Accessibility Initiative

Go to the Section 508 Tutorials for Web authors.

Disclaimer

Winthrop University has attempted to make its Web site accessible to individuals with disabilities in accordance with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. If you have any difficulty viewing a page with adaptive technology, please send an e-mail to accessibility@winthrop.edu. Be sure to include the type of problem encountered and the Web address of the page you were attempting to access. Information or material requested will be provided in an alternative format.

Compliance Testing

Winthrop University is fortunate to be working with a current student who is visually impaired to conduct usability testing of top-level Web pages of the site.

Browsers

Note: Internet Explorer version 6 or higher is the recommended Web browser for the best access to Winthrop’s online services. Although IE is not the only browser that offers accessibility solutions, the following guidelines for making Winthrop's Web site more accessible are based on Internet Explorer procedures.

Winthrop University Web authors are encouraged to perform cross browser testing prior to launching pages primarily intended for external audiences.

Colors

Many individuals require high contrast between text and background colors in order to see a page's content. If you are an IE user, you can set a customized color palette for a Web page by following these simple steps:

Open the "Tools" menu (Alt+T).
Choose "Internet Options" (O).
Select the "General" tab.
Click the "Colors" button at the bottom left of the box.
Set text, background, and links colors to suit your needs.

Fonts

If a Web page is written to allow for scaling of fonts, most Web browsers allow the user to alter font size and style. The following are steps IE users can take to change font sizes or styles to meet their individual needs:

fonts
Size Click the "View" menu (Alt+V) Choose "Text Size" (X). Select a font size from "Largest" to "Smallest."	Style Open the "Tools" menu (Alt+T). Choose "Internet Options" (O). Select the "General" tab. Click on "Fonts" and choose an alternative font style.

Images

There may be times when Web visitors wish to turn off images for quicker page download or for some other reason. To view Winthrop's site without displaying images, follow these steps in Internet Explorer:

Open the "Tools" menu (Alt+T).
Choose "Internet Options" (O).
Select the "Advanced" tab at the top right of the dialog box.
Scroll down to the "Multimedia" section.
Unclick the box next to "Show Pictures."
Click the "Apply" button and then click the "OK" button.

ALT Tags

For the benefit of those who surf with images turned off and for those who use screen readers, Winthrop Web authors strive to provide ALT tags for images. The purpose of ALT tags is to provide a short, text alternative for images significant to a site. Insignificant images like space holders do not need ALT tag text but simply double quotations marks that will prompt a screen reader to skip that particular graphic. For example, <IMG src="images/spacer.gif" alt="">.

Plug-Ins

Some information on Winthrop's Web site requires the use of plug-ins. A plug-in is "an auxiliary program that works with a major software package to enhance its capability" (Source: Answers.com). A FREE version of these plug-ins can be downloaded from the Internet. (Note: Clicking on the links below will open the download site in a separate browser window.)

Some of the plug-ins that might be required to access information on various pages include:

Real Player, QuickTime, and Windows Media Player might be required to view video clips and listen to audio clips.
For more information on using media players, visit WebAIM.
Some of the slide shows on the site are in Microsoft PowerPoint format.
Macromedia Flash Player is required to view some Winthrop Web features.
Viewing files in PDF format requires use of the Adobe Acrobat Reader plug-in. Adobe also offers a Web-based service
that converts many PDF files to html or text (discussed below).

Adobe Acrobat

The Winthrop University site uses Adobe Acrobat to display certain documents. Some screen reader software may not be compatible with the free Adobe Acrobat Reader, therefore Adobe provides a free online tool that converts the content of PDF files to a format which can be understood by most screen reader applications.

The Web address (URL) of the document can be submitted either via e-mail or a Web form, and the content is returned to the user converted either to HTML (i.e. standard Web page format) or to plain text. Alternatively, the document the user wishes to read can be e-mailed as an attachment.

For more information, and full details of how to use this tool, visit:
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/access_onlinetools.html

Macintosh Users

For full instructions on making use of the various versions of the Macintosh operating system's accessibility features, including resizing text, text-to-speech function, and keyboard alternatives to mouse functions, visit the Apple Web site's section on disability.

Services for Students with Disabilities

Winthrop's Services for Students with Disabilities offers a variety of services to assist the disabled student. For more information on what services are available and how to request services offered, visit the Services for Students with Disabilities Web site.