NSF PR 97-64 - October 22, 1997
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NSF Effort to Increase Access to the Web by People
with Disabilities
The National Science Foundation, with cooperation
from the Department of Education's National Institute
for Disability and Rehabilitation Research, has made
a three-year, $952,856 award to the World Wide Web
Consortium's Web Accessibility Initiative to ensure
information on the Web is more widely accessible to
people with disabilities.
Information technology plays an increasingly important
role in nearly every part of our lives through its
impact on work, commerce, scientific and engineering
research, education, and social interactions. However,
information technology designed for the "typical"
user may inadvertently create barriers for people
with disabilities, effectively excluding them from
education, employment and civic participation. Approximately
500 to 750 million people worldwide have disabilities,
said Gary Strong, NSF program director for interactive
systems.
The World Wide Web, fast becoming the "de facto" repository
of preference for on-line information, currently presents
many barriers for people with disabilities.
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), created in 1994
to develop common protocols that enhance the interoperability
and promote the evolution of the World Wide Web, is
working to ensure that this evolution removes -- rather
than reinforces -- accessibility barriers.
National Science Foundation and Department of Education
grants will help create an international program office
which will coordinate five activities for Web accessibility:
data formats and protocols; guidelines for browsers,
authoring tools and content creators; rating and certification;
research and advanced development; and educational
outreach. The office is also funded by the TIDE Programme
under the European Commission, by industry sponsorships
and endorsed by disability organizations in a number
of countries.
"I commend the National Science Foundation, the Department
of Education and the W3C for continuing their efforts
to make the World Wide Web accessible to people with
disabilities," said President Clinton. "The Web has
the potential to be one of technology's greatest creators
of opportunity -- bringing the resources of the world
directly to all people. But this can only be done
if the Web is designed in a way that enables everyone
to use it. My administration is committed to working
with the W3C and its members to make this innovative
project a success."
"The World Wide Web Consortium realizes the critical
importance of the Web for people with disabilities,
and is committed to making the Web Accessibility Initiative
a success," said Judy Brewer, new director of the
W3C International Program Office. "We are proud to
host this unique partnership. Through the International
Program Office, we will be coordinating with industry,
government, and disability communities to ensure that
needs related to accessibility are addressed throughout
the consortium's work, and that the message of an
accessible Web is carried as broadly as possible."
"Computers can be a vital tool to remove barriers
for people with disabilities," said NSF's Gary Strong.
"If designers take into consideration that people
have varied needs, the payback can be tremendous."
NSF-funded basic research in computer science and
engineering can have countless applications for people
with and without disabilities, he said.
"Such research will help move the nation toward an
age where powerful, networked computers provide useful
information in a usable format for all citizens,"
Strong said.
Issues of accessibility are timely this month: October
is National Disability Employment Awareness Month;
the Access Board will soon be releasing its guidelines
for accessibility of telecommunications products under
Section 255 of the Telecommunications Act; and, the
National Research Council report, "More Than Screen
Deep," addressing the issue of every-citizen interfaces,
has recently become available.
See also Fact Sheet.
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