Making Your Web Pages Accessible

It is essential that websites be accessible in order to provide equal access and equal opportunity to people with disabilities.  Website accessibility is required by laws and policies around the world; however, making your web pages accessible is not only a good idea, but it's good for business. People with disabilities represent an important demographic group and improving accessibility increases the likelihood you will capture this demographic group as customers.

There a few simple things that can be implemented on any website to improve its accessibility.  These include:

1. Images & animations: Use the alt attribute to describe the function of each visual.
2. Image maps. Use the client-side map and text for hotspots.
3. Multimedia. Provide captioning and transcripts of audio, and descriptions of video.
4. Hypertext links. Use text that makes sense when read out of context. For example, avoid "click here."
5. Page organization. Use headings, lists, and consistent structure. Use CSS for layout and style where possible.
6. Graphs & charts. Summarize or use the longdesc attribute.
7. Scripts, applets, & plug-ins. Provide alternative content in case active features are inaccessible or unsupported.
8. Frames. Use the noframes element and meaningful titles.
9. Tables. Make line-by-line reading sensible. Summarize.

Once you have created your website validate your site to make sure it meets accessibility guidelines.  You can use tools, checklist, and guidelines available at http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG. Other tools you can use include:

• A-Prompt "A-Prompt (Accessibility Prompt) is a software tool designed to improve the usability of HTML documents by evaluating Web pages for accessibility barriers and then providing developers with a fast and easy way to make the necessary repairs."
• Cynthia Says "Cynthia is a web content accessibility validation solution, it is designed to identify errors in design related to Section 508 standards and the WCAG guidelines. The main purpose of this portal is to educate web site developers in the development Web Based content that is accessible to all."
• The Wave Another excellent tool to check accessibility.

Labels: accessibility, testing