Accessibility on the Web
The MAIN TIP that we can give users with a visual impairment
is to hold down the control key and use the mouse wheel to enlarge the
view of the website. Our designers say that they are amazed at how few
users are aware of this simple technique for magnifying a corrrectly built
website.
Web accessibility means that people with disabilities
can use the Web. More specifically, Web accessibility means that people
with disabilities can perceive, understand, navigate, and interact with
the Web, and that they can contribute to the Web. Web accessibility also
benefits others, including older people with changing abilities due to
aging. Millions of people have disabilities that affect their use of the
Web. Currently most Web sites and Web software have accessibility barriers
that make it difficult or impossible for many people with disabilities
to use the Web. As more accessible Web sites and software become available,
people with disabilities are able to use and contribute to the Web more
effectively.
Web accessibility also benefits people without disabilities. For example, a key
principle of Web accessibility is designing Web sites and software that are flexible
to meet different user needs, preferences, and situations. This flexibility also
benefits people without disabilities in certain situations, such as people using
a slow Internet connection, people with "temporary disabilities" such
as a broken arm, and people with changing abilities due to aging.
Observinging Accessibility Rules
We
have asked our designers to folIow these essential guidelines when building
our website:
1. Images:
Use the alt attribute to describe the function of each visual.
2. Hypertext Links: Use text that makes sense when read out of context.
For example, avoid "click here."
3. Page Organization: Use headings, lists, and consistent structure. Use CSS
for layout and style where possible.
4. Tables: Make line-by-line reading sensible. Summarize.
We will also check the site regularly: validate and use the tools, checklists
and guidelines provided by the W3C.(World
Wide Web Consortium)
Keeping Up is an Ongoing Process
Keeping our website accessible is an ongoing, work intensive and very often
expensive business - so please bear with us and lets us know if there are
any improvements we can make.
The WAI (Web Accessibility Initiative) has been criticised for allowing
WCAG 1.0 to get increasingly out of step with today's technologies and
techniques for creating and consuming web content, for the slow pace
of development of WCAG 2.0, for making the new guidelines difficult to
navigate and understand, and other argued failings. In one attempt to
provide guidelines that are designed to be up to date, easier to understand,
and more relevant and practical to typical web development projects,
Joe Clark's WCAG Samurai project has published an unofficial set of errata
to WCAG 1.0.