Title:
Accessibility and Digital Resources for the Networked Community

Abstract:
This talk will show how work has moved from attention to the technical 
production of resources to the description of those resources and their 
matching to the needs and preferences of users who otherwise might not 
have access to those resources. A number of specifications and 
standards have been established by different communities working alone 
and together and these will be described and their role explained.

Rationale:
Networked communities are by definition dependent upon the ability of 
everyone in the community being able to participate. In particular, 
this means using resources and contributing them equally regardless of 
disability. Lack of access is often the result of a mismatch between a 
user's needs and preferences and the resource being proffered. There 
are many ways such mismatches can come about but obvious ones include 
lack of access to control over resources, lack of sensory compatibility 
between a user and a resource, or inappropriate content that cannot be 
used. Early work on accessibility of resources was focused on the 
technical possibilities that would make resources universally 
accessible, the techniques that would make it possible to render a 
single resource in many forms to suit the needs of all potential users. 
Increased flexibility has been achieved by the shift from that focus to 
one that tolerates dynamic composition of content and services to 
effect an accessible resource for the user. This has meant a focus on 
metadata as well as on the tools for the production and use of digital 
resources. Interaction, live communication, authoring and browsing are 
all actions of networked community members. Digital resource providers 
need to enable equivalent experiences and opportunities for all 
potential users. Awareness of suitable functional requirements for 
hardware, software and content should be a priority for those who care. 
Equally, hardware, software and content should be appropriately 
described  in metadata to enable matching of resources to individual 
user's needs and preferences,