Adobe Flash is an animation technology that allows web developers to build dynamic content featuring multimedia and interactive applications. Flash content downloads quickly and can run on any browser that supports it and is equipped with the Adobe Flash Player plug-in.
On any computer, the operating system (OS) is the set of programs that performs basic tasks that are necessary for the computer to be functional. The OS provides a software platform on top of which application programs can run. Early operating systems, including Microsoft's Disk Operating System (DOS) and UNIX (originally developed by Bell Labs; now an open specification licensed by The Open Group), posed few accessibility barriers for users of assistive technologies because they were text-based.
Microsoft PowerPoint has become a standard format for creating and presenting visuals (e.g., slideshows) for presentations, including those used in educational contexts such as distance learning courses. A variety of approaches are used for delivering PowerPoint content online, each of which has strengths and weaknesses concerning accessibility.
There are many things that students with disabilities might want to know about a career in computing. This includes:
Undergraduate research can provide important and meaningful experiences for students in fields that include those in science and engineering. Research internships present opportunities for undergraduates to gain an exposure to research and consider whether they are interested in research careers and graduate school.
Following are examples of programs that allow undergraduate students with disabilities to become involved in research:
Data tables are tables that are used to represent actual tabular data, with rows and columns of related information. The technique for creating an accessible data table depends on the complexity of the table. Data tables can be described as either simple or complex. A simple data table is one in which each cell corresponds with only one column header and/or one row header. In contrast, a complex data table is one in which there are nested columns or nested rows. Consequently, cells within the table correspond with multiple column and/or row headers.
DRobotZ was designed to better expose and prepare students who are deaf or hard of hearing to college life and computing careers. With funding from AccessComputing, the National Technical Institute for the Deaf at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) developed and hosted a two-week residential summer camp in Rochester, New York for high school freshmen and sophomores who are deaf and hard of hearing.
Audio description is the term used to describe the process of providing descriptive narration of key visual elements in a video or multimedia product. This process allows individuals who are blind to access content that is otherwise accessible only through sight. In audio description, narrators typically describe actions, gestures, scene changes, and other visual information. They also describe titles, speaker names, and other text that may appear on the screen.
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Personal digital assistants (PDAs) are small handheld computers, also known as palmtops, handheld PCs, or handhelds. PDAs are becoming increasingly popular, not solely for business and personal use but also for use in education. At all educational levels, PDAs are being used in the classroom for increasing students' organization, fostering collaboration, and maximizing portability of technology.
HTML (HyperText Markup Language) includes elements called frames and inline frames (iframes), both of which can be used to add content to a web page from external sources. A common example is embedding a frame of audio or video content from another site. The strongest arguments against using frames have more to do with usability than accessibility.