Accessibility
The goal of the
Montana Center on Disabilities is to publish Web pages that are
accessible to all people regardless of their abilities, disabilities, or
limitations of their equipment and software.
The Montana
Center on Disabilities web sites pursue this goal by applying
“universal design” principles obtained through various sources of
information. Some of these
sources are listed below.
What
is “Web accessibility”?
“What does
“Web accessibility” mean? To
me, it means that anyone using any kind of Web browsing technology must
be able to visit any site and get a full and complete understanding of
the information contained there, as well as have the full and complete
ability to interact with the site.”—Chuck Letourneau, Starling
Access Services
Quick
Tips to Make Accessible Web Sites
Source:
W3C Web Accessibility Initiative
For Complete
Guidelines & Checklist: www.w3.org/WAI
Images
& animations. Use the alt attribute
to describe the function of each visual.
Image
maps. Use client-side MAP and text for hotspots.
Multimedia. Provide captioning and transcripts of audio, and descriptions of
video.
Hypertext
links. Use text that makes sense
when read out of context. For
example, avoid “click here.”
Page
organization. Use headings, lists, and
consistent structure. Use
CSS for layout and style where possible.
Scripts,
applets, & plug-ins. Provide alternative content in case active features are
inaccessible or unsupported.
Frames.
Use NOFRAMES and meaningful titles.
Tables. Make line-by-line reading sensible.
Use header tags, table summary information and captions where
appropriate. For more
information on tables, see
http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10-HTML-TECHS/#tables
Check
your work.Validate.
Use tools, checklist, and guidelines at
www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT.
Internet
Resources
W3C
Web Accessibility Initiative:
www.w3.org/WAI/
WAI, in coordination with organizations around the world, pursues
accessibility of the Web through five primary areas of work: technology,
guidelines, tools, education and outreach, and research and development.
Usability.gov:
www.usability.gov
"It's
about communication." Usability.org provides many links
and resources about web usability. This site breaks information
into four interest areas: business/ecommerce, information
architecture, web site (graphic) design, and web site development.
Information
Technology Technical Assistance and Training Center: www.ittatc.org
The ITTATC promotes the development of accessible
electronic and information technology by providing technical assistance,
training and information.
Web
Sites for Testing Web Site Accessibility:
Tips
on Creating an Accessible Web Site
Source:
AccessIT, University of Washington
-
Provide a text equivalent
for every non-text element.
-
Synchronize equivalent
alternatives for any multimedia presentation.
-
Design all web pages so
that all messages conveyed with color is also available without color.
-
Provide client-side image
maps instead of server-side image maps except where the regions cannot
be defined with an available geometric shape.
-
Provide redundant text
links for each active region of a server-side image map.
-
Identify row and column
headers for data tables.
-
Use markup to associate
data cells and header cells for data tables that have two or more
logical levels of rows or columns.
-
Title frames with text that
facilitates frame identification and navigation.
-
Provide a link to a plug-in
or applet that complies with §1194.21(a) through (l) when a web page
requires that an applet, plug-in or other application be present on the
client system to interpret page content.
-
Design electronic forms to
be completed on-line to allow people using assistive technology to
access the information, field elements, and functionality required for
completion and submission of the form, including all directions and
cues.
-
Design pages to avoid
causing the screen to flicker with a frequency greater than 2 Hz and
lower than 55 Hz.
-
Provide a text-only page
with equivalent information or functionality to make a web site comply
with the provisions of this part, when compliance cannot be accomplished
in any other way. The
content of the text-only page shall be updated whenever the primary page
changes.
-
When pages utilize
scripting languages to display content, or to create interface elements,
the information provided by the script should be identified with
functional text that can be read by assistive technology.
-
Alert the user and give
sufficient time to indicate more time is required when a timed response
is required.
-
Provide a method that permits users to skip repetitive
navigation links.
Montana Center on Disabilities
College of Education
Montana State University Billings
1500 University Drive
Billings, MT 59101 For more information call
(406) 657-2312 (Voice/TTY), 1-888-866-3822 (Toll Free) or (406)657-2313
(Fax) |
