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Internet Electronic Curb-cuts

During the 1990's, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) released their Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. These guidelines focused on how to develop web sites that are accessible, usable and useful to persons with disabilities. Using these Web accessibility guidelines also delivers the following "electronic curb-cuts:"

  • Accessibility Guideline:

    Use the clearest and simplest language appropriate for a site's content.
    http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10/wai-pageauth.html#tech-simple-and-straightforward.

    Mainstream Business Benefits:

    1. Reduces ambiguity;
    2. Improves understanding for people whose first language is not English;
    3. Makes translation into other languages cheaper and easier;
    4. Improves readability of small display of a wireless Internet appliance;
    5. Reduces the cost of accessing and reading information via charge-by-minute services.

  • Accessibility Guideline:

    Provide keyboard shortcuts to important links, forms controls, and groups of form controls.
    http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10/wai-pageauth.html#tech-keyboard-shortcuts

    Mainstream Business Benefits:

    1. Enables access of Web sites using standard telephones, Mobile Cellular Telephones and other Personal Digital Assistants.

  • Accessibility Guideline:

    Provide a text equivalent for every non-text element.
    http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10/wai-pageauth.html#tech-text-equivalent

    Mainstream Business Benefits:

    1. Makes it faster and less costly to transcode HTML web pages into wireless protocols;
    2. Enables word-search and data-mine of pictures, videos and graphic images;
    3. Enables surfing with a browser's graphics turned off without losing content. This mode of surfing is much faster;
    4. Enables browsing with graphics off which can free-up corporate bandwidth;
    5. Enables browsing within low-bandwidth infrastructures.

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Adapted from "The Electronic Curb-Cut Effect" by Steve Jacobs at http://www.icdri.org/technology/ecceff.htm.

For information about this document, contact Janet Merrick (jmerrick@mc.cc.mc.us), Counselor, Disability Support Services, CB122C, Rockville Campus or call (240) 567-5061 or (301) 279-5058.

Last updated: 4/17/03