Universal Design of Electronic Documentation TechnologyT. Cotton, Adobe Systems Incorporated, USA L. Reid, Adobe Systems Incorporated, USA Dr. Caesar Eghtesadi, Managing Consultant, AccessWorld Solutions, American Foundation for the Blind, USA For centuries print information has impacted every aspect of our life from legal to financial, to social. Electronic information has revolutionized our life even more during the past few decades. It offers unique capabilities that printing information has not been able to provide. For example, electronic publishing offers the opportunity for information access to individuals who cannot access standard printed documents. However, electronic information also creates challenges and barriers, especially for people with disabilities. Universal Design provides the opportunity for these individuals to access information independently. It enables individuals and organizations to connect people, employees, customers, and partners with information through the use of electronic information and documentation. The power of electronic documents lies in our ability to transform them into different representations to accommodate the needs of all users, including users with disabilities. The author must assure that the document contains all the information needed for any representation. The ability to transform information easily and invisibly also presents some challenges. We need legality, authenticity, and accuracy guarantees about the document. It is important to have guarantees that the information that one person receives is the same as the information that another person receives when he/she reads the document. If two people are signing a contract, this carries legal implications. Once we start using electronic documents, we can communicate in richer ways. We can include multi-media information, like movies and animation. Several people can collaborate on producing a single document, and we can trace the contributions of each. We no longer need to be in the same location to work together, since we can view the same electronic information remotely and exchange comments interactively via the internet. For all these reasons, the universal design of electronic documents is critical to enabling all people, regardless of their abilities, to participate fully in our society. This paper summarizes the latest advancement in electronic documentation and accessible technologies that enable the creation of universal accessibility of documentation. |