Making the Web More Accessible to People With Disabilities and Special Needs

ScienceDaily (Feb. 25, 2011) — In posting information to the Internet, one of the main aims is for that information to reach as many people as possible. That usually means achieving a prominent position in the search engine results pages, providing legible and attractive enough information that potential readers are wont to read it and to ensure that it meets the demands of users with disabilities. Researchers in Hungary suggest that only if all these criteria are fulfilled does a website become truly accessible.Writing in the International Journal of Knowledge and Web Intelligence, the team, based at the University of Szeged, suggests how theoretical and practical dimensions of screen structure, data structure and metadata can be analysed and used to promote universal accessibility.
Medical informatics expert Erzsébet Forczek, explains that access to the Internet, and more specifically the world wide web, has become essential for all members of society. Physical access is a prerequisite but the availability, retrieval and processing of information on the web must be supported by information technology.

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