2009 Web Tech Accessibility

The advent of cutting-edge web features has benefited many but those same features will often prevent functionality by users with special needs. With some simple adjustments state-of-the-art web technologies can be made accessible to all users regardless of ability.

This session will include an overview of the basic accessibility adherence guidelines, the benefits of implementing web accessibility, the common hurdles and the ways to make implementation easier using open-source solutions.

Attendees will be provided with real world explanations of how different disabilities can affect web usage in ways not normally perceived by unrestricted users and how the common solutions aim to ease access. Details of the different accessibility implementations will be explained including Section 508 and W3C WAI levels A, AA and AAA compliance along with W3C's newest guidelines- WCAG 2.0.

Also included in this session will be ways to improve the accessibility of AJAX, DHTML, Flash and Flex as well as blogs, tag clouds and other common Web 2.0 trends along with how to ensure their universal usability.