Colleges focus on making web sites work for people with disabilities 

The past three years have seen several government mandates seeking to improve
the accessibility of college computer hardware and Web sites for people with
disabilities. In 1998, the federal government invoked the Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA) to require 11 community colleges in California to
provide information in both electronic and traditional print format to
students who have disabilities. A new federal regulation pertaining to the
Rehabilitation Act of 1973 is pending as the Bush administration reviews all
new regulations enacted in the final months of the Clinton presidency. The
regulation is meant to bring federal agencies into compliance with the ADA
but also applies to state higher-education institutions. College officials
say the issue cannot be ignored as more and more professors use the Internet
and other multimedia tools as an integral part of their courses and the
institutions themselves make the Web an indispensable part of recruitment and
administrative activities. However, many of the new features are often
difficult for those with visual or hearing impairments to access. (Chronicle
of Higher Education Online, 26 January 2001)