E-Accessibility

People use the Web in very different ways. A site should therefore present information in a way that people can access information regardless of what kind of hardware or software they are using, and regardless of how they navigate through a site. Criteria that make a website accessible are helpful for all users of a website. The concept behind is "universal design", which improves the way of accessing information for all internet users.

Users with disabilities might need assistive devices to go online. Different disabilities sometimes require similar accommodations: Someone who is blind and someone who cannot use his or her hands both require full keyboard equivalents for mouse commands in browsers and authoring tools, since they both have difficulty using a mouse but can use assistive technologies to activate commands supported by a standard keyboard interface.

Further information:
www.w3.org - How People with Disabilities Use the Web

Tools for Persons with visual impairments:

• optical character recognition
• screen magnifier
• screen reader
• voice recognition
• speech synthesizers

Further information on tools:
www.un.org Enable Website
Microsoft Enable Guides

To design the internet itself in an accessible way for persons with disabilities is one of the aims of initiatives such as the web accessibility initiative (WAI) – which works with organizations around the world to develop strategies, guidelines, and resources to help make the Web accessible for all.
www.w3.org

Read more:

Internet Accessibility Criteria
E-mail accessibility
Accessibility of www.cbm.org

The human right to information
What is meant by accessibility?
Access to information in developing countries
E-Accessibility - International Day of Persons with Disabilities