Accessibility is a core quality of digital products to be deliberately addressed throughout the development lifecycle. What Every Engineer Should Know About Digital Accessibility will prepare readers to integrate digital accessibility into their engineering practices. Readers will learn how to accurately frame accessibility as an engineering challenge so they are able to address the correct problems in the correct way. Illustrated with diverse perspectives from accessibility practitioners and advocates, this book describes how people with disabilities use technology, the nature of accessibility barriers in the digital world, and the role of engineers in breaking down those barriers. Accessibility competence for current, emerging, and future technologies is addressed through a combination of guiding principles, core attributes and requirements, and accessibility‐informed engineering practices. FEATURES Discusses how technology can support inclusion for people with disabilities and how rigorous engineering processes help create quality user experiences without introducing accessibility barriers Explains foundational principles and guidelines that build core competency in digital accessibility as they are applied across diverse and emerging technology platforms Highlights practical insights into how engineering teams can effectively address accessibility throughout the technology development lifecycle Uses international standards to define and measure accessibility quality Written to be accessible to non‐experts in the subject area, What Every Engineer Should Know About Digital Accessibility is aimed at students, professionals, and researchers in the field of software engineering.

It is sometimes difficult to remember, but most digital resources have not really been around that long. What we affectionately call "the Internet", more accurately known as "the Word Wide Web," is younger than the 30 year-old Americans with Disabilities Act, and digital accessibility is younger than that. With the rise in demand for access, and the massive migration to online resources in 2020, designers and engineers are eager to ensure their digital resources are accessible, but they are often at a disadvantage from the lack of information and rapid technological changes they face. In this book, we explore what digital accessibility is, how it is integrated with common functional roles, such as content writer, user experience designer, or engineer, and how it grows as the knowledge and skill of an individual develops, answering the question "how do I get there from here". Three resources developed exclusively for the Thinking about Digital Accessibility series, the Plain Language Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, the Plain Writing Guidelines, and the Universal Design Guidelines, are included in this book.

The collective depth and tenure of experience of the authors in advancing accessibility practice is truly exceptional. In practical terms, the organization of the book makes clear the work to be done and the imperative for doing it. It is about understanding the context for accessibility and making change happen in policy, practice, and professional development. At QM, our position is straightforward. A course is not quality unless it is accessible for all. This book represents the many ways our community is walking that talk. -- from the Foreword by Deb Adair, Executive Director of Quality Matters Approximately 8.5% of the general population of the United States has a disability affecting their computer and Internet use, which translates to over 28 million people in the U.S. alone whose disability impacts their access to digital content. Recent data indicates that around 19% of undergraduate students have a disability, yielding consequential implications for institutions of higher education. Regardless of disabilities or environmental constraints, educators have a legal and ethical responsibility to create online learning experiences that are accessible and usable by all learners. Addressed to higher education administrators, instructional designers, faculty developers, and faculty, this edited volume showcases the experiences and practices of Quality Matters institutions around the core tenets of digital accessibility, offering examples of policy, processes, practices, tools, and professional development. The contributors represent a carefully curated body of institution types and classifications to ensure that all readers can transfer concepts into the contexts of their respective institutions. The book situates the digital accessibility movement within the context of major federal legislation, such as the Americans with Disabilties Act of 1990. It traces the evolution of Web Content Accessibility Guidelines for online course design and professional development based on the Quality Matters framework. Subsequent chapters describe the evolution of accessibility policy development as a driver of organizational culture, as well as a continuum of course design practices that can be implemented to proactively develop inclusive instructional materials. The Guide concludes by identifying a myriad of professional development formats for fostering accessibility knowledge and skill acquisition, including asynchronous workshops, micro credentials, and train-the-trainer models, sharing evaluation protocols that foster continuous improvement. Written for practitioners by practitioners, this book addresses vital compliance issues and maps a range of proven practices that will enrich the learning experience of all learners in digital environments.

Ensuring Digital Accessibility through Process and Policy provides readers with a must-have resource to digital accessibility from both a technical and policy perspective. Inaccessible digital interfaces and content often lead to forms of societal discrimination that may be illegal under various laws. This book is unique in that it provides a multi-disciplinary understanding of digital accessibility. The book discusses the history of accessible computing, an understanding of why digital accessibility is socially and legally important, and provides both technical details (interface standards

It is sometimes difficult to remember, but most digital resources have not really been around that long. What we affectionately call "the Internet", more accurately known as "the World Wide Web," is younger than the 30 year-old Americans with Disabilities Act, and digital accessibility is younger than that. With the rise in demand for access, and the massive migration to online resources in 2020, organizations are eager to ensure their digital resources are accessible, but they are often at a disadvantage from the lack of information and rapid technological changes they face. In this book, we explore what an accessibility program looks like at an enterprise level and how it grows and develops as it matures. Business justifications, stumbling blocks, as well as organization and personnel issues all find a place in the discussion that has been called "the high level playbook", "the perfect overview", and "a primer on accessibility...to an enterprise that doesn't know where to start".

The collective depth and tenure of experience of the authors in advancing accessibility practice is truly exceptional. In practical terms, the organization of the book makes clear the work to be done and the imperative for doing it. It is about understanding the context for accessibility and making change happen in policy, practice, and professional development. At QM, our position is straightforward. A course is not quality unless it is accessible for all. This book represents the many ways our community is walking that talk. -- from the Foreword by Deb Adair, Executive Director of Quality Matters Approximately 8.5% of the general population of the United States has a disability affecting their computer and Internet use, which translates to over 28 million people in the U.S. alone whose disability impacts their access to digital content. Recent data indicates that around 19% of undergraduate students have a disability, yielding consequential implications for institutions of higher education. Regardless of disabilities or environmental constraints, educators have a legal and ethical responsibility to create online learning experiences that are accessible and usable by all learners. Addressed to higher education administrators, instructional designers, faculty developers, and faculty, this edited volume showcases the experiences and practices of Quality Matters institutions around the core tenets of digital accessibility, offering examples of policy, processes, practices, tools, and professional development. The contributors represent a carefully curated body of institution types and classifications to ensure that all readers can transfer concepts into the contexts of their respective institutions. The book situates the digital accessibility movement within the context of major federal legislation, such as the Americans with Disabilties Act of 1990. It traces the evolution of Web Content Accessibility Guidelines for online course design and professional development based on the Quality Matters framework. Subsequent chapters describe the evolution of accessibility policy development as a driver of organizational culture, as well as a continuum of course design practices that can be implemented to proactively develop inclusive instructional materials. The Guide concludes by identifying a myriad of professional development formats for fostering accessibility knowledge and skill acquisition, including asynchronous workshops, micro credentials, and train-the-trainer models, sharing evaluation protocols that foster continuous improvement. Written for practitioners by practitioners, this book addresses vital compliance issues and maps a range of proven practices that will enrich the learning experience of all learners in digital environments.