Royal Blind Society presentation

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Making websites accessible to users who are blind
or have low vision

• Royal Blind Society presentation
• To Web Standards Group, Sydney
• 15th April 2004

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Royal Blind SocietyWho are we?

• David Woodbridge
• Adaptive Technology Consultant
• Robert Spriggs
• Service Development Manager

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Royal Blind SocietyWhat do we do?

• Major provider of services to people who are
  blind or vision impaired
• High profile charity track record proves success
• State wide (NSW and ACT) expanding to Victoria
• Adaptive Technology Services Assisting users to
  use technology
• Web Testing Services Theory and user testing

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Web Testing Presentation

• Practicalities, not theory based on personal
  experiences
• Encouragement demonstrate the benefits
• Design with accessibility in mind
• No need for text only keeps costs down
• Not visually boring still create attractive
  sites
• Estimated 5 costs increase at design stage 50
  to retro-fit

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Current Standards

• World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) HTML / XHTML,
  etc
• World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) CSS
• Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)
• Disability Discrimination Act Australia
• Section 508 US Rehabilitation Act

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Useful Links

• http//validator.w3c.org HTML validator
• http//jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator CSS
  validator
• http//bobby.watchfire.net - Bobby
• http//www.cynthiasays.com - Cynthia Says
• http//www.usablenet.com - Lift
• User Testing

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Testing Tools - The Computer

• Display resolution 800x600 or 640x480
• Font sizes Large print
• Font colours High resolution mode
• Accessibility options in the browser
• Ignore font sizes
• Ignore font styles
• Ignore colours
• Ignore graphics
• Turn off / replace style sheet

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Testing Tools - Magnification

• Inbuilt Magnifier Windows Magnifier, Mac Zoom
• ZoomText http//www.aisquared.com
• MAGic http//www.freedomscientific.com
• Other tools exist

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Testing Tools Screen Reader

• Inbuilt Readers Windows Narrator
• Home Page Reader http//www.ibm.com/able
• JAWS http//www.freedomscientific.com
• Window-Eyes http//www.gwmicro.com
• Other tools exist

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Testing Tools Braille

• Braille Displays ALVA, RBT40 operated via the
  screen reader
• BrailleNote http//www.pulsedata.com
• PacMate http//www.freedomscientific.com
• Other tools exist RBS do not generally test
  websites on Braille Displays websites that work
  with screen readers generally work with Braille

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Checks Before you start

• Online tests use the free tools to check
  compliance
• Accessibility Options use the accessibility
  options within Windows / IE to test for flaws
• Software Demos use software demos to see how
  well the screen talks.
• Task List produce a task list for trial, and
  choose a suitable audience for testing.

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Top Ten Tips Low Vision (1)

• Contrast is the site of sufficient contrast?
• Colour does the site rely on colour to relay
  information?
• Confusing is the site crowded, have flashing
  graphics or otherwise visually confusing?
• Consistent is the navigation visually
  consistent?
• Responsiveness do fly-outs or drop-down menus
  rely on steady eye-hand coordination?

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Top Ten Tips Low Vision (2)

• Resolution will the site work in 800x600
  without multiple scrollbars?
• Font size can the user adjust font size? Is the
  site usable?
• Accessibility Options do the accessibility
  options have the desired effect on the site?
• Footprint can the page be navigated even if
  only a small portion is visible?
• Tables are tables easy to understand, even when
  only part is visible?

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Top Ten Tips Screen Reader (1)

• Keyboard is it keyboard navigable? Do tab
  orders make sense?
• Links are links descriptive in their own right
  (but not too descriptive?
• Page Titles does each page have a title that
  represents the content?
• HTML Coding does the site use standard HTML
  tags, especially header tags?
• Navigation is the navigation consistent? Is the
  home-page always the home-page?

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Top Ten Tips Screen Reader (2)

• Graphics do graphics talk when needed?
• Scripts do scripts interfere with the page? Are
  alternatives to scripts provided when required?
• Forms are they useable? Is it obvious what is
  required?
• Tables can tables be understood? Are they
  marked correctly with header rows?
• Frames are frames easy to navigate and labelled
  correctly?

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Our Top Tip

• Have the site tested by a user or users in your
  target audience

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Contacting Us Any questions?

• David Woodbridge
• david.woodbridge_at_rbs.org.au
• Robert Spriggs
• rob.spriggs_at_rbs.org.au
• Adaptive Technology Help Desk
• [phone] Mon-Fri 100-430pm
• athelp_at_rbs.org.au