What is Web Accessibility? A web page is accessible if all
users are
able to access the document and read the content. Users should
be able to access it without
needing to change their browser, or adjust the browser settings. A
well-designed site will work in any browser with any reasonable
settings. Many accessibility improvements also make it easier for
everyone to use
the site. For example, improving the navigation structure of a web site
helps everyone, but also
especially helps people with poor memory. There are also pure usability
problems such as broken links, which affect everyone equally.
Here
is an Accessible
Web Design Guide, from Durham University, that will
help you design and make your web sites accessible to all
users, regardless of disability or choice of browser. This Guide
explains the benefits of accessible design, and techniques for writing
accessible websites. (22 pages, 174kb, pdf)
Contents
of Accessible Web Design Guide:
1
About accessibility
1.1 What is accessibility?
1.2 What is usability?
1.3 Legal Requirements
1.3.1 Quotes from SENDA
1.3.2
Maguire v Socog
1.4 Browser compatibility
1.5 Search Engines
1.6 University Policy
1.7 The Web Accessibility Initiative
1.7.1 Priority 1 recommendations
1.7.2 Priority 2 recommendations
1.7.3 Priority 3 recommendations
1.8 Other terms
used in this Guide
2 Finding Accessibility
Problems
2.1 Examples of inaccessible pages
2.2 Tools for finding accessibility problems
2.2.1 Web Browsers
2.2.2
Checking Tools
2.3 Identifying accessibility
problems
2.3.1 Some of the
accessibility problems with the example site
3
Fixing accessibility problems
3.1 Accessible text
3.1.1 Example of rewriting text
3.2 Accessible
Graphics
3.2.1 Using
Dreamweaver to make accessible images
3.2.2 Text Equivalents
3.2.3
Examples of ‘text equivalents’
3.3 Accessible Tables 10
3.3.1 Using Dreamweaver to add header information
3.3.2 Example of adding headers to tables
3.4
Accessible use of color
3.4.1
Partial specification of color
3.4.2 Specification of colour in Dreamweaver
3.4.3 Examples
3.5 Scripts, Java applets, Flash and
similar technologies
3.6 Frames
4
Other accessibility issues
4.1 Structural Markup
4.2 Validation
4.3 Navigation
4.4 Other areas to consider
4.4.1 Tables for layout
4.4.2 Forms for user input
4.4.3 Colour contrast
5 Useful tools
5.1 Browsers
5.2 Validators
5.3
Accessibility Checking Tools
5.4 Other tools
5.4.1 Specialist accessibility checking assistants
5.4.2 Link checkers
5.4.3
Tidy
6 Summary