Access Instructions for Users with Disabilities
NCAM is committed to ensuring that its site is accessible to all users. This Web site conforms to existing recommendations and standards and has been tested with various assistive technologies. If you encounter a problem accessing NCAM's site, or if you would like to provide feedback on NCAM's site, please contact us using the preceding links. To reach NCAM staff with questions about other issues, view our complete contact information.
Support for W3C Recommendations and Section 508 Standards
During the development process, our authors followed the W3C's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 to ensure that the site would be accessible. The site uses valid XHTML 1.0 Transitional and CSS 2.0, and it also meets the standards set in the Web-based applications section of the Section 508 standards.
Alt-text Tags and D-links
All images on this site are accompanied by a brief alt-text tag which identifies the image or its function. If you are using a graphic browser, alt-text tags are visible only if the browser's automatic image-loading feature is turned off.
In addition, some images include the longdesc attribute and a "D" link. Selecting this D-link will bring you to a textual description of the image. The description is typically two or three sentences long and may contain hyperlinks. At the end of the description is a "Return" link. Selecting this link will take you back to the original image.
Access Keys
Access keys are provided as a shortcut for users visiting major areas of the NCAM site. Access key strokes consist of ALT plus the access key on Windows machines and Control plus the access key on Macs. Windows users need to hit 'enter' to follow access key links, but the Mac access keys follow links automatically. Access keys are defined as follows:
Access key 1: Home page
Access key 2: Projects
Access key 3: Resources
Access key 4: Search (when on NCAM's home page, this access key sets the focus in the search edit field)
Captioned and Described Movie Clips
NCAM captions and describes all movie clips on its site using MAGpie, our free caption and description software. For more information about accessible multimedia, and how you can create your own, please visit NCAM's Rich Media Accessibility Web site.
Hyperlinks
All text hyperlinks are written so that they make sense when read out of context.
Scripting
Parts of the NCAM site utilize JavaScript. In every instance, device-independent event handlers have been implemented so that use of the mouse is not required. Additionally, all content and functionality are available even if scripting has been disabled in the browser.
Tables
Some layout tables are used on this site. However, all content makes sense when the page is linearized. Where tables are used for the presentation of data, table cells are associated with headers to facilitate navigation with screen readers. Also, each data table has a summary which provides additional information about the table's contents.
