Legislation in both the USA and Canada reflects the importance of establishing accessibility standards for web-based resource development. Accessibility changes in WebCT version 3.6 will improve the use of WebCT with adaptive technology, bringing WebCT into compliance with the US Rehabilitation Act, section 508, in force June 21, 2001. Users with vision loss may need adaptive software to access information that they are unable to read on a screen. Users with limited mobility may use an adapted keyboard to navigate the web. The following is a list of commonly used adaptive technologies.
Text is read out by a voice synthesizer.
Tab or Shift-Tab allows navigation through the links on a web page. They may be switched to mouse emulation mode so that the arrow keys or numeric keypad of the same keyboard are used for mouse movements. Users have a pointing device or a switch to select buttons. Commands correlating to macro sequences may be created to customize usage for specific software or frequent tasks. Mouse control may incorporate a grid system.