What is Web Accessibility?
- Anyone
- Any technology
- Any web site
- Full and complete comprehension
- Full and complete ability to interact
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What is Section 508?
- Roots in Rehab Act of 1973
- ADA in 1990 – compliance becomes law
- Update to Rehab Act becomes The Workforce Investment Act, 1998
- Section 508 of this act becomes a major imperative for federal agencies and their contractors
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What is WAI?
- Web Accessibility Initiative
- World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) project dedicated to promoting awareness about accessibility concerns worldwide
- Project provides detailed means of making sites accessible
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WAI's 14 Guidelines
- 14 guidelines for creating accessible sites
- Detailed checklists and examples expand these guidelines
- Languages (HTML, XHTML) are developed with these guidelines now in mind
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1. Provide equivalent alternatives to auditory and visual content
- Include text descriptions
- Employ alt attribute in images and imagemaps
- Employ title attribute in links and form controls
- Employ any other HTML or XHTML aids for object accessibility
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2. Don't Rely on Color Alone
- Include explanations wherever color is being used to express facts or actions
- Use high contrast for visibility
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3. Use Markup and Style Sheets and Do So Properly
- Use contemporary markup (XHTML)
- Use CSS
- Follow the standards
- Validate your documents
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4. Clarify Natural Language Usage
- Use title or longdesc attributes where appropriate
- Spell out:
- Foreign pronunciations
- Acronyms
- Abbreviations
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5. Create Tables that Transform Gracefully
- Try to limit use of tables to data tables
- Place greater emphasis on CSS for layout
- Use HTML and XHTML-related attributes to work more effectively with tables
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6. Ensure New Technologies Transform Gracefully
- Any new technology put into use on a web page be accessible
- If you are unable to make a specific page accessible, provide an alternate for that page (not the ideal)
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7. Ensure User-Control of Time-Sensitive Content Changes
- Does it move?
- Does it blink?
- Does it auto-update?
- If so, make sure the user can stop, start, or pause the activity easily
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8. Ensure Direct Accessibility of Embedded User Interfaces
- Embedded interfaces can include those created in:
- Flash
- DHTML
- Navigational applets
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9. Design for Device Independence
- No matter the input device in use (keyboards, mice, voice, mouth pointers, head pointers) the page should accommodate the device
- Use client side imagemaps
- Provide tab order and other HTML or XHTML-based solutions
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10. Use Interim Solutions
- Problems with browser stability and standards compliance continue
- Avoid any browser-specific element or attribute
- Avoid JavaScript-only menus, or ensure that text-based alternatives are easily available
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11. Use W3C Technologies and Guidelines
- Use recommended languages
- Follow WAI guidelines
- Keep up with best practices
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12. Provide Context & Orientation
- Titles in all title elements
- All pages should note what the site is, what the page is for, and where within the site an individual is
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13. Provide Clear Navigation
- Clearly identify links
- Graphic-based navigation should have text-based alternatives
- Navigation should be consistent
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14. Ensure that Documents are Clear and Simple
- The easier your content is to understand, the more effectively you will get your point across, no matter who your audience is
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Accessibility Testing 1
- Select a sampling of documents from the site you want to review. Include your Home Page in the test.
- Using a graphical browser (or variety of browsers) examine the documents using the following guidelines:
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Accessibility Testing 2
- Turn off all images and see if the document is still logical
- Turn off any sound to ensure the document is understandable without it
- Change the font size, making it larger and smaller. Your content is ideally still readable
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Accessibility Testing 3
- Set the screen resolution to 640x480. If this forces a horizontal scroll, realize that this can cause difficulties for the mobility impaired
- Change your monitor's display to black and white (if you can) and see how the site looks
- Tab through links and form fields using the keyboard in place of the mouse. Can you get everywhere easily?
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Accessibility Testing 4
- Test your documents with voice or text browsers. Perform these two checks:
- Is the information you're hearing or seeing equivalent to what is experienced in a graphic browser?
- Does the information follow a logical order?
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Accessibility Testing 5
- Validate your documents using at least two accessibility validators
- Summarize your testing results, making recommendations as to how any problems can be addressed, and any follow-up steps to reach full conformance.
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