Transcript Website Accessibility

Website Accessibility
Crystal Foutz-Gold, M.S.
What is Website Accessibility?
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Making information on the internet usable
and understandable for EVERYONE,
including those with disabilities
Organizations receiving federal funding are
governed by the Americans with Disabilities
Act (ADA) requiring compliance with specific
guidelines
Being sure that the potential audience pool is
as large as possible
May 23, 2005
Website Accessibility - Copyright Crystal FoutzGold 2005
Why is this important to me?
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By 1999 over 100 million Americans were
using the Internet, with roughly 55,000 new
users each day.
About 54 million Americans have some level
of disability.
May 23, 2005
Website Accessibility - Copyright Crystal FoutzGold 2005
What is Section 508?
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Section 508
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Information Technology and People with Disabilities
amendment to the Workforce Investment Act of 1998
“Section 508 requires Federal departments and agencies
that develop, procure, maintain, or use electronic and
information technology to ensure that Federal employees
and members of the public with disabilities have access to
and use of information and data, comparable to that of the
employees and members of the public without disabilities–
unless it is an undue burden to do so."
May 23, 2005
Website Accessibility - Copyright Crystal FoutzGold 2005
What technology is affected?
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The following that is created by Federal departments
and agencies or contractors providing services or
products to Federal agencies:
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Software Applications and Operating Systems
Web-based Intranet and Internet Information and
Applications
Telecommunications Products
Video and Multimedia Products
Self Contained, Closed Products
Desktop and Portable Computers
May 23, 2005
Website Accessibility - Copyright Crystal FoutzGold 2005
But I am not a Federal
agency…
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The success of an online initiative depends
on it being used.
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Why would you want to restrict use? Open the
potential pool of users as wide as possible!
Ethically, it is good practice to make information
useful for everyone without limitations
Accessibility goes beyond federal regulations
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Accessible sites tend to convert to the new
technologies faster and easier (PDAs, Cell
phones, etc.)
May 23, 2005
Website Accessibility - Copyright Crystal FoutzGold 2005
So I need to make the site work for
vision and hearing problems, right?
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That is just the start! There are many other
disabilities that affect someone’s use of
online technologies
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Cognitive disabilities
Difficulty reading
Poor vision
Difficulty with motor skills
Physical disabilities that make typing difficult or
impossible
Inability to differentiate between certain colors
May 23, 2005
Website Accessibility - Copyright Crystal FoutzGold 2005
Don’t forget old and new
technologies!
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People using non-color displays
People with limited or slow access may not
have all of the latest plug-ins or technology
Slow connections can make page loading
difficult
People on PDAs, cell phones, and other
small devices require a “stripped down”
version of a page for best viewing
May 23, 2005
Website Accessibility - Copyright Crystal FoutzGold 2005
So, what if I just make an
“Alternate Site”?
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An alternate “Text-Only” site was once considered a
great way to get information to those with older
technology and slow connections, as well as those
with disabilities. There are problems with this,
however:
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Alternate sites OFTEN do not stay as updated as the main
site
Do you want to force others to a “Separate” area? There
are very negative feelings about separating people due to
their differences
It does not meet the spirit of the regulations, just the word
and law
May 23, 2005
Website Accessibility - Copyright Crystal FoutzGold 2005
What are the basics?
(from W3C)
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Provide equivalent alternatives to auditory and visual content.
Don't rely on color alone.
Use markup and style sheets and do so properly.
Clarify natural language usage
Create tables that transform gracefully.
Ensure that pages featuring new technologies transform gracefully.
Ensure user control of time-sensitive content changes.
Ensure direct accessibility of embedded user interfaces.
Design for device-independence.
Use interim solutions.
Use W3C technologies and guidelines.
Provide context and orientation information.
Provide clear navigation mechanisms.
Ensure that documents are clear and simple.
May 23, 2005
Website Accessibility - Copyright Crystal FoutzGold 2005
Basic Guidelines (from W3C)
Provide equivalent alternatives to auditory and
visual content
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“Provide content that, when presented to the
user, conveys essentially the same function
or purpose as auditory or visual content”
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Can a user read the same information that is
provided in that voice-over?
Can a person use adaptive technologies to read
the text to them that is provided on the page?
May 23, 2005
Website Accessibility - Copyright Crystal FoutzGold 2005
Basic Guidelines (from W3C)
Don't rely on color alone
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“Ensure that text and graphics are
understandable when viewed without color”
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What does the page look like when printed on a
black and white printer? This will help you ensure
that your contrast is appropriate and that you are
not using only color to convey information
May 23, 2005
Website Accessibility - Copyright Crystal FoutzGold 2005
Basic Guidelines (from W3C)
Use markup and style sheets and do so properly
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“Mark up documents with the proper
structural elements. Control presentation with
style sheets rather than with presentation
elements and attributes”
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Not using appropriate mark up elements can
cause adaptive technologies to fail
May 23, 2005
Website Accessibility - Copyright Crystal FoutzGold 2005
Basic Guidelines (from W3C)
Clarify natural language usage
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“Use markup that facilitates pronunciation or
interpretation of abbreviated or foreign text”
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Clarifying what language is being used helps
adaptive technologies read the text
Using correct pronunciation and spelling out
abbreviations helps adaptive technologies read
the text
May 23, 2005
Website Accessibility - Copyright Crystal FoutzGold 2005
Basic Guidelines (from W3C)
Create tables that transform gracefully
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“Ensure that tables have necessary markup
to be transformed by accessible browsers
and other user agents”
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Tables should be limited for data use, not for
layout
Proper headers are necessary to direct the
adaptive technologies as to what order to read the
information
May 23, 2005
Website Accessibility - Copyright Crystal FoutzGold 2005
Basic Guidelines (from W3C)
Ensure that pages featuring new technologies
transform gracefully
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“Ensure that pages are accessible even when
newer technologies are not supported or are
turned off”
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Be sure that there is an alternative way to use the
page effectively if older browsers or older
adaptive technology does not support the new
cutting edge items
May 23, 2005
Website Accessibility - Copyright Crystal FoutzGold 2005
Basic Guidelines (from W3C)
Ensure user control of time-sensitive content
changes
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“Ensure that moving, blinking, scrolling, or
auto-updating objects or pages may be
paused or stopped”
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Don’t FORCE someone to watch that blinking text
if it affects them negatively! They WON’T come
back to your site if you do!
