Website Accessibility, a Priority?

[espmartin]

Website Accessibility does not only help assure that everyone can surf your
website without hindrance, but did you know that making accessibility in
your design a priority will also assist users of PDA's, cell phones, and other
"alternative" browsers to view your site.

So besides the advantage of helping everyone with a PC, a MAC, or even a
Linux box succeed in surfing your site, you can even be one of the cool crowd
and show off your site to your friends on their iPhones.

So let me ask you all a couple of questions:

• How many of you all make accessibility a priority?
• How many of you all would like your sites accessible via a PDA or cell phone?

 

[ultimate handyman]

I think this is very important, I often test my site in firefox and very often something will screw up. Mobile phones are a big challenge and I try to make my sites mobile phone friendly, but it is often not easy!

 

[Resonate]

All my websites i aim for complete accessibility & i believe very highly in it.

 

[espmartin]

Just gave you some rep. Resonate :applause:

 

[Resonate]

Just gave you some rep. Resonate :applause:

Straight back at you, theres not many who even think about all elements of web standards but i can tell you do & i appreciate that immensely.

 

[TnT13]

Hi

It's the first time I've actually come across this subject being taken seriously, one site my wife and I work on is Trust-Ed.org a charity set up to aid children and their families who have an acquired brain injury.