Ha! The long version will get MUCH longer once we have the procedures in place. I'm going to need to do some experiments on my upcoming cruise, as well as coordinate with the manager.
My kids both love the programs available, and they go all the way up to 17. For the teens, the format is about hanging out, and for the older teens, they even have exclusive excursions.
This is exactly why I'm organizing it. I have two kids (and a husband who likes to have me around), and it's always a bit of chaos when I leave for a conference.
(I'm Katie, one of the teachers! Normally I'm kcunning, but I' lost my password.)
I think we would have had a disaster of our own, if we had done this without volunteers. Kids are notorious for not speaking up if they're having issues, and from the front, a kid that is 'getting' it looks the same as a kid that's completely lost.
I was surprised at how many people wanted to volunteer, as well! We already have a list of eager people for next year.
If your HTML is valid, and you're not doing crazy stuff with your headers, chances are the screen reader is going to do just fine.
I worked for the government, and every single site we put out had to be 508 compliant (in other words, accessible). It never doubled our budget, ever, and we had some pretty complex interfaces.
As for point two, go check out how many Baby Boomers are alive today. Then, remember this:
Baby boomers control over 80% of personal financial assets and more than half of all consumer spending.
They're also going to start needing sites that deal with their aging eyes, poor vision, and joint issues.
Even if your site is just for reading, have you considered all the above groups?
* Can someone who can't use a mouse navigate your site? How about if they can't use a keyboard?
* Can your default styles be over-ridden? Does it grow gracefully, or is content suddenly hidden?
* Have you checked your color contrasts for the color blind?
* Are ads constantly looping animations?
* What fonts are you using?
* Does it have a consistant navigation?
* What about the content? Is there any attempt to make it as readable as possible? Or are the authors long-winded?
* Is text broken up into reasonably sized paragraphs? Are sections effectively used?
* Is there abuse of all-caps or italics?
Those are just off the top of my head. If you think that the blind and visually impaired are all you have to worry about, you'd be wrong.
In general, yes. There's a few exceptions, but in general you should have an accessible version for the visually impaired (or, really, any of the groups I list in the article. Are your training videos captioned for the Deaf? Can someone with motion issues navigate your HR site using Tab or adaptive devices? Is the language overly contrived or the font and color choices bad?)
It absolutely should be. This happens more than I'd care to admit, when someone else does final editing on your article :\ I'll contact the site owner.