Web 210 Chapter Accessibility
Lecture Notes
Read or re-read these sections on accessibility
in "The Web Style Guide": interface
design, page design,
typography, graphics,
and even multimedia
Objective #1: Explain the how accessibility laws affect Web design
practices and access W3C & other recommendations.
- Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
- Section 508
- W3C info on accessibility
- Accessibility tips from htmlhelp.com
- validate your HTML with a trustworthy validator such as WDG
HTML Validator
- use this web page purifier
to see what a page looks like in pure HTML 2.0, 3.2, or 4.0.
- remember that a phrase such as "Click Here" makes the assumption
that the user has a mouse
- keep in mind that HTML is used for structure (i.e. meaning) and not
presentation (i.e. appearance). Leave CSS do the work of presentation
for increased accessibility.
- where appropriate make sure that an image's alt attribute explains the
function not the description of an image
- when changing just one or two of a <body> tag's attributes (e.g.
bgcolor) you must realize that other default attributes (text) may no
longer be appropriate (e.g. black text on a black background)
- 8 accessibility myths
- Assorted guides and checklists
Objective #2: Create accessible Web pages.
- use accessible CSS rather than inaccessible tables when possible
- use relative font sizes rather than absolute font sizes
- use good contrast between text and background colors
- use the Web Access
Symbol to denote accessible pages
- use alt="" for decorative images
- test your pages for accessibility
- Bobby
- Download a text-only browser such as Lynx
and test whether a page is accessible or not
- "turn off images" in your browser and view a page