AccessAbility SIG of STC: Accessibility-Related Articles and Reviews

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Introduction

This page contains summaries or links to sites of accessibility-related articles and literature.

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See the suggested reading list for general information and detailed reference books for your library.

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The AccessAbility SIG does not diagnose, prescribe, or endorse. We simply provide information to those who want it. For more information about product endorsements and other disclaimers, please see our Legal Information page.

SIG-Related Materials

• Conference handouts and presentations are available on the Conference Session Materials page.

• >AccessAbility SIG History

• STC's AccessAbility SIG 2005 promotional brochure (278 K PDF file ). If you'd like some hard copies of the brochure, contact Dan Voss at

• "What Makes a Web Site Accessible?" (177 K PDF file ) written by Kim McConnell for the Feb/Mar 2002 issue of the Central Ohio Chapter newsletter. This article focuses on how Web accessibility affects technical communicators. The article was updated in September 2002 to include updated the information about "Bobby", which was acquired by Watchfire. As of February 1, 2008 the Watchfire WebXact and Bobby Online products will no longer be publicly available.

• Videotape with scenarios on disabilities in the workplace: a videotape that shows four individuals with different disabilities who are followed as they meet the challenges of finding and maintaining employment is available from http://www.sfsu.edu/~avitv/avcatalog/86168.htm

• The "Lesson of the Butterfly" by Leandro Valdir of Brazil (translated by Fidelia García) tells a story about a butterfly with a broken wing. (292 K zipped file )

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Literature Materials and References

Accessibility Information

• Book review of "Access by Design" by Sarah Horton by the SAP Design Guild.

• "Smooth the Bumpy Road to 508 Compliance" by Steve Graves in Government Computer News, Vol. 21, No. 23, August 12, 2002. "Tools with wizards, customizable rules, and details for fixes can help you retrofit Web sites for accessibility".

• Dave Murphy, syndicated columnist of "Job Talk" recommended four books that can help people with special needs in his 15 November 2002 column, "Holidays and the job hunter":

Accessible Technology in Today's Business, Microsoft Press
I'd Rather be Working: A Step by Step Guide to Financial Self-Support for People With Chronic Illness, by Gayle Blackstrom
Working in the Dark: Keeping Your Job While Dealing With Depression, by Fawn Fitter and Beth Gulas
Blindsided: A Manager's Guide to Catastrophic Incidents in the Workplace, by Bruce T. Blythe

ADA

• "The Upside of ADHD," by Marilyn Lewis for MSN Health & Fitness – Enthusiasm, empathy and high energy among traits the disorder carries

• What is the ADA? The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed into law on July 26, 1990. The ADA prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in employment, programs, and services provided by state and local governments; goods and services provided by private companies; and in commercial facilities. The ADA Web site includes technical assistance materials, an information line, enforcement status reports, settlement information, new or proposed regulations, certification, and ADA mediation. It is equipped with a search engine.

Adaptive Technology

• "Adaptive Technologies for the Visually Impaired: The Role of Technical Communicators," by Deborah S. Ray and Eric J. Ray, Technical Communication, Volume 45, No.4, pp. 573-579, November 1998.

Communication and Language

• Removing Barriers: Tips and Strategies to Promote Accessible Communication PDF file is a resource for communication professionals, graphic artists, printers, educators, the media for how to communicate verbaly and in presentation material; booklet by the North Carolina Office on Disability and Health in collaboration with The Center for Universal Design

• "A Language at its Genesis," a National Science Foundation article about the emergence of a new sign language in Nicaragua. Includes interesting links to other sites about sign language.

• "Disability is Natural: "The mission of this site is to encourage new ways of thinking about disability and to help create a society in which all people are valued and included." This site includes a discussion of People First Language, which should be very valuable to technical communicators.

• Guidelines for Reporting and Writing about People with Disabilities Appropriate Terminology

• Kairos: A Journal of Rhetoric, Technology, and Pedagogy. The recently renamed journal is pleased to announce the release of Issue 7.1, available at http://english.ttu.edu/kairos/current/.

