Saturday, December 6, 2008

Web Accessibility

ADA Guidelines for the Web cover aspects of Web accessibility including the look and feel of your page, the alternate text of your images, and more. Usable Web sites are sites that work for your readers. Make sure that your pages are accessible and usable and meet ADA and other Guidelines and your site will only be improved.

Does the Accesskey Attribute Improve Accessibility?
The accesskey is an attribute that provides keyboard shortcuts to Web pages. It has long been touted as a way to make Web pages more accessible, but is it really? There are some problems associated with the accesskey that you should be aware of before you start using it. What do the Accessibility Guidelines Mean to Me?
The W3C has released accessibility guidelines for the Web, how will they impact your site

Writing Great Alt Text
Alternative text is an important (and required) attribute on all your images. But it can be tempting to just write simple text or leave the attribute blank. Alt text is used for more than just accessibility, and if you get good at writing alt text, your pages will be more usable.

Accessible HTML
Learn how to make your Web pages more usable for people with disabilities.

Accessibility Definition
Creating Color Blind Friendly Web Pages
Creating a Web page that is accessible to color blind people can make a big difference in how your pages are perceived. As much as 12% of men in the US are color blind, and if your pages don't reflect that, they might not be seeing your pages at all.

Low Vision Web Page Layouts
Because the Web is primarily text, people with low vision often only need to expand the size of your text to be able to read it. However, even with the most flexible layouts, there can be problems when the reader zooms in using the Web browser. So some designers developed the idea of creating alternate style sheets that were written specifically for low vision readers.

Make Your Alternative Text Actually Readable
When including alt text in your images, you should make sure that it actually makes sense in the context of the page, and is not only a description of the image.

How do I set up an access key on my links and form fields?
An FAQ about setting up access keys to various form fields and links on a Web page using the accesskey attribute.

Validating for Accessibility
There is a great HTML validator available for checking your site to see if it is accessible. Learn when and why to use it. An article by your HTML Guide, Jennifer Kyrnin.

What do the Accessibility Guidelines Mean to Me?
The new W3C Guidelines can be tricky and hard to understand. This article will help explain the guidelines so you can apply them to your site.

Accessibility and JavaScript - JavaScript @ About.com
Accessibility on Web pages should encompass more than just the HTML and images. The About.com Guide to JavaScript, Stephen Chapman, has an informative 3-page article on how to make your JavaScript as accessible as your HTML.

What Javascript Cannot Do -JavaScript @ About.com
While JavaScript is a powerful language, there are things that it can't do.

Making Websites 508 Accessible for the Deaf - Deafness @ About.com
Captioning is an easy way to make video accessible to deaf people. And the About Deafness Guide has a great article on how to do it quickly and easily with several different tools.

Writing Good Alt Text - 456 Berea Street
When you're working on accessibility, alt text is something you should be aware of. But as Roger Johansson points out on 456 Berea St it's one of the most commonly misused attribute.

Evaluating Web Sites for Accessibility with Firefox
Using a Firefox extension you can validate pages for accessibility right within your Web browser.

Building a Website for Analytics
Understanding your Web site analytics can be critical to business success. If you don't know what they're clicking on or when, you can't maximize your site effectiveness.

How do things look to colorblind people?
An interesting look at how a color blind person sees two different images.

Seven Screen Reader Usability Tips
While it's important to be accessible, that's not all there is to making a site useful for people using screen readers. These tips will help you ensure that your accessible page is also usable.
via :webdesign.about.com

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