Web accessibility

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Web accessibility
Web accessibility and Disability A Practical
introduction
Robin Christopherson and Curt Holst AbilityNet
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What is web accessibility?
Web accessibility is about designing sites so
as many people as possible can access them
effectively and easily, independent of who they
are or how they access the net


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Web standards
Standards
Guidelines created in 1999 to explain how to
make websites and intranets accessible to people
with disabilities. They are prioritised into
three levels Priority Level 1 - 'Must' or level
AMinimum Priority Level 2 - 'Should', or
level Double-A Good practice Priority Level 3
- 'Ought' or level Triple-A Best practice
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0
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Who does it affect?
9.8 million people in the UK have a disability
under the DDA. The groups that have specific
Issues with web and intranet accessibility are

• Vision impairment
• Hearing impairment
• Motor difficulties
• Cognitive impairments and literacy

Many have more than one disability
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Vision

• As a very visual medium, the Web presents unique
  problems to the millions who have low,
  restricted or no vision.
• There are 4 broad categories of vision
  impairment
• Colour blindness red/green impairment most
  common
• Mild vision impairment larger font size,
  colours
• Moderate vision impairment screen
  magnification, colours
• Blind/severe vision impairment screen readers

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Mild vision impairments Adjust the Browser
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Magnification software
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Key guidelines for mild/moderate visual
impairments

• Do not use colour alone to convey information
  (level 1)
• Ensure a consistent and uncluttered page layout
  (level 2)
• Avoid using graphics for text (level 2)
• Choose colours that ensure sufficient background
  and
• foreground contrast and avoid combinations
  of red/green
• and blue/yellow (level 2/3)

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Key guidelines for mild/moderate visual
impairments

• Ensure all font size definitions are relative
  -re-sizeable (level 2)
• Offer a hi-viz skin and/or link to a page
  explaining how to change colours and font sizes
  (level 3)
• Use a clear non-seriffed font such as Arial,
  Tahoma or Verdana (recommended)
• Avoid using Flash for text there are resizing
  issues (recommended)

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Screen-Reader Users
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Key guidelines blind web users

• Ensure all images have alt tags - especially
  links, logos and important pictures. Use empty
  alt tags (alt) for decorative images (level 1)
• If you use Flash make sure it works with modern
  screen readers and provide an accessible
  alternative for older readers (level 1)
• If you use frames ensure they have titles and
  names that make sense - screen readers navigate
  in and out of individual frames on a page (level
  1)
• Make sure tabular data is coded accessibly use
  the correct table header tags for column titles
  (level 1)

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Key guidelines blind web users

• Provide transcripts for Multimedia if you use it
  (level 1)
• Ensure both JavaScript and Applets work with
  screen readers provide alternative content if
  they dont. (level 1)
• Choose text for hyperlinks with care make sure
  it makes sense out of context and avoid
  repetition (level 2)
• Position labels in forms to the left or above
  input fields and the right of checkboxes and
  radio buttons (level 2)
• Offer a Skip to content link to jump over
  navigation links (level 3)

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Hearing
Multimedia, including video and audio clips on
the web - provide captioning and transcripts.
British Sign Language (BSL) users limited
vocabulary for example Marinade Provide a
glossary of terms
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Motor difficulties
People with motor difficulties face challenges
when navigating and interacting with web pages.
Dexterity, fine motor and coordination
difficulties can make using a standard keyboard
or mouse difficult. Keyboard and mouse
alternatives or voice recognition can be used to
navigate and interact with web pages
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Hand/Arm Adaptive technology
Alternative Pointing Devices
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Hand/Arm Adaptive technology
Alternative Keyboards
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Key guidelines for Motor Difficulties

• For Keyboard users
• If you use flash or scripts make sure pages are
  useable with the keyboard (level 2)
• Ensure a logical tabbing order through all page
  elements (level 3)
• Use shortcut links AccessKeys for top
  navigation links (level 3)
• Limit the number of links on the page
  (recommended)

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Key guidelines for Motor Difficulties

• For Mouse users
• Graphical or text links should be a decent
  size(recommended)
• Avoid graphical or text links in close proximity
  not 1/2/3 (recommended)

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Cognitive Difficulties and Dyslexia

• Cognitive impairments include dyslexia, memory
  impairments and attention deficit disorders.
• Recommendations
• Keep the language clear and avoid jargon (level
  1)
• Use consistent navigation, sitemaps and
  breadcrumb trails (level 2)
• Keep movement to a minimum or allow user to it
  turn off (level 2)
• Use graphical icons as navigation aids (level 3)

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Cognitive Difficulties and Dyslexia

• Recommendations continued
• Content should be organised logically and
  clearly (level 3)
• There should be sufficient spacing between
  lines, paragraphs or sections, use bulleted
  lists (recommended)
• Use a clear non-seriffed font and dont fully
  justify text (recommended)
• Dyslexic web users prefer a beige background
  (recommended)

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Sources of help

• Many organisations (such as AbilityNet) offer a
  wide range of services to help you make your
  websites and intranets accessible, Including
• Audits,
• Training
• Site design
• Disabled user testing
• Key resources on the web include
• W3C Web accessibility initiative
  -http//www.w3.org/WAI/
• Irish National Disability Association (NDA) -
  http//www.accessit.nda.ie/
• Accessify - http//www.accessify.com
• A List Apart - developer resources -
  http//www.alistapart.com

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Contact AbilityNet

• To find out more about AbilityNets web services
  
• Call 0800 269545
• Visit http//www.abilitynet.org.uk
• Email accessibility_at_abilitynet.org.uk