The ATbar is a browser based option to aid accessibility of websites with the option to change the look and feel of webpages through text only enlargement, font style and colour changes plus increased line spacing.  There are also features for text to speech, a dictionary and spell checking.

The original toolbar was funded by JISC TechDis as an open source BSD licensed plug-in.  Fix the Web collaboration allowed for an additional element to be added to the toolbar – a small heart logo to the right of the ATbar logo.  Users of websites can report any issues with accessibility to the Fix the Web team for further checking so contact can be made with the developers.

To date the ATbar has had over 5 million uses with downloads occurring all over the world.  This has resulted in requests for versions in different languages and this blog is going to track the way the toolbar is being adapted to suit the Arabic language thanks to a grant from The Qatar Assistive Technology Center (Mada).