UNIVERSAL ACCESSIBILITY
ON THE WEB

Universal Accessibility is important so that users who are physically or mentally disabled can harness the power of the internet. Additionally, users not having access to the latest and greatest software and hardware can use accessible web sites. The requirements are always changing as web technology evolves. Therefore, it is important to periodically test your web sites.

TIPS:

• Write your HTML code to the HTML 4.0 standard. The standards are available at www.w3.org.
• Until HTML 4.0 is well implemented by the major browsers it is acceptable to write to the HTML 4.0 transitional or loose DTD.
• Fix problems by design not rework. Saves time and hassle.
• Use of alt attributes for images are required, so that non-sighted users can access content relayed through images.
• Use alt attributes that are descriptive and meaningful for images.
• Focus on content, not presentation.
• Keep contrast high for low vision users. This applies to text/background contrast and image/background contrast.
• Make links descriptive. Avoid "click here" and the like.
• Avoid the use of frames!
• The W3C has a quick reference at www.w3.org/WAI/References/QuickTips. Check it out.

TESTING:

• Do it often.
• Use different browsers such as MS Internet Explorer, Netscape, a voice browser and a text browser.
• Try to check your site with different access speeds. A good site on a t3 line might not be so great when downloaded with a slow modem.
• Use the Bobby Web Accessibility Validator / Analyzer (www.cast.org/bobby) to check pages for accessibility.
• Use the W3C HTML 4.0 Validator - http://validator.w3.org to verify compliance with the HTML 4.0 standard.
• Try out www.websitegarage.com - though not an accessibility tool it is pretty good and free. It produces great reports.

BROWSERS:

• Graphical Browsers:
  • MS Internet Explorer 6x, 5x, 4x, 3x, 2x [www.microsoft.com]
  • Netscape 4x, 3x, 2x [www.netscape.com]
  • Opera
• Voice Browsers:
  • PW Webspeak [www.prodworks.com]
  • IBM Homepage Reader [ dunno where to get it ]
• Text Browsers:
  • Lynx [www.fdisk.com/doslynx/lynxport.htm ?]

RELATED LINKS:

• Bobby Web Accessibility Validator / Analyzer |
• http://validator.w3.org |

ARGUMENTS:

• To refute the notion of accessibility on the web necessarily limiting the potential of a site is to use TV as an example. Has closed captioning detracted from TV in any way? No it is transparent to the end user unless the user needs it.

THE FUTURE:

• With a more full implementation of Cascading Style Sheets ( CSS ) universal accessibility will be greatly advanced. This will of course not be a cure all as people will continue to develop sites that do not take advantage of them. Additionally, many existing sites will not be fixed retroactively to include their use.

The nature of the web necessitates that these guidelines will continue to evolve.
This site does not yet validate to HTML 4.0 due to an automatically added script placed in the code by the web site host. The script places the host's logo on the page. Additionally, there are pop up windows used by the web site host. I will address these in the future.

Please be aware that the rest of this site is not very serious.

jamie_fox@hotmail.com | Revised on 07/24/2001 | Top Of Page