In honor of Global Accessibility Awareness Day, please enjoy and share these resources, and add your own suggestions in the comments!
1. AccessWorld®—AFB's free online magazine is devoted to technology news for people who are blind or visually impaired. AccessWorld keeps people with vision loss and their families, teachers, rehabilitation counselors, product developers and manufacturers up to date about the technologies that can transform their lives: smart glasses, fitness tools, mobile apps, vision research, and more.
Each month's issue features objective reviews, informed commentary, and in-depth reporting on technology news and trends—sign up to receive an e-mailed alert every time a new issue of AccessWorld or breaking news article becomes available, or download the free AccessWorld app.
2. AFB's Accessible Product Database—This is a comprehensive listing of assistive technology products used by people who are blind or visually impaired. It is the place to go to search for a product or manufacturer, find out what products are out there, and decide which product is best for you, a family member, or one of your clients.
3. AFB Tech’s consulting services—AFB Tech offers accessibility and usability consulting for companies, organizations, and individuals. Let us show you how making your product accessible will make it better for all users and more profitable for you. When you use good design principles that incorporate accessibility and, more importantly, usability, your product will be more robust and useful to everyone.
4. AFB webinars on assistive and mainstream technology—Explore AFB's webinars and online courses on assistive technology, low vision tools, iPads, and more. We offer continuing education credits through the Academy for Certification of Vision Rehabilitation and Education Professionals (ACVREP), Commission on Rehabilitation Counselor Certification (CRCC) , and American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA).
5. The W3C website—The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is an international community where member organizations, a full-time staff, and the public work together to develop Web standards. W3C's mission is to lead the Web to its full potential. Check out its markup validator (not an accessibility validator, but an important first step), which checks the markup validity of Web documents in HTML, XHTML, SMIL, MathML, etc.
6. WebAIM: Web Accessibility in Mind—WebAIM's mission is to empower organizations to make their web content accessible to people with disabilities. Check out their color contrast checker, and WAVE web accessibility tool.
7. Conferences like the AFB Leadership Conference, CSUN, and ATIA. Stay up to date on the latest conferences related to accessible technology by signing up for a free My AFB account, and selecting "Events and conferences relating to blindness and low vision" as one of your interest categories. You'll get emails whenever a new event is added to the AFB community calendar.
8. The AFB Accessible Player—Developed by AFB, this fully accessible, embeddable video player with HTML5 controls is available as a free download for other web developers. Currently in beta, the player offers keyboard access to the main controls (play, stop, forward, backward, full screen), and is stylesheet-driven, so it can adapt to user's color and contrast preferences.
9. Described TV Listings—Several of the most popular television networks are making certain prime-time and children's programs accessible to viewers with vision loss by adding video description, as required by the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act (CVAA).
10. Websites of Leading Cell Phone Manufacturers, Service Providers, and Third-Party Software Developers—Important note! AFB created this page simply for the convenience of our users. We do not endorse any company listed on this page, and do not endorse the accessibility of any website listed.
You can learn more about AFB's commitment to improving accessibility for people who are blind or visually impaired. Please share these resources with others, and let us know how you are celebrating Global Accessibility Awareness Day.
