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Accessibility
SENS Guidelines
- SEAS web sites must meet the accessibility standards of the State University of New York and the University at Buffalo (i.e., the W3C Content Accessibility Guidelines).*
- SEAS web sites must comply with New York State Mandatory Technology Standard S04-001, Accessibility of State Agency Web-Based Intranet and Internet Information and Applications.*
Questions you might have
Who or what is "Bobby" and why is he important?
From the Bobby web site:
Bobby is a comprehensive web accessibility software tool designed to help expose and repair barriers to accessibility and encourage compliance with existing accessibility guidelines. Bobby tests for compliance with government standards, including the U.S. Government's Section 508. It offers prioritized suggestions based on the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines provided by the World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C) Web Access Initiative. Bobby allows developers to test web pages and generate summary reports highlighting critical accessibility issues before posting content to live servers.
Bobby tests web pages using the guidelines established by the World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C) Web Access Initiative (WAI), as well as Section 508 guidelines from the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board (Access Board) of the U.S. Federal Government.
You can use the tools at the web site to see just how accessible your site is. Bobby can be very strict, but if your site passes Bobby, you can be pretty sure that you're following not only SENS' guidelines, but also those mandated by the State of New York.
Where can I find out more about accessibility?
- Building Accessible Web Sites, by Joe Clark
Joe Clark, probably the top authority on web accessibility, has a wealth of information about accessibility, including the entire text of his well-reviewed book (click on "Read Online") - Accessify
Another treasure trove of accessibility information. - Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
>The guidelines you must follow if you're developing a site for a New York State institution (such as the University at Buffalo, for example). - Section 508
The complete text of Section 508, including links to other relevant laws. - A Primer for Accessible Web Pages, from O'Reilly
A good explanation of why Section 508 exists, and how the things you do to your web sites make them compliant (or not).
