Accessibility

1
Accessibility

• I450 Technology Seminar
• Dave Kintgen, Sean Boyle

2
What accessibility means

• Making the web accessible for everyone
• Includes visual, auditory, cognitive, etc
  disabilities
• Many current web sites are not very accessible
  for these people

3
Benefits

• Making accessible sites benefits everyone, not
  just people with disabilities
• Provides flexibility for everyone
• Areas outside of disability that benefit slow
  internet connection, temporary disability

4
Importance of Accessibility

• Helps disabled people participate more
  effectively to society
• Many countries actually have laws requiring that
  accessibility concerns be addressed

5
Suggestions for Making Accessible Websites

• 10 tips to help make your website more accessible
• Tips listed at http//www.w3.org/WAI/References/
  QuickTips/Overview.php

6
alt tag

• Use the alt tag with images and animations to
  describe the function
• ltimg srcmypic.jpg altHere is my picturegt

7
Image Maps

• Use client-side image maps and provide text for
  each element
• ltimg src "planets.gif"width "145" height
  "126"alt"Planets"usemap "planetmap"
  /gtltmap id "planetmap"name"planetmap"gtlt/mapgt

8
Multimedia

• Transcripts of audio files and explanations of
  video files

9
Hyperlinks

• Use meaningful phrases for hyperlink text, not
  generic items
• lta hrefhttp//www.espn.com titleVisit the
  ESPN HomepagegtESPN Homepagelt/agt

10
Organization

• Consistency is the key
• CSS can help provide a consistent layout across
  pages
• Organize information in list, with appropriate
  headers as labels

11
Graphs

• Provide a description/summary of all charts and
  graphs included on the site

12
Scripts, Applets, Flash, Etc

• Alternative content needs to be provided when
  using plugins that are not supported by all
  browsers

13
Frames

• If still using frames, provide alternative
  content via the noframes tag
• Label all frames with appropriate headers

14
Tables

• Display data in a meaningful and sensible order
• Label elements in tables

15
Validate

• Use validation services provided by
  http//validator.w3.org/