Definitions

Accessible Web Site: Content is accessible when it may be used by someone with a disability.

Alternate Formats: Alternate formats usable by people with disabilities may include Braille, ASCII text, large print, recorded audio, and electronic formats.

Assistive Technology: Any item, piece of equipment, or system, whether acquired commercially, modified, or customized, that is commonly used to increase, maintain, or improve functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities.

Disability: A physical or mental impairment that renders tasks performed by an individual more difficult or impossible to acheive.

Electronic & Information Technology: Includes information technology and any equipment or interconnected system or subsystem of equipment, that is used in the creation, conversion, or duplication of data or information. The term electronic and information technology includes, but is not limited to, telecommunications products (such as telephones), information kiosks and transaction machines, World Wide Web sites, multimedia, and office equipment such as copiers and fax machines. The term does not include any equipment that contains embedded information technology that is used as an integral part of the product, but the principal function of which is not the acquisition, storage, manipulation, management, movement, control, display, switching, interchange, transmission, or reception of data or information. For example, HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) equipment such as thermostats or temperature control devices, and medical equipment where information technology is integral to its operation, are not information technology.

Section 508: In 1998, Congress amended the Rehabilitation Act to require Federal agencies to make their electronic and information technology (E & IT) accessible to people with disabilities. Inaccessible technology interferes with an individual's ability to obtain and use information quickly and easily. Section 508 was enacted to eliminate barriers in information technology, to make available new opportunities for people with disabilities, and to encourage development of technologies that will help achieve these goals. 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 disabled employees and members of the public access to information that is comparable to the access available to others.

Usability: The idea that a web site or web page is easily used by a web user.

User Agent: An application which is used to browse the World Wide Web. Web user agents range from web browsers to search engine spiders, but also include screen readers and braille browsers which can be used for people with disabilities.

World Wide Web Consortium: The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is an international consortium where Member organizations, a full-time staff, and the public work together to develop Web standards.

For a more comprehensive discussion of the above terms and many others, please visit the Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

5 STAR WEB INNOVATIONS