Fall folliage on campus

Accessibility Awareness Curriculum

The Accessibility Awareness Curriculum provides a variety of courses for organizations just starting to learn about accessibility. The curriculum is organized around a variety of high level courses that provide a basic understanding of accessibility. This provides a baseline level of accessibility issues for organizations seeking to conform to Section 508 and WCAG requirements.

Audience: Managers, Designers, Developers, QA Specialists, Content Authors, Procurement, HR, and Communications

Courses:

  • Accessibility Concepts
    The Accessibility Concepts course provides an overview of accessibility and how it applies to Information and Communications Technology (ICT). It is designed for those who will be introduced to the different types of disabilities, assistive technology, business drivers for accessibility, and various accessibility standards.
  • Introduction to JAWS
    The Introduction to JAWS course provides an introduction to the Freedom Scientific assistive technology screen reader JAWS, commonly used by people who are blind or have low vision. Public sector organizations frequently require IT systems to be accessible to the JAWS screen reader because it is the most widely used screen reader by people who are blind. During the procurement process, these organizations use JAWS to verify that accessibility requirements, such as Section 508, have been properly implemented. Testing with JAWS enables an organization to identify usability barriers faced by people with disabilities when accessing Information Technology (IT) systems. Starting with an introduction to JAWS, the course covers the features of JAWS, basic and advanced JAWS settings, and how to use JAWS to test for accessibility.