OverviewThe web was designed as a device independent way of distributing information. At NC State, it is ubiquitous and increasingly an important resource for myriad of services, programs, activities as well as instruction delivery.
To be effective a website must be usable by all visitors so that they can easily and quickly find the information they need and efficiently complete all necessary transactions. In order to facilitate access for all visitors including those with disabilities, it is essential that all university websites be designed with accessibility in mind.
To help the university meet its obligations to provide accessible web content, the Executive Officers have approved a Web Page Accessibility Regulation. This Regulation requires that web pages comply with accessibility standards under Section 508. These are minimum requirements and help pages become "technically" accessible. However, these pages may not necessarily be functionally usable by people with disabilities. To be usable, websites must provide people with disabilities similar user-experiences as their peers.
Universal Design Principles create products that are usable by everyone regardless of their individual functional capabilities. When applied to web, these design constructs integrate well with assistive technology (AT) used by a person with a disability and provide equivalent access to all content including audio and visual material.
In addition, websites designed for universal accessibility have wider implication then just accessibility for people with disabilities. They allow for effective usability of the web resources and are generally:
- more user-friendly, enhancing usability for a larger audience
- technology independent - browser, bandwidth, display size, platforms
- backward and forward compatible
- more optimized for search engines
- have smaller footprint and load faster
- cost effective, being easily maintained and re-purposed
