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| Accessible Design: Problems and Solutions A Literature Review to Support the ITTATC Needs Assessment |
Go back to Section 2: Literature Review Results
Go forward to J: Requirements of the User Population Served by the Accessible Design Community
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I: Principles/Guidelines of Accessible Design
I-1. What Principles/Guidelines have been identified in the area of Accessible Design?
Broadly speaking, accessible design allows the participation of people with disabilities in the fundamental daily activities taken for granted by individuals without disabilities. Such activities include the use of services, products, and information (Bergman, 1995). However, it is important to note that disabilities may be temporary (e.g., having an arm in a cast) or a result of circumstance (operating in a noisy environment) (Vanderheiden, 1997). When accessible design accounts for this range of abilities, it is appropriately termed "Accessible Design".
Universal design is "the practice of designing products or environments that can be effectively and efficiently used by people with a wide range of abilities operating in a wide range of situations" (Vanderheiden, 1997). There are seven fundamental principles of universal design; they are 1) Simple and Intuitive Use; 2) Equitable Use; 3) Perceptible Information; 4) Tolerance for Error; 5) Accommodation of Preferences and Abilities; 6) Low Physical Effort; and 7) Space for Approach and Use (Connell, et al, 1997; Vanderheiden, 1997). These principles are also incorporated into the practices of "Design for All" (InClude, 1999) and "Every Citizen Interfaces" (Wiesser, et al, n.d.).
Several guidelines, both general (Steinfeld, 1994; Vanderheiden, 1997) and specific (Engelen, et al, 1999; Gill, et al, n.d.; Gjoderum, et al, n.d.; InClude, 1999; Mercinelli, n.d.), have been developed and made widely available as tools and resources for accessible design. These guidelines suggest design characteristics that would maximize the range of abilities that individuals could have in order to interact with some technology. In this case, the specific guidelines involve the accessibility of telecommunication products and technology.
In 1998, Congress amended the Rehabilitation Act to require Federal agencies to make their electronic and information technology accessible to people with disabilities. The law applies to all Federal agencies when they develop, procure, maintain, or use electronic and information technology. Under Section 508 (29 U.S.C. § 794d), agencies must give employees with disabilities and members of the public access to information that is comparable to the access available to others. (Section508.gov, n.d.) Section 508 required the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board (or Access Board) to publish standards setting forth a definition of electronic and information technology and the technical and functional performance criteria necessary for such technology to comply with section 508. On December 21, 2000, the Access Board's final accessibility standards for electronic and information technology covered by Section 508 were published in the Federal Register. (Access Board, n.d.) The technical standards covered the following types of technology:
The enforcement provisions of Section 508 went into effect June 21, 2001 -- six months from the date the Access Board published its final standards.software applications and operating systems web-based intranet and internet information and applications telecommunications products video and multimedia products self contained, closed products, and desktop and portable computers
Accessible design for websites also is addressed by the World Wide Web Consortium Web Accessibility Initiative (W3C, n.d.). They provide guidance for accessibility in the areas of web content, authoring tools, user agents, and XML.
Access Board. (n.d.) Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility Standards. Retrieved September 3, 2003 from the World Wide Web:
http://www.access-board.gov/sec508/508standards.htm
Bergman, E. (1995). Towards accessible human-computer interaction. Nielsen, J. (ed.), Advances in Human-Computer Interaction, Vol. 5. Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing Corporation. Retrieved January 8, 2001 from the World Wide Web:
http://www.sun.com/access/developers/updt.HCI.advance.html
Connell, B. R., Jones, M., Mace, R. Mueller, J., Mullick, A., Ostroff, E., Sanford, J., Steinfeld, E., Story, M., & Vanderheiden, G. (1997). Raleigh, NC: NC State University, The Center for Universal Design. Retrieved January 2, 2001 from the World Wide Web:
Click here to go to this resource. (http://www.design.ncsu.edu:8120/cud/univ_design/principles/
udprinciples.htm)
Engelen, J., Evenepoel, F., Bormans, G., et al. (COST219). (1999, October). Producing web pages that everyone can access. Retrieved December 12, 2000, from the World Wide Web:
http://www.stakes.fi/cost219/webdesign.htm
Feworn, A., Bodner, R., & Chignell, M. H. (2000). Auditory WWW search tools. Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Auditory Display. Retrieved October 7, 2003 from the World Wide Web:
Click here to go to this resource. (http://www.icad.org/websiteV2.0/Conferences/ICAD2000/
PDFs/FerwornBodnerChignell.pdf)
Gill, J., Roe, P., & Martin, M. (COST219). Pay phones with immediate public access. Retrieved December 12, 2000, from the World Wide Web:
http://www.stakes.fi/cost219/payphones.htm
Gjoderum, J., Hypponen, H., Nordby, K., Ruud, S., Ekberg, J., & Martin, M. (COST219). Guideline-Booklet on Mobile Phones. Retrieved December 12, 2000, from the World Wide Web:
http://www.stakes.fi/cost219/mobiletelephone.htm
IBM. (n.d.). Principles for accessible software. Retrieved January 2, 2001, from the World Wide Web (link updated September 22, 2003):
http://www.ibm.com/able/access_ibm/principles.html
IBM. (n.d.). Understanding disability issues when designing web sites. Retrieved January 2, 2001, from the World Wide Web (link updated September 22, 2003):
http://www.ibm.com/able/access_ibm/disability.html
Leplâtre, G., & Brewster, S. A. (2000). Designing non-speech sounds to support navigation to mobile phone menus. Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Auditory Display. Retrieved October 7, 2003 from the World Wide Web:
Click here to go to this resource. (http://www.icad.org/websiteV2.0/Conferences/ICAD2000/
PDFs/Leplatre.pdf)
Mercinelli, M. (COST219). Guidelines-Accessibility requirements for new telecommunication equipment. Retrieved December 12, 2000, from the World Wide Web:
http://www.stakes.fi/cost219/smartphones.htm
Microsoft. (n.d.). Microsoft Windows guidelines for accessible software design. Retrieved December 12, 2000, from the World Wide Web:
http://www.microsoft.com/enable/dev/guidelines/software.htm
Microsoft. (n.d.). Today's assistive technology, tomorrow's everyday convenience. Retrieved January 2, 2001, from the World Wide Web (link updated September 22, 2003):
http://microsoft.com/enable/news/ada99.aspx
Monterey Technologies, Inc. (September 9, 1996). Resource guide for accessible design of consumer electronics. Submitted to EIA-EIF Committee on Product Accessibility, A Joint Venture of the Electronic Industries Association and the Electronic Industries Foundation.
Nielsen, J. (n.d.). Ten usability heuristics. Retrieved January 2, 2001 from the World Wide Web:
http://www.useit.com/papers/heuristic/heuristic_list.html
Poulson, D, Ashby, M., & Richardson, S. (Eds.). (1996). USERfit: A Practical Handbook on User-Centered Design for Assistive Technology. Brussels-Luxembourg: ECSC-EC-EAEC.
Royal National Institute for the Blind. (2000, November 12). Accessible web design. Retrieved December 15, 2000, from the World Wide Web:
http://www.rnib.org.uk/digital/hints.htm
Section508.gov. (n.d.). 508 Law. Retrieved September 3, 2003, from the World Wide Web:
http://www.section508.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=Content&ID=3
Steinfeld, E. (1994). The concept of universal design. Buffalo, NY: E. Steinfeld. Retrieved January 3, 2001 from the World Wide Web:
Click here to go to this resource. (http://www.arch.buffalo.edu/~idea/publications/free_pubs/
pubs_cud.html)
TIA. (1997). Proposal for FCC guidelines for implementing Section 255 of the Communications Act. Washington, D.C.: Telecommunications Industry Association.
University of Washington. World wide web access: Accessible web design. Retrieved December 15, 2000 from the World Wide Web:
Click here to go to this resoucre. (http://www.washington.edu/doit/Brochures/Technology/
universal.design.html)
Vanderheiden, G. C. (1997). Design for people with functional limitations resulting from disability, aging, and circumstance. In G. Salvendy (Ed.), Handbook of human factors and ergonomics (2nd Ed., pp. 2010-2052). New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Vanderheiden, G. C. (In print). Telecommunications - accessibility and future directions. In Abascal, J., & Nicolle, C. (Eds.), Inclusive guidelines for HCI.
W3C. (n.d.). WAI resources. Retrieved June 30, 2003, from the World Wide Web:
http://www.w3.org/WAI/Resources
Go back to the top of this page. Go back to Section 2: Literature Review Results Go forward to J: Requirements of the User Population Served by the Accessible Design Community