Highlights in this issue include: A CoverWeb on Disability—Demonstrated by and Mediated Through Technology, featuring articles from Patricia A. Dunn and Kathleen Dunn De Mers; Michael Salvo; Marlana Portolano; Brenda Brueggemann, Wendy L. Chrisman, Marian Lupo, Angeline Kapferer, and Ben Patton; and Susan Grover and Anne Hendricks on various aspects of disability, technologies, teaching, and learning.

• "Manuals for the Elderly: Which Information Cannot Be Missed," by F. M. van Horen, C. Jansen, A. Maes, and L. G. M. Noordman, Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, 2002, v31 n4, p. 415-431.

Abstract: Elderly people seem to encounter more problems than people from other age groups do, when using consumer electronics products and their accompanying manuals. This may be due to the absence of some kinds of information. In this study the effects of the absence of different information types in instructions on action performance were explored for different age groups. Younger (aged 20-30 years) and elderly (aged 60-70 years) participants installed a VCR with the help of the manual, while working aloud. The absence of goal information, consequence information and identification information in the instructions proved to have a negative effect on task performance, especially for the elderly participants. When one of these information types was missing in the instructions, the elderly performed more actions incorrectly than when the information was stated explicitly.

• Interested in how composition scholars are writing about various disabilities? In a 2001 issue of College Composition and Communication (vol. 52, no. 3, Feb. 2001), 5 authors wrote "Becoming Visible: Lessons in Disability" PDF file .

Abstract: The five authors call for increased awareness of disability in composition studies and argue that such an awareness can productively disrupt notions of "writing" and "composing" at the same time it challenges "normal"/"not normal" binaries in the field. In six sections: Brueggemann introduces and examines the paradox of disability's "in-visibility" White considers the social construction of learning disabilities; Dunn analyzes the rhetoric of backlash against learning disabilities; Heifferon illustrates how a disability text challenged her students; Cheu describes how a disability-centered writing class made disability visible; all five conclude with challenges and directions for composition studies in intersecting with disability studies.

• "Making disability visible: How disability studies might transform the medical and science writing classroom," by James C. Wilson, Technical Communication Quarterly, vol. 9, no. 2, 2000, pp. 149-161, published by the Association of Teachers of Technical Writing (ATTW).. Wilson is an assistant professor at the University of Cincinnati. He co-edited a forthcoming collection called "Embodied Rhetorics: Disability in Language and Culture" with Cynthia Lewiecki-Wilson.

• "Communicating with People with Disabilities," (26 K PDF file ) by Mary Kendig, from the STC Orlando Chapter newsletter, Tech Trends, January / February 2000.

Employment and the Workplace

• Trends for improving accessibility in the workplace. The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), has several articles in Workplace Visions, Issue 5 - 2003. The "Barriers to Access" article states that "A key barrier to access for employees with disabilities is a false perception among some employers that accessibility problems are too difficult to address, together with a lack of awareness of technologies and resources that make access possible." Researchers with the Cornell University's program on Age and Disability have done a lot of research on this subject. See A Review of Selected E-Recruiting Websites: Disability Accessibility Considerations, by William Erickson. (2002 September) (full paper – VERY large file) and "Accessible IT for People with Disabilities: HR Considerations", by Susanne M. Bruyère, William Erickson, and Sara VanLooy. (2003, May)

• "All Access Pass: enabling technologies offer business possibilities," (156 K PDF file )
by Dan Costa, Communications, Home Office Computing, April 2001. Copyright 2001 Freedom Technology Media Group.

• November 1, 2001 "Aftermath: Rethinking 'Place' in Business," by Bob Tedeschi http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/1107w.html#item19 discusses how September 11, 2001 impacted investment in technologies that support remote working.

Health and Medicine

• Economy Class Syndrome (Deep Vein Thrombosis) When a person is motionless for long periods of time, as during a long airline flight, blood may pool in the legs and clot. Hours later when the person becomes active again, these clots may move into other parts of the body, sometimes lodging in a vital organ and causing death.

• Removing Barriers to Health Care Facilities PDF file "How usable are your health care services and facilities to people with disabilities?" booklet by the North Carolina Office on Disability and Health in collaboration with The Center for Universal Design

• Removing Barriers to Health Clubs and Fitness Facilities PDF file "A Guide for Accommodating All Members, Including People with Disabilities and Older Adults" booklet by the North Carolina Office on Disability and Health in collaboration with The Center for Universal Design

History

• For those interested in the history of psychiatry in America, a new book has just been published by John Wiley called "The Lobotomist: A Maverick Medical Genius and His Tragic Quest to Rid the World of Mental Illness". As described by the author, Jack El-Hai, it is "...[the] biography of Walter Freeman, the infamous neurologist and promoter of frontal lobotomy who operated on Rosemary Kennedy in 1941." – 30 January 2005

Humor

• Disability humor: The BBC website in the UK has a rather good Web site called "Ouch". Their About page explains that it is basically a lifestyle site for people with disabilities—because there are so many sites available with support and help information.

Planning Meetings

• Frequently Asked Questions About Accessible Meetings PDF file

• Meetings Checklist PDF file

• Planning Accessible Meetings, Courses, and Conferences - a tool for the all-inclusive organiser (English version) PDF version PDF file [Norway]

• Planning a Great Meeting by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Suggestions for ways to make a meeting accessible, functional, pleasant, and run smoothly.

• Removing Barriers Meeting Guide PDF file "Planning meetings that are accessible to all participants" booklet by the North Carolina Office on Disability and Health in collaboration with The Center for Universal Design

• Barrier-free meetings: a guide for professional associations by Martha Ross Redden

Policy

• National Disability Policy: A Progress Report

wheelchair access icon International Symbol of Access (ISA) was developed and adopted by RI and ICTA in 1969.

wheelchair access icon Proposed International Symbol of Mobility (ISM) August 2001 discussion paper.

Specific Population Groups

• "European Union designates 2003 as the Year of the People with Disabilities." This declaration, combined with new Web accessibility legislation coming in Canada, 14 US States, and in the UK, should encourage all Web developers and organizations to make 2003 the year to incorporate Web site accessibility.

• Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering 2004 – full report (March 2006 Update PDF file ). This report is from a series of Congressionally-mandated biennial reports. The report documents both short- and long-term trends. The online versions offer additional features that take advantage of Web technology to assist in finding and displaying information. For related reports in the series, see National Science Foundation Science and Engineering Statistics

Web Design

• "Accessibility Issue Comes to a Head" 8 May 2006 Computerworld article. Advocates for the blind are trying to convince companies to make their Web sites more accessible -- a campaign that's taking on increased urgency because of the emergence of dynamic Web applications that may not mesh well with screen readers.

• "The Business Case for Web Accessibility" 19 January 2004

• "Web Designer, Heal Thy Self" 24 January 2004 follow-up article to comment on criticism of the 19 January article.

• "IBM and SeniorNet Unlock the World Wide Web for Millions More Users." "SeniorNet is serving as the pilot site for a revolutionary system developed by IBM to make the World Wide Web accessible to everyone, including people who have visual limitations that make it difficult or impossible to see a Web page or motor impairments like tremors that make it difficult to type or use a mouse. This software is now available to all SeniorNet members."

• IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, December 2001, Volume 44, Number 4: "Web accessibility for people with disabilities: An introduction for web developers," by J. Carter and M. Markel, IEEE TransPC 12/2001 v44 n4, pp. 225-233

Abstract: This article presents an overview of the topic of web access for people with disabilities. First we describe the four basic disabilities and explain the benefits of making sites accessible, as well as the reasons that more sites are not accessible. Next, we review the relevant laws regarding web access, then discuss efforts being made by vendors and professional organizations, especially Microsoft and the World Wide Web Consortium, to encourage accessibility. Finally, we describe major resources that web developers might consult to assist them in making their sites accessible to people with disabilities.

• "Equality of Access: Putting the Content of the Internet within the Grasp of the Disabled," written by Kim Weathersby ( ), chapter Program Manager. March / April 2001 issue of the Rocky Mountain chapter newsletter, Technicalities ( PDF file )

• "And Web Accessibility for All," written by Stephen Wertzbaugher ( ), chapter Newsletter Editor. March / April 2001 issue of the Rocky Mountain chapter newsletter, Technicalities ( PDF file )