It is no secret that the internet has become one of the most significant pieces of technology today. It has contributed so much in providing useful and timely information accessible within just a few clicks, that in fact, most people already consider it a necessity.

On top of this, the internet has the opportunity to make the lives of people with disabilities better. With this, the previously inaccessible sources of information can now be easily obtained through different means.

The internet’s potential to provide more accessibility to people with disabilities is the main focus of WebAIM.

What is WebAIM?

WebAIM or Web Accessibility In the Mind aims to expand the web’s full potential for people with disabilities by empowering individuals and organizations to create accessible content.

It delivers the following to help organizations achieve better accessibility:

• Accessibility Training. WebAIM has been providing training for developers and administrators since 1999. Training comes in different forms, including face-to-face training and customized virtual training, while topics include web accessibility and document accessibility.
• Web Accessibility Workshop. It implements a workshop entitled “StrategicA11y,” which aims to help organizations make their systems more accessible. The workshop allows its participants to come up with ways to apply their learnings to their own organizations.
• Technical Assistance. WebAIM also provides its clients with consulting services and technical assistance. At a rate of $190/hour, WebAIM can develop reference materials or provide on-demand support to your organization.
• Evaluation and Reporting. This site has tools and resources that you can use to assess your site’s accessibility. They can also provide a hands-on evaluation with the option for certification.

Why Should You Use It?

WebAIM produces articles on its website that aims to educate its readers about accessibility. One of its articles identified four disability categories: visual, auditory, motor, and cognitive. Each category requires different strategies for accessibility. For example, blind people can now take advantage of screen reader software.

In previous years, blind people need a bulky Braille version of a newspaper to be able to read it. Now, a software can read content aloud. This is especially useful now that most newspapers have an online counterpart.

They provided a few principles of accessible design as well, which include the following:

1. Provide equivalent alternative text

2. Create a logical document structure

3. Provide headers for data tables

Furthermore, one of its free and readily available resources that individuals and organizations can use to optimize their accessibility is the Word and PowerPoint Accessibility Checklist. This checklist is based on Microsoft Office 2016’s Accessibility Checker. In WebAIM’s list, they provide information on how to repair certain errors found by the Accessible Checker.

Takeaway

With all these, WebAIM offers several ways to make the internet more accessible and convenient for people with disabilities. This purpose makes it great not just for anyone, but for everyone.

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