I am no expert on checking accessibility of web sites, but I use a couple tools that can help quickly check web pages:
1. Install the Fangs extension in Firefox (available at http://sourceforge.net/projects/fangs). Then, from the Tools menu, select Fangs. You will get a page as “seen” by someone who uses a screen reader. Screen readers can be set to read the “headers” on the page, allowing a blind visitor to hear and scan the headlines like visual visitors do. (You may have to select “Settings” then “Sectioned” to see the blue highlights for the headers.)
2. Check pages online at: http://checker.atrc.utoronto.ca/index.html
The Adaptive Technology Resource Centre at the University of Toronto provides this service to quickly check web pages. While it is often hard to get a page to rate completely accessible, this site really helps find your blatant mistakes.
I used Stretch Break when I was working at Lawrence Hall of Science, spending much time daily at the computer. It has a nice combination of stretches, both sitting and standing. You can set it to remind you at any time interval you chose (default is every 30 minutes).
It’s a great program for those of us who get caught up in our computer work. It’s easy for me to pass a few hours sitting in front of the computer. This program gives you a few minutes of stretching, which is great for avoiding cramped necks, wrists, etc.
I just found a great piece of software that allows you to easily record what you are doing on your computer screen (with your own voice over) and save it as a .AVI or Flash movie. The software is called CamStuio, and being open source it is free. You can find it at http://camstudio.org/.
I used it for making a few tutorials for affiliate groups of Berkeley Partners for Parks, whose web site I manage. You can see the videos here: http://www.bpfp.org/index.php/resources-for-affiliate-groups/. The movies are near the bottom of the page.
If you haven’t explored Google Maps recently, it’s worth checking out. One of their options for directions is “Avoid highways” which is halfway to a bike friendly mapping experience. Google has also added a “Take Public Transit” option, and they are adding more transit agencies as you read this.
One of the options being suggested is a “Shortest Bike Route” and “Most Bike Friendly” options. The second option would take you on bike routes whenever reasonable (they’d have to figure out some way of deciding how much longer is acceptable for the bike friendly route: 10%, 20%, etc.) .
Remember, having bike friendly mapping software not only helps bicyclists, but also lessens the number of bikes on busy roads and sidewalks, as well as getting some cars off the road when people discover how easy it is to bike.
It’s not just that it’s by Micro$oft. It’s that it’s not standards compliant. A little bit of history:
When the web first started to use browsers (Netscape, Internet Explorer, etc.), folks weren’t quite sure how to write the code so it would display “correctly” on every browser. Slowly, standards were developed, with the goal of writing HTML and other web code so every browser would display each web page similarly (if not identically).
However, Microsoft continues to build its browser in non-standards compliant ways. One quote:
Microsoft has seen fit to engineer their browser to deliberately violate the standards in several critical ways. It might just be a mis-guided attempt to “make it simple” for newbie coders, or it might be a cynical ploy to crush the competition, but in any case it creates huge headaches for those of us who desire to employ CSS positioning on our pages. (www.positioniseverything.net/ie-primer.html)
Alternates to Internet Explorer, browsers that are standards compliant, include Firefox and Opera, plus Safari on the Mac (there are several other standards compliant browsers, but these three are the big ones). All of these browsers are free. Firefox is “Open Source” software, which means that lots of people all over the world are constantly testing and upgrading the code. The Open source movement is an amazing testimony to the power of cooperation.
OK, back to Internet Explorer (or IE as it’s often called). The problem is that a web designer has to write standards compliant web pages for the “other” browsers, then check it with IE, then tweak it so it works with IE. Those of us who design web pages know we have to do this, because so many people are using IE. As long as you keep using it, web designers will have to work twice as hard.
So, why do people use IE?
IE comes on all Window$ machines, so most folks just go ahead and use it.
Some sites require IE (e.g. I watch Netflix instant movies, and you cannot use other browsers).
So, realistically, even if you switch to another browser, you’ll need to keep IE on your machine for those occasional web sites that don’t display well with other browsers. If you use Firefox, there’s even an extension that will allow you to remember which pages need IE, and when you surf to them IE will automatically open.
Unfortunately, most folks just want to use what’s on their machine, and not have to worry about all this ‘computer stuff.” That’s what Micro$soft is betting on. As the old saying about the phone company went, “We don’t care, we don’t have to.”
Click the above video to play it. When you hear “telephone company,” just think “Micro$oft.”
I just found a great piece of software that allows you to easily record what you are doing on your computer screen (with your own voice over) and save it as a .AVI or Flash movie. The software is called CamStuio, and being open source it is free. You can find it at 
