A Solid Intranet in Eight Steps
From: Web Techniques - July, 2001 - page 29
By; Theo Mandel

Make your intranet accessible.

The Web is the fastest-adopted technology in history. However, for people
with disabilities, that's sometimes a mixed blessing. The Web is displacing
traditional sources of information and interaction - schools, libraries,
print materials, and workplace information. Some of those traditional
resources were accessible; some weren't. The Web is becoming an essential,
but sometimes inaccessible, resource for: news, information, commerce,
entertainment, classroom education, distance learning, job searching,
workplace interaction, and civic participation (laws, voting, government
information, and services). An accessible Web means unprecedented access to
information for people with disabilities. Some of the barriers to avoid
include: 

  for users with visual disabilities: unlabeled graphics, undescribed video,
  poorly marked-up tables or frames, lack of keyboard support or
  screen-reader compatibility. 

  for users with hearing disabilities: lack of captioning for audio,
  proliferation of text without visual sign-posts. 

  for users with physical disabilities: lack of keyboard or single-switch
  support for menu commands. 

  for users with cognitive or neurological disabilities: lack of consistent
  navigation structure; overly complex presentation or language; lack of
  illustrative, nontext materials; flickering or strobing designs. 

Companies are slowly beginning to address accessibility concerns on Internet
sites, but rarely on their intranets. However, governmental regulations and
Internet standards are fast becoming the baseline (and sometimes the law) for
acceptable Web-site development. In his article, "Disabled Accessibility,"
Jakob Nielsen states, "It would not surprise me if we start seeing money-back
guarantees in design contracts that state that clients don't have to pay for
sites that violate these rules." Web-development tools are beginning to
incorporate accessibility standards into their tools to help Web designers
build the most usable and accessible Web sites possible. 

The W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) offers three levels of guidelines
for developing accessible Web sites. For more information, checklists, and a
listing of the accessibility guidelines, visit the W3C site. 

http://www.webtechniques.com/archives/2001/07/mandel/


Disabled Accessibility: The Pragmatic Approach by Jakob Nielsen
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/990613.html

W3C Web Accessibility Iniatitive (WAI)
http://www.w3.org/WAI