Accessibility and Universal Design Workshops

Web 2.0 Accessibility (using the W3C ARIA Specifications)

This online course is designed for web developers to learn how to use the emerging W3C Accessible Rich Internet Applications (ARIA) recommendations to create accessible Web 2.0 applications. Participants will learn about the accessibility issues faced by people with disabilities in using the web, and how web resources can be designed to improve accessibility using the ARIA web standards.

Topics will include learning about the W3C "Roles for ARIA" and "States and Properties Module for ARIA" specifications for making Web 2.0 widgets compatible with assistive technologies through ARIA support in the Mozilla Firefox browser and assistive technologies like WindowEyes and JAWS screen readers. Participants will also build and test accessible Web 2.0 widgets using a best practices model, and learn about compatibility issues related to supporting ARIA widgets with Microsoft Internet Explorer and to creating valid HTML documents.

Instructor: Jon Gunderson, Disability Resources and Educational Services (DRES) and CITES
Fee: $495  Discounts Available for Multiple Registrations (link will open in a new window)
Reduced Fee: $295 for employees of non-profit organizations, federal, state and local government, and higher educational institutions.

Note: To qualify for the reduced fee, participants need to mail or fax to FAST3 a photocopy of a picture ID showing an affiliation with a state agency, college, etc., or the individual can have his or her supervisor send FAST3 a verification letter on letterhead stating that the individual works for non-profit organizations, federal, state and local and higher educational institutions.

Dates: Apr. 15 & 17, 22 & 24, 29 & May 1, May 6 & 8, 2008 (all TuTh)
Times:  3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. CDT (Central Daylight Time)
Registration Code: ITA-024-C 
Location: Online using Elluminate

For information on future offerings of this workshop, contact Disability Resources and Education Services (DRES) at 217-333-1970.

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Universal Design Workshop

This 2-day hands-on workshop is designed for web content developers to learn how to use web standards to create web resources that are more accessible to everyone, including people with disabilities.  Participants will learn about the accessibility issues faced by people with disabilities in using the web, and how web resources can be designed to improve accessibility using web standards.

Participants will learn about the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and the federal Section 508 Information Technology Standards for improving the accessibility of web resources. Participants will also learn about the strengths and weaknesses of various tools used to evaluate the functional accessibility of web resources. The primary activity of the workshop will be building web pages and forms using the CITES/DRES HTML Accessibility Best Practices guidelines and tools.

Prerequisite: Some familiarity with the web; elementary word processing skills
Instructor: Jon Gunderson, Disability Resources and Educational Services (DRES) and CITES
Fee: $345 ($245 for state and higher education employees in the State of Illinois)

Dates / Times: May 21 & 22, 2008 (WTh); 9:00 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Weds. & until 3:30 p.m. Thurs.
Registration Code: ITA-025-C 
Location: ICS Computer Lab, 901 W. Oregon St., Urbana

For information on future offerings of this workshop, contact Disability Resources and Education Services (DRES) at 217-333-1970.

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Publishing Office to the Web

Microsoft Word and PowerPoint are popular tools for documents and presentations. Many authors want to make these available on the web. Participants will learn best practices to make it easier for authors to manage the styling and layout of their documents and presentations to improve the quality of the published HTML. An important part of the session is learning about Word styling features and PowerPoint templates to manage formatting.

Participants will learn how to use the Illinois Accessible Web Publishing Wizard for Microsoft Office to publish HTML versions to the web. The Wizard supports web standards and accessibility to people with disabilities, making the presentation more accessible to everyone by giving people more options to access the document or presentation.

Prerequisite: Experience using Word and/or PowerPoint  to create documents and/or presentations
Instructor: Christy Blew, IT Accessibility Specialist, Disability Resources and Educational Services (DRES)
Hours: 4
Fee: $80

Offerings of this workshop are not currently scheduled.  Contact Disability Resources and Education Services (DRES) for further information at (217) 333-1970.

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Accessible PDF Publishing

Adobe PDF (Portable Document Format) is a popular format for publishing information to the web, and for creating forms that can be filled out electronically.  Participants in this workshop will learn about accessibility features built into Adobe PDF Reader and Adobe Acrobat, as well as best practices for creating PDF documents that are more accessible to people with disabilities. Through hands-on exercises, participants will also learn how to evaluate and repair PDF documents for accessibility information, how to configure Microsoft Office with Adobe Acrobat to improve the accessibility of PDF documents authored in Word, and how to create PDF forms that are accessible to screen readers.

Prerequisite: Experience creating Adobe PDF documents
Instructor: Christy Blew, IT Accessibility Specialist, Disability Resources and Educational Services (DRES)
Hours: 4
Fee: $80

Offerings of this workshop are not currently scheduled.  Contact Disability Resources and Education Services (DRES) for further information at (217) 333-1970.

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Functional Testing of Web Resources for Accessibility

The Division of Disability Resources and Educational Services (DRES) has created a number of tools for evaluating the functional accessibility of web resources.  These tools consist of the Functional Web Accessibility Evaluator (FAE) and the Mozilla/Firefox Accessibility Extension. 

Participants will learn the basic principles of functional web access, and how these tools can be used to evaluate and report on the implementation of HTML techniques that support functional accessibility.  Participants will be able to test using the tools on their own web resources as part of the course.

Prerequisite / Target Audience: Web developers or administrators who manage web resources
Instructor: Jon Gunderson, Disability Resources and Educational Services (DRES) and CITES
Hours: 3
Fee: $60

Offerings of this workshop are not currently scheduled.  Contact Disability Resources and Education Services (DRES) for further information at (217) 333-1970.

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Accessible E-mail Communications

The university sends documents attached to e-mails for many types of communication within departments, colleges, and the university as a whole.

It is critical that these communications be accessible to everyone including people with disabilities.  Participants will learn about the accessibility of various document formats, including Adobe PDF, Microsoft Office, and HTML documents and forms.  Participants will also practice making an accessible announcement using the Illinois Accessible Web Publishing Wizard.

Prerequisite: Experience creating announcements, memos, or forms for communicating to faculty, staff, and students through e-mail (bring some to the class)
Instructor: Jon Gunderson, Disability Resources and Educational Services (DRES) and CITES
Hours: 3
Fee: $60

Offerings of this workshop are not currently scheduled.  Contact Disability Resources and Education Services (DRES) for further information at (217) 333-1970.

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