Assessibility

Web pages and sites should be assessible to all individuals including those with disabilities. This means that web designers must take special care in their designs so that special audiences are not excluded from using their web sites. Designing for all audiences has the effect that a web site is actually made easier to use by everyone. The World Wide Web Consortium or W3C is the group that determines web standards explains that assessible design includes:

Content that is perceivable for all individuals Interface elements that are operable by any audience Content and controls that are easily understandable Content that will work with current and future technologies

For web designers this means that text should be used in place of graphics whenever possible. Text must be present in order for oral screen reading programs to be used successfully by individuals who have little or no vision. Of course this would make most web pages dreadfully boring for sighted individuals so there are several other solutions. One is to provide a corresponding all text site along with an image rich web site. Since this is not always practical text based site maps are frequently used. There is also a very popular technique whereby each image is labeled in an unobtrusive way with alternate text. If you hold your cursor over any of the images on this page you will see that a text message is visible. This alternate text can be read aloud using current software technologies.

Of course, there are other disorders like hearing and mobility that must be taken into consideration when making a web site assessible. Implications are that subcaptions or transcripts should be provided for multimedia and video content. Other tips and links for additional information are listed below.

Usability - Be sure your site is user friendly so that visitors will want to return. Provide alternative text labels for images and graphics.

Fast Download - Be sure that your web pages download quickly. Be sure that tables are designed logically so that screen readers can interpret information accurately as it is downloaded.

Navigation - Design a navigation system that is simple and easy to use. Provide alternative text labels for all navigational graphics.

Keep It Simple - Don't overload your site with too many graphics. Consider providing a text based equivilent version of the site.

Keep It Up To Date - Keep the content up to date. Stay current with new technologies as they are introduced.

Be Consistent - Design page that demonstrate a unified design.

For more information: access.adobe.com Accessibility, section 508, ADA, Americans with Disabilities Act, Website Tips Accessible Web Page Design accessibility - accessible web site design and retrofitting services CAST Center for Applied Special Technology Creating Accessible Websites EASI Homepage Macromedia - Accessibility NCAM Rich Media Examples Section 508 508 Training Web Page Accessibility Questionnaire for Component Web Contacts WebABLE Solutions 508 Guidelines