Do You Speak Accessibility?: A Key to Common Acronyms

First in a series focused on navigating web accessibility to support ALL library users

When ProQuest recently teamed up with accessibility experts for a webinar on how libraries can support users with various needs, we realized information on this topic is in high demand. Based on comments and questions that came up during and after our presentation, we are following up with a series of tips and insights to improve web accessibility for ALL library users.

Here is an overview of some of the most frequently used acronyms related to disability and accessibility:

ADA

Americans with Disabilities Act
is a civil rights law prohibiting discrimination against individuals with disabilities in all areas of public life, including jobs, schools, transportation, and all public and private places that are open to the general public. The purpose of the law is to make sure that people with disabilities have the same rights and opportunities as everyone else.

Section 508

of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
The current accessibility standard of legal compliance for US governments and higher education institutions. Compliance with these standards is mandatory for Federal agencies subject to Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

WCAG

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
WCAG is part of a series of guidelines published by the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the main international standards organization for the Internet. They are a set of recommendations for making Web content more accessible, primarily for people with disabilities—but also for all user agents, including highly limited devices, such as mobile phones. The most recent version of the standards is WCAG 2.1

A/AA/AAA

Compliance levels of WCAG
AA is the expected level of accessibility with our customers.

VPAT

Voluntary Product Accessibility Template
For vendors to use to disclose how well a specific product supports accessibility criteria per Section 508 of the ADA. It is also commonly used to refer to the completed report, which is actually called an…

ACR

Accessibility Conformance Report
This documentation reflects how well a specific site/platform meets accessibility criteria, including WCAG standards. 

Check out the webinar and stay tuned for additional blog posts on web accessibility for impaired library users. 

 

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