|
When designing a Web
page, you probably try to make it viewable by various browsers.
You should also, however, make the page accessible to people
with disabilities.
The W3C has recommended
a brief
set of guidelines to promote universal access by
users who are blind, deaf or have other special needs. Here
are some minimum guidelines that should be followed in making
Web pages accessible.
Provide an
alternate text (ALT tag) description for all graphics
on the site. The ALT tag provides
text description of a graphic which is not visible to
the sighted user, but is invaluable in
describing the image to a text-based user.
Provide an
alternative text list of the hyperlinks with image maps. Or provide
a separate text-only page, if necessary,
which translates all of the links within the image into
text links.
Make your link text descriptive
but brief. For example, use a descriptive phrase
like "View the sample document" -- not "Click
here to view the sample document."
Always use a space and
a vertical bar to separate links which occur consecutively.
Text browsers read one line at a time and may have trouble
distinguishing between consecutive links on one line. Add
a space and a vertical bar on either side of the links. This
will also separate the links for visual users. See the footer
information at the bottom of this page for an example.
Supply a transcript
or a description of the sound for all audio files. Many
Web users are hearing-impaired,
or do not
have sound capabilities on their computers.
Ensure that
both the specified background color and the specified
background
image contrast well against the foreground text. Contrast
will enhance the readability of the information to sight-impaired
users, such as those with color-blindness,
and sighted users as well. When using
tables, make line-by-line reading sensible; be sure that
the textual
information is
displayed in a linear
form across a whole line. When word wrapping occurs within
columns of a table, it creates problems for browsers such
as Lynx (a text browser used by the sight-impaired) as it
reads across the screen in a way that runs all of the text
on a line together. If an entry in a cell occupies more than
one line, the first line of each cell would be read, then
the second, and so on. If word wrapping in a table cannot
be avoided, the same information can be presented on an alternate
text-only page without tables.
Avoid using
frames; but if frames are used, always provide an alternative
non-framed
version of the content. This can
be achieved by incorporating the noframes tag , which is
the default for browsers that cannot view frames. Even though
current versions of Lynx are frames-capable, it is still
prudent to offer non-frame alternatives to avoid a host of
other possible problems.
For more information
about accessibility, you may wish to visit these links:
Usable
Web Accessibility > WC3's
Web Accessibility Initiative >
Bobby
- Accessibility Tester >
WebAIM:
The Web Accessibility How-To" Site > |
