Topic of the Month January: Accessibility online

The Internet is a normal part of every-day life: Reading the latest news online, booking your next holiday trip on the internet instead of visiting a travel agent, and clicking through online forms to secure your tax refund.

Especially for people with disabilities, the internet could offer easier access to information, facilitate shopping and could be the much proclaimed window to the world. But no: Many websites are not accessible for people with handicaps – although they are even more interested in the internet than the average citizen. According to a German survey, 80 percent of people with a disability use the internet, nearly as twice as many as the German average. Thus, disabled users should be an interesting target group for web designers and companies.


- Accessible Websites – Barrier-Free Surfing

Slowly, web designers are striving to make their site accessible for everyone. But not each website really delivers what the label ‘accessible' promises, as many of the pages still present barriers for some people with disabilities. But sticking to some basic rules should help making more parts of the web available for people with handicaps.


- Accessibility online – more than just ‘click here for text-only’

Links to websites with further information on accessible web design.


- Linklist on Accessibility online

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