AnySurfer is a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct language ...

organisation that promotes the accessibility of websites, apps, and digital documents for disabled individuals. It is also the name of a quality label which websites can obtain if they are fully accessible. AnySurfer is a national project run by Blindenzorg Licht en Liefde, a Belgian

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

organisation that provides aid to the blind and the visually impaired. The checklist AnySurfer uses when allocating the AnySurfer label is based on the

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are part of a series of web accessibility guidelines published by the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the main international standards organization for th ...

(WCAG 2.0).''The BlindSurfer Project'', in ''Web Accessibility: Web Standards and Regulatory Compliance'' by Richard Rutter, Apress, 2007.

History

BlindSurfer was founded in 2001 by Rudi Canters, a blind Internet pioneer. He was aided in his efforts by Blindenzorg Licht en Liefde. Thanks to financial support by Gelijke Kansen Vlaanderen, the project was consolidated in 2002. After Canters' death on 14 April 2003, the project and the renown of its label continued to grow. On 1 July 2006, BlindSurfer changed its name to AnySurfer. This was done in order to avoid reinforcing the stereotype that web accessibility only benefits the visually impaired, rather than people with disabilities as a whole. In December 2008, a second edition of the

was published. AnySurfer took part in translating these updated guidelines into

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

, and adapted their own checklist to conform to WCAG 2.0.

Operations of AnySurfer

* Performs accessibility tests of websites based on pre-existing guidelines (the AnySurfer checklist and WCAG 2.0.). Websites that fulfil these criteria are granted the AnySurfer label. * Organises trainings regarding the accessibility of webdesign, webcontent, and digital documents such as Word-files and

PDF Portable Document Format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems. ...

. * Compiles a list of "Acknowledged Developers", which are web developers with a lot of knowledge and experience regarding accessibility. * Collaborating with about ten different colleges, AnySurfer performs an accessibility monitor on a

biennial Biennial means (an event) lasting for two years or occurring every two years. The related term biennium is used in reference to a period of two years. In particular, it can refer to: * Biennial plant, a plant which blooms in its second year and th ...

basis. The results represent the progress that has been made in web accessibility among Belgian-based websites.

Sources

External links

AnySurfer
{{Web accessibility Web accessibility Organisations based in Belgium