What is accessibility?
Accessibility means ensuring that people with hearing, visual, motor, neurological, cognitive, and other disabilities can use and interact with websites, tools, and technologies and the materials they contain.
This is important because everyone should have equal access to information, regardless of ability; in many countries, compliance with accessibility standards is required by law. Making websites and materials accessible also often makes them easier for everyone to use and understand.
Want to learn more? The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)‘s Web Accessibility Initiative provides a guide to web accessibility fundamentals, including a helpful introduction to accessibility.
Making this site accessible
This site is powered by Commons In A Box OpenLab, which is designed to comply with the latest web accessibility standards. Commons In A Box is built using WordPress and other software created by the WordPress community; see WordPress’s accessibility statement for more information.
The administrators of this site also work to ensure that any features and functionality added to the site (using WordPress plugins, themes, and custom code) also comply with accessibility standards.
Making your work accessible
Members of this site are also responsible for ensuring that their work is accessible. Before you share your work, take a few moments to make sure it is accessible to everyone:
- Make media accessible by adding descriptions (alt-text) to images and enabling captions for audio and video.
- Check that your text and documents are easy to read and comply with accessibility standards.
- Organize your materials to make them easy to follow.
Questions?
If you have any questions or concerns about accessibility on this site, contact us at openlab@sps.cuny.edu
Credits: This page uses content from the City Tech Library’s “Introduction to Accessibility,” the SUNY Oneonta OpenLab’s “Accessibility in OpenLab,” and the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative’s introduction to web accessibility fundamentals.
