Abstract

With ever greater provision of resources in electronic formats, formal recognition is increasingly being given to the growing awareness within the information profession that it is a moral duty as well as a legal requirement to take every feasible step to ensure that no one is excluded from access to goods and services, including web-based information and resources. This timely book provides a practical introduction to web accessibility and usability specifically for information professionals, offering advice from a range of experts and experienced practitioners on the concerns relevant to library and information organizations.It's contents include: Tools used for widening access to the web; Design for All - how web accessibility affects different people; the importance of web accessibility; accessibility advice and guidance; accessibility evaluation and assessment; issues for library and information services; Design for All in the library and information science curriculum; best practice examples of web accessibility; and, web accessibility in the future. Although its main focus is on UK legislation and other requirements, many of the featured guidelines and recommendations are of an international nature, so are transferable to other countries. This approachable guide will enable information practitioners and students new to web accessibility to gain a good understanding of the issues involved in this vital area.This book can be used as a resource for developing staff training and awareness activities, or for developing course content. It will also be of value to website managers involved in web design and development who need to broaden a basic understanding of accessibility and usability issues.
"By providing useful, practical, hands on advice as to how best to proceed when designing, testing, and evaluating web sites, this text can potentially benefit both the information professional and the wider web design community, encouraging the development of the web as a “universal platform” that transcends issues of technological devices, languages, cultures and disabilities." - Journal of Documentation
Jenny Craven MA MCLIP is a Research Associate at the Centre for Research in Library and Information Management (CERLIM), at Manchester Metropolitan University. She has worked on a number of research projects concerned with web accessibility and library services for visually impaired people (see www.cerlim.ac.uk/projects/index-accessib).
"All managers responsible for ensuring that Web resources are accessible to users with any form of disability should have a copy of this book on their bookshelf without delay, but only after reading it." - Ariadne