- L
» “Edit boxes” (search boxes)- E
» “Combo boxes” (drop down menus)- C
» Tables- T
» Many more!
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Demo Jaws in Ebsco
» Use arrows and tabs to get around
» Open drop down- hear pronunciation of abbreviations
» Insert+ F7 lists links
» Insert + F6 lists headings
» Accessibility link- Ebsco has 3 short cut keys
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Further resources
» Organizations that work on Universal Design
 CAST
 The Center for Universal Design National Center on
Universal Design for Learning
 DO-IT (Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking,
Technology)-University of Washington
» Introductory Resources and Policy on Web
Accessibility - from ACRL Universal Accessibility
Interest Group on ALA Connect
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Further resources, continued
» Sources for free and commercial audio described
videos
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