Introduction
Introduction
This ebook will examine the standards and methods for designing digital material which is not only accessible for persons with disabilities but also effective and usable for all users and all platforms. In the chapters that follow we will review standards for usability and accessibility, focusing on the concepts of Universal Design, Web Standards and accessibility best practices. During our journey we will also address important concepts such as usability and responsiveness, terms which we will explain later.
Benefits of a UD Approach
There are a number of benefits in a Universal Design approach to Web design, or to any type of design for that matter. One benefit is that when we design from a UD perspective, we create a site or product that is not only accessible and usable by a wide range of audiences, including audiences often excluded from access to digital material and services – this can include persons with disabilities, older persons, non-English speakers, users with low bandwidths, etc. – but we also create more usable and effective designs for all audiences, even those without special needs or outside what we might term the normative population. In the chapters that follow we hope to provide you with the tools and strategies you will need to develop web pages and digital material which are both accessible and effective. Our aim is not only to teach you the skills for becoming a designer of accessible web sites but of highly usable sites. We will begin our discussion, counter-intuitively, in the physical world. The concept of Universal Design originated and developed before the existence of the Web, or for that matter, the popular use of the Internet or email. Exploring these concepts in the built environment will help us isolate these concepts from digital or Web technology. This will provide the foundation to understand and apply these concepts to the digital environment and reinforce the idea that Universal Design transcends any one environment.
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