Do you have a question about accessibility?
For campus information
using Telecommunications
Devices for the Deaf (TDD).

Copyright © 2000.
Ball State University.
Muncie, IN 47306.
All rights reserved.
Equal Opportunity and
Affirmative Action.

How People With Disabilities Use the Internet

There are four main disability groups who may need accessibility features when using the Internet.  These groups are people who have:

1. motor impairments

2.  visual impairments or blindness

3. language and cognitive disabilities

4. hard-of-hearing impairment or deafness

The following information presents the problems faced by these disability groups, and the accommodations that may be used to reduce those problems.

Motor Impairments

Students with motor impairments may have difficulty using a mouse.  Small buttons on a page are difficult to click on.  Some people with motor impairments use keyboard commands like the tab key instead of a mouse to navigate.  Some web designs may have links or buttons that are not accessible by keystrokes.  People with physical disabilities' access are generally dependent on being able to manipulate the interface. 

 Visual Impairments or Blindness 

For people with low vision, a common way to access the information on the screen is to enlarge or otherwise enhance the current area of focus.  Given this, the direct accessibility of software can increase when the user can adjust the fonts, colors, and cursors in a program to make them more visible.  Visually impaired people may need screen magnification.  If so, only a portion of the page will be on the screen at one time.  If the page is too crowded, it will be hard to follow.  The backgrounds on the page need to be simple and there needs to be enough contrast. 

For people with color blindness the accessibility of software can increase when color coding is redundant with other means of conveying information, any program can operate in a monochrome mode, and colors differing in darkness, as well as color, are used.

Blind people may have the Web pages read by screen reading software to access and read the contents on the screen, which is then sent to a text-to-speech synthesizer or refreshable Braille display.  Screen readers convert what is seen on the screen into speech and those who use this software use keyboard commands to navigate the Internet.  Screen readers cannot make sense of pictures nor graphics, so the ways in which graphics are used can make the difference as to whether the page makes sense or not.  Alternative text (ALT text) refers to the descriptions given to images on web pages.  The use of ALT text conveys the intent to all web users, including blind people. 

Language and Cognitive Disability

People in this disability group need simple and consistent screen layouts.  The language should be simple and as straightforward as possible.  People with language and cognitive disabilities may find screen reading software helpful when using the Internet.

Hard-of-Hearing Impairments or Deafness

Some people cannot hear audio because of hearing impairments.  Therefore, all auditory information should be provided in a visual form. 

Source: Rothberg, Madeleine and Tom Wlodkowski, Making Educational Software Accessible:Design Guidelines Including Math and Science Solutions. The CPB/WGBH National Center for Accessible Media. October 2000.