People may need more time to read text that is
actively moving; allow them to pause or even
rewind.
May 23, 2005
Website Accessibility - Copyright Crystal FoutzGold 2005
Basic Guidelines (from W3C)
Ensure direct accessibility of embedded user
interfaces
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“Ensure that the user interface follows
principles of accessible design: deviceindependent access to functionality, keyboard
operability, self-voicing, etc”
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If an interface is added to a webpage (for
example, a movie or audio player), it must also be
accessible
May 23, 2005
Website Accessibility - Copyright Crystal FoutzGold 2005
Basic Guidelines (from W3C)
Design for device-independence
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“Use features that enable activation of page
elements via a variety of input devices”
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Don’t set up to page to restrict users to only using
a mouse. Allow use of
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Keyboards (tabbing through navigation elements)
Head wands
Voice
Make sure that the flow of the information makes
sense to someone using a keyboard to navigate.
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May 23, 2005
Set a form’s “Tab” order to make the most sense
Website Accessibility - Copyright Crystal FoutzGold 2005
Basic Guidelines (from W3C)
Use interim solutions
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“Use interim accessibility solutions so that
assistive technologies and older browsers will
operate correctly”
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Be aware of the limitations of adaptive
technologies and do your best to work around
them
May 23, 2005
Website Accessibility - Copyright Crystal FoutzGold 2005
Basic Guidelines (from W3C)
Use W3C technologies and guidelines
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“Use W3C technologies (according to specification)
and follow accessibility guidelines. Where it is not
possible to use a W3C technology, or doing so
results in material that does not transform gracefully,
provide an alternative version of the content that is
accessible”
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Try to stay away from technologies such as PDF,
Shockwave and others that require additional plug-ins.
This helps people with older hardware and software
Allow users to pick how the would like to receive
information (provide PDF and Word files for download)
May 23, 2005
Website Accessibility - Copyright Crystal FoutzGold 2005
Basic Guidelines (from W3C)
Provide context and orientation information
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“Provide context and orientation information
to help users understand complex pages or
elements”
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Label frames and offer information about how
they relate
Be sure that labels are associated with their
elements
May 23, 2005
Website Accessibility - Copyright Crystal FoutzGold 2005
Basic Guidelines (from W3C)
Provide clear navigation mechanisms
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“Provide clear and consistent navigation
mechanisms -- orientation information, navigation
bars, a site map, etc. -- to increase the likelihood
that a person will find what they are looking for at a
site”
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Don’t change the location of the navigation from page to
page
Make navigation elements stand out
Provide various means of navigation
 Navigation Bar
 Site Map
 Search
 Bread Crumb Trails (to tell users where they are in the site)
May 23, 2005
Website Accessibility - Copyright Crystal FoutzGold 2005
Basic Guidelines (from W3C)
Ensure that documents are clear and simple
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“Ensure that documents are clear and simple
so they may be more easily understood”
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The general rules of good design still apply
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Use a consistent design throughout the site
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May 23, 2005
Page layout
Navigation
Recognized graphics
Use clear and understandable language
Website Accessibility - Copyright Crystal FoutzGold 2005
But, I don’t know about web
design…
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There are many resources online that can
help you learn the basics of compliance and
even web design.
If you pay for someone to design for you,
make sure they are skilled in creating ADA
compliant pages.
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Are they knowledgeable about the topic and
needs?
Do they share a commitment to making
everything available to everyone?
May 23, 2005
Website Accessibility - Copyright Crystal FoutzGold 2005
What technologies are
available?
Examples include:
 Output Devices
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Screen Readers
 JAWS
Speakers
Monitors
Input Devices
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Mouse
Keyboard
Head Wand
Voice Command
May 23, 2005
Website Accessibility - Copyright Crystal FoutzGold 2005
Where can I get more
information?
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World Wide Web Consortium –
http://www.w3.org/
WEBXACT –
http://webxact.watchfire.com/
ONLINE SEARCHES:
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ADA Compliance
ADA Guidelines
Web Accessibility
May 23, 2005
Website Accessibility - Copyright Crystal FoutzGold 2005
References
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World Wide Web Consortium –
http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT/
The Access Board - http://www.accessboard.gov/indexes/pubsindex.htm
May 23, 2005
Website Accessibility - Copyright Crystal FoutzGold 2005