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The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and Sections 504 and 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, prohibit discrimination against people with disabilities in all aspects of daily life, including education, work, and access to places of public accommodations. Increasingly, these antidiscrimination laws are used by persons with disabilities to ensure equal access to e-commerce, and to private and public Internet websites. To help assess the impact of the anti-discrimination mandate for educational communities, this study examined 157 website home pages of Iowa public high schools (52% of high schools in Iowa) in terms of their electronic accessibility for persons with disabilities. We predicted that accessibility problems would limit students and others in obtaining information from the web pages as well as limiting ability to navigate to other web pages. Findings show that although many web pages examined included information in accessible formats, none of the home pages met World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) standards for accessibility. The most frequent accessibility problem was lack of alternative text (ALT tags) for graphics. Technical sophistication built into pages was found to reduce accessibility. Implications are discussed for schools and educational institutions, and for laws, policies, and procedures on website accessibility.

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Wireless technologies, especially those deployed by municipalities, have been offered as one way to enhance access to society at large, including people with disabilities and others on the wrong side of the digital divide. One of the promises of municipal WiFi, is free or low-cost service promised in the public interest of citizens. This paper presents research on the current state of municipal wireless network design and policies with regard to people with disabilities in the United States. A comparative analysis was undertaken of a sample of 48 municipalities to ascertain the degree of accessibility to, or sensitivity of, municipal wireless systems, and three case studies were examined for the unforeseen effects of deploying municipal WiFi in different locations. Secondly, the effectiveness of goals toward eradicating the "disability divide" are analyzed to see if policies toward people with disabilities fair well as systems are deployed, and we discuss legal implications of municipal WiFi models. Because many people with disabilities are already affected by disparities in education and income, further marginalization of their communication and information access creates a greater barrier to their access to critical information needs, and participation in a community. -IOS Press and the authors. All rights reserved 48 P.M.A. Baker et al. / The promise of municipal WiFi and failed policies of inclusion: The disability dividethe disabled, either in their homes or public places. A review of the literature suggests that few WiFi systems specifically address the disability community. The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) mandates equal opportunity and benefit of municipal programs and services for people with disabilities [7], and as a matter of crafting equitable policy and legal compliance, it is important that the needs of people, particularly with disabilities, are considered.A lack of attention to the needs of the disability community, inefficiencies in policing compliance with Project Civic Access (PCA) guidelines, and the relative paucity of municipalities that have taken this population into consideration, may inadvertently further the digital divide. An unintended consequence of this oversight can exacerbate rather than remedy the problem of access for individuals with disabilities and undermine the fundamental objective of social inclusion in planning and executing municipal wireless systems. Furthermore, some models of muni WiFi implementation may prove to be in violation of the ADA.Mobile wireless technologies can deliver specialized information services in multiple formats for people with disabilities, offering enhanced employment opportunities, access to health care information and on-line services, emergency preparedness, and greater participation in a community. Access may be limited by a general lack of awareness of technologies or accessible options, as well as economic, technological and regulatory restrictions [13]. For individuals with disabilities, equal access to accessible content...

Since publication of the Atkins Commission report in 2003, the national scientific community has placed significant emphasis on developing cyberinfrastructure-enabled knowledge communities, which are designed to facilitate enhanced efficiency and collaboration in geographically distributed networks of researchers. This article suggests that the new cyberinfrastructure movement may not fully benefit those participants with disabilities, unless closer attention is paid to legal mandates and universal design principles. Many technology-enhanced learning communities provide geographically distributed collaboration opportunities that expand the inclusion of diverse peoples and help close the digital divide. However, to date, most collaboratory efforts have not emphasized the need for access among people with disabilities nor meeting minimum standards for technological accessibility. To address these concerns, this article reports on two pilot collaboratory studies that explore the role advanced information, communication, and collaboration technologies play in enhancing geographically distributed collaboration among specific research and applied networks within the national disability community. Universal design principles inform the design of the collaboratory and its use and our efforts to ensure access for all. Data for this article come from Web-based surveys, interviews, observations, computer logs, and detailed, mixed-methods accessibility testing. Emerging results suggest that with deliberate and systematic efforts, cyberinfrastructure can be more accessible and generate benefits among persons with disabilities. The authors provide lessons learned and recommendations for future research, policy, law, and practice.

US school libraries are required to ensure that schoolchildren and school staff with disabilities have equal opportunity to use and benefit from library facilities and information services under federal law. However, evidence indicates teacher‐librarians (TLs) often lack the training, knowledge and skills to provide programmes and services that meet the needs of students with disabilities. Project ENABLE (Expanding Nondiscriminatory Access by Librarians Everywhere) was created to respond to this shortfall by designing, implementing and evaluating a professional development programme in New York State. The project applies a social model of disability to help 100 TLs, special educators and general educators further develop their skills and resources by teaming together to create an inclusive environment for all students. This is achieved through the use of universal design principles, appropriate assistive and other technologies, an emphasis on person‐first language and sensitivity simulations, a focus on inclusive lesson planning, and by developing collaboration capacity among participant teams. Curriculum development, data collection and analyses are presented. The effect of the Project ENABLE trainings was significant in terms of higher levels of skill and knowledge reported by participants for creating accessible library programmes, advancing inclusive education and building effective collaborations. Drawing from their workshop learning and resources, participant teams developed action plans to implement during the 2011–2012 school year. This project underscores the importance of TLs in the education of all students, including those with disabilities. Higher education and local professional development programmes must place greater emphasis on preparing TLs to perform this role effectively and confidently.

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