Site Accessibility

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Accessibility and the 2010 msu.edu redesign

The Michigan State University Innovation Center accessibility statement mirrors that of Michigan State University, below.

The msu.edu site redesign launched on April 2, 2010, meets the requirements set forth in “Section I. Required Checkpoints” of the MSU Web Accessibility Guidelines.

There are portions of the redesign that do not meet the “Section II. Recommended Checkpoints” of the MSU Web Accessibility Guidelines. Specifically, areas including rich media elements using embedded YouTube video players and the Adobe Flash plug-in.

MSU is implementing changes now to improve basic menu navigation and labeling in order to provide a simple and effortless navigation experience for visitors using screen-reading software for Web browsing. Long-term, we will continue to research and implement solutions that bring the MSU Web top-level pages to the usual exemplary level in the areas of accessible and universal design.

General Information

In the development of the Michigan State University Web Site, we have worked towards adding a significant number of accessibility features. These features complement the use of assistive technologies and to help make the site usable to the broadest possible audience, everyone from those who use assistive technologies to those with a low end browser or computer.

For assistance with the content and function of this site, please use ‘Contact Us’ link at the very bottom of every page. We also provide a link back to this Accessibility page at the bottom of each page. Persons using assistive devices should contact the Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities for assistive technology assistance.

Users of the JAWS screen reader: Please be aware that JAWS is designed to work best with Internet Explorer. If you are using JAWS but have selected to use another browser, JAWS may not be able to take advantage of the accessibility features provided within this application.

Note: Once you navigate outside of this site these accessibility features might not necessarily be implemented
Guidelines

Access Keys

Most web browsers support linking to specific pages by typing named access keys:

  • Windows users
    • Mozilla Firefox & Netscape: Press ALT + an access key.
    • Microsoft Internet Explorer: Press ALT + an access key + ENTER
  • Macintosh users: Press CONTROL + an access key.

All pages on this site use the following access keys for common tasks:

  • S – Skip to Content
  • 1 – Home Page
  • 2 – News
  • 3 – Site Map
  • 4 – Search
  • 5 – About This Site
  • 6 – Contact Us
  • 0 – Accessibility

All pages contain a ‘skip to content‘ link for users who use speech browsers or keyboard navigation who wish to avoid repeated groupings of links.

Visual Design

This site uses Cascading Style Sheets to control all of the presentation. Turning off the style sheet will affect the visual presentation and may affect the functionality of the site for some users.

Changing Text Sizes

This site CSS uses relative font sizes, compatible with the user-specified ‘text size’ option in visual browsers. If you need to change the text size in your web browser, we have the following tutorials:

Links and Images

  • Necessary links were assigned ‘TITLE’ attributes to describe the target in greater detail. Users of assistive technology may wish to set screen reader options to take full advantage of this feature.
  • Images used in this site include a descriptive ‘ALT’ attribute. Those images which are purely decorative or used for layout include a null ‘ALT’ attribute.

Tables

  • Screen reader table functions within screen readers may be used on this site. The tables are properly coded to take advantage these functions. Example: Using JAWS in Internet Explorer, use Control – ALT – Right Arrow to properly read a table with table headers.
  • Tables used in this site include ‘SUMMARY’ attributes to describe the table in greater detail.
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