People with disabilities represent a significant portion of the US population, and accessible technology (AT) helps make their lives easier. Further development of AT is an important objective in today's world. To learn about the fundamental concepts of AT and browse related reports, the National Assistive Technology Research Institute at the University of Kentucky (1) is an excellent place to...

Started in 1993, The Carl and Ruth Shapiro Family National Center for Accessible Media (NCAM) is part of WGBH's Media Access Group. They are primarily interested in creating appropriate policy and technology programs to make sure that various media and technologies are accessible to people with disabilities. On their site, visitors might wish to start by reading over their "What's New?" area,...

Founded in 1984, the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST) is an organization that is committed to expanding “learning opportunities for all individuals, especially those with disabilities, through the research and development of innovative, technology-based educational resources and strategies”. On their homepage, visitors can learn about their various initiatives, which include...

In celebration of the tenth anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Presidential Task Force on Employment of Adults with Disabilities last month created disAbility.gov to provide a single portal through which users can access federal government services, programs, and information relating to disabilities. The site offers annotated listings of resources organized into...

The Do-It program, with funding from the National Science Foundation, has produced a list of mailing lists, newsletters, newsgroups, and websites which contain information of interest to people with disabilities and accessibility.

The Stanford Archimedes Project researches and develops tools that improve accessibility to information technology. This article, printed in a journal of the Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand, describes much of the project's current work. One of the breakthrough devices from Archimedes is the Total Access System (TAS), which provides "access to computers and other electronic...

The Trace Center, an interdisciplinary research, development and resource center on technology and disability, housed at the Waisman Center and the Department of Industrial Engineering at the University of Wisconsin, established a Web site in 1996. The Trace Program Areas section details the Center's mission and goals, provides information on computer access and standards, and gives information on...

Dated August 24, 2001, this online working draft of Web content accessibility guidelines comes from the World Wide Web Consortium (WC3). The aim of this accessibility project is to make Web more navigable to people with disabilities. The first draft of the guidelines was published in 1999 (mentioned in the May 7, 1999 Scout Report). This newer version incorporates reader feedback, covers a wider...