Accessible online health promotion information for persons with disabilities

Online health promotion materials have great potential to reach persons with disabilities and provide valuable information to this vulnerable population. While health promotion efforts are important for everyone, they are crucial for individuals with disabilities. Yet information needed to support these efforts is often presented in such a way that its access is limited or its content is inappropriate for this population. Whether designing or selecting online materials for individuals with disabilities, nurses can benefit from knowledge about strategies to make web sites more accessible or to assess the accessibility of existing web sites. The task of providing health promotion information to women with disabilities was undertaken as part of the "Health Promotion for Women with Disabilities Project" at Villanova University's College of Nursing. A web site was created as one method of providing information. This paper presents strategies that are used to make this site accessible.