Accessibility Statement

The Rehabilitation Research Design & Disability Center (R₂D₂) Center Universal Design Philosophy and Procedure: Web accessibility is important to us. Even more, we believe in universal design so all users can access the site. People with limitations should not need to use special features or different access methods than others. All people, with or without limitations, should have available the full range of access methods.

We employ a web design team with accessibility expertise that holds deliberate accessibility review sessions. We welcome feedback and ideas to help make our site more accessible and usable for everyone.

Our Accessibility Features: The R₂D₂ web team strives to provide a universally designed website that works for everyone. We have developed the site so its information is available in an equitable format for visitors using a wide range of access systems and strategies. Several of the features and procedures that we have incorporated to optimize its accessibility follow:

• EqTDs (Equivalent Text Descriptions) for most non-text items. These include Alt-text Brief Descriptions as well as Essential and Detailed Descriptions via the longdesc property for all but “eye-candy” or in-line items. Images that are not themselves links to content will link to their description pages.
• Essential and Detailed descriptions are available via nearby links to the EqTD page that lists all of our items that have text descriptions. See our EqTD Posterette for a quick understanding of the protocol we use and our EqTD AUDITs.
• Links for resizing text are located in the upper right of our web pages for those who have Javascript enabled. Clicking on +A or A- enlarges or shrinks the page's text; the middle A returns the fonts to the default size.
• A link for changing the screen resolution to “High Contrast” is available in the upper right corner. This resolution, which also includes larger font,  may be helpful to people with low vision or may be a preference for any user. 
• Clicking the Printer Friendly link simplifies the format of the page and removes all elements but the basic content, so the page can be printed or viewed with fewer distractions.
• Access keys provide access to our main headings and principal functions. In most web browsers, invoke the access key by pressing Alt (on PC) or Control (on Mac) simultaneously with the appropriate character on the keyboard (some browsers also require the shiftkey). Pressing the Enter key may be needed to subsequently activate the link. Available access keys:
  • A - About ACCESS Main Street
  • C - Skip to Content
  • H – ACCESS Main Street Home page
  • S - Search
  • U - Learn About UD
  • V – Virtual Community
  • 0 - Accessibility statement
  • 9 - Feedback Form
• Several search strategies are employable on the site for easier cognitive access. Information is easily available with consideration for various cognitive styles and approaches. See the Search page for more detail.
• We attend to standards and guidelines. We test our website and frequently run checks on the accessibility of its content. While we cannot guarantee all components, we periodically evaluate our site for broken links. Accessibility is a moot point if the content isn't available to begin with.

We welcome ongoing feedback for accessibility improvement. As our website updates regularly and our project has limited resources we may miss an access feature or element. We invite all visitors to provide feedback when the site does not function as hoped. A link to our Feedback form is located at the bottom of all of our pages. Or feel free to email ams-coordinator@uwm.edu or call our office at 414-229-6803 or TTD-414-229-5628.