Books with full text available online, guidelines, W3C Recommendations, guides for web developers and site designers: 20+ Web Accessibility Resources (by Linknotes).

Web accessibility refers to the practice of making Web pages accessible to people using a wide range of user agent software and devices, not just standard Web browsers. This is especially important for people with disabilities such as visual impairment. In order to access the Web, some users require special software or devices in addition to a standard web browser, or specially designed web browsers. Design for accessibility is a sub-category of good design for usability.

The categories of disabilities that Web accessibility aims to deal with include:

• Visual: Visual impairments including blindness, various common types of low vision and poor eyesight, various types of colour blindness;
• Motor/Mobility: e.g. difficulty or inability to use the hands, including tremors, muscle slowness, loss of fine muscle control, etc., due to conditions such as Parkinson’s Disease, muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy, stroke;
• Cognitive/Intellectual: Developmental disabilities, learning disabilities (dyslexia, dyscalculia, etc.), and cognitive disabilities of various origins, affecting memory, attention, developmental “maturity,” problem-solving and logic skills, etc.;
• Auditory: Deafness or hearing impairments, including individuals who are hard of hearing;
• Seizures: Photoepileptic seizures caused by visual strobe or flashing effects.

• The Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) works with organizations around the world to develop strategies, guidelines, and resources to help make the Web accessible to people with disabilities.
• A quick and dirty introduction to accessibility. (This presentation - original in english - is also available in Finnish, Spanish and Korean)
• Web Style Guide, 2nd edition (online free version ) “This book is for all those who wish to publish durable content on the Web. Durable content is not guided by trends; good design will withstand the test of time, whereas trends quickly become frivolous. Success in Web design goes beyond technology and fashion. To create Web sites that endure you need only to communicate your ideas clearly and effectively to your readers.”
• Navigation Accessibility 1: Menus and Links (Roger Hudson). “The Web is a navigation environment, where travellers move around in a virtual world by activating hypertext links. Successful Websites have logical navigation systems that mirror real world navigational expectations and experiences and have been built to meet the needs of the site user.”
• Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 - W3C Recommendation. “These guidelines explain how to make Web content accessible to people with disabilities. The guidelines are intended for all Web content developers (page authors and site designers) and for developers of authoring tools. The primary goal of these guidelines is to promote accessibility. However, following them will also make Web content more available to all users, whatever user agent they are using (e.g., desktop browser, voice browser, mobile phone, automobile-based personal computer, etc.) or constraints they may be operating under (e.g., noisy surroundings, under- or over-illuminated rooms, in a hands-free environment, etc.). Following these guidelines will also help people find information on the Web more quickly. These guidelines do not discourage content developers from using images, video, etc., but rather explain how to make multimedia content more accessible to a wide audience.”
• Building Accessible Websites. Introductory book by Joe Clark. Full text available online.
• Accessify.com - verb: “to make accessible”. Tools, wizards, articles and tutorials on Web Accessibility for the conscientious web developer
• A webmaster’s guide to accessibility - Rob McMichael. This website aims to give web masters a clearer understanding of how to develop accessible websites.
• Seven Accessibility Mistakes (Part 1) - {Digital Web Magazine} “Here are some of the major mistakes I encountered during my years as a professional Web developer. If we keep an eye open for them in the future, we are a lot more likely to create accessible, beautiful Web products without much hassle - and make both clients and visitors happy.” (Christian Heilmann)
• Seven Accessibility Mistakes (Part 2) - {Digital Web Magazine} “This two part-article discusses reasons why some projects fail to result in properly accessible products.”
• Dive Into Accessibility. This book answers two questions. The first question is “Why should I make my web site more accessible?” If you do not have a web site, this book is not for you. The second question is “How can I make my web site more accessible?” If you are not convinced by the first answer, you will not be interested in the second. (HTML version + PDF version + multiple languages)
• useit.com: Jakob Nielsen’s Website
• A Review of Free, Online Accessibility Tools (by WebAIM: Guide to Web Accessibility). “This review is not comprehensive and only covers the following seven free online accessibility tools: Accessibility Valet Demonstrator (WebThing); AccMonitor Online (HiSoftware); Cynthia Says (HiSoftware); TAW (Sidar in Spanish); Torquemada (WebxTutti in English and Italian); Wave 3.5 (WebAIM); WebXact (Watchfire)”
• Use of ALT texts in IMGs (english + italiano)
• Considering the Color BlindWeb tools: 3 WAYS to see what your colors look like to the color-blind.
• All About Access - A Carroll Tech blog about Accessibility
• Examples of Accessible (and Inaccessible) Web Design - Microsoft usability research, Designing for the Web: Empirical studies. This page shows examples of good and bad web page design dealing with the following topics: Every image should have good ALT text; Separate block of ALT text; Use simple ALT text for simple images; Proper use of image maps; Make link text descriptive but brief; Use link text that can stand alone; Provide good keyboard navigation; Provide alternatives to controls and applets; Provide alternatives to tables and frames; Don’t assume your formatting will be seen; Don’t require the use of style sheets
• Any Browser Forums - Forums for discussion of accessible web site design
• Usable Web - 970 links about web usability. By Keith Instone. Usable Web is a stale collection of links about information architecture, human factors, user interface issues, and usable design specific to the World Wide Web.
• The Perfect 404 - An article written by Ian Lloyd and published on A List Apart (January 16, 2004)
• Web Accessibility for Section 508 - Free online tutorial by Jim Thatcher. Sections: Accessibility for 508; Text Alternatives; Check Accessibility; Navigation; Image maps; Audio & Multimedia; Special Cases; Accessible Forms; Accessible Tables; Scripts and Applets; Style Sheets; The 508 Provisions; Online Resources.
• Adobe Accessibility Resource Center - Whitepapers, tutorial and more by Adobe: Best practices for accessible Flash design; Create Accessible PDF Documents with Adobe Acrobat; Accessibility how-to; Accessibility case studies.

• Linee guida per l’accessibilità ai contenuti del Web - Traduzione delle Linee guida per l’accessibilità ai contenuti del Web: Raccomandazione del W3C del 5 maggio 1999
• Studio (commentato) sulle linee guida per la verifica dell’accessibilita’ - Autori Vari, commenti di Michele Diodati. Il testo riproduce il documento intitolato “Studio sulle linee guida recanti i requisiti tecnici e i diversi livelli per l’accessibilità e le metodologie tecniche per la verifica dell’accessibilità (legge 4 del 2004, art.11 comma a e b)”, pubblicato il 12 maggio 2004 sul sito PubbliAccesso.gov.it. Considerazioni conclusive di Michele Diodati.
• Webaccessibile.org - La risorsa in lingua italiana sull’accessibilita’
• Usabile.it - Usabilita’, accessibilita’ e interaction-design per il web.
• Accessibilità delle risorse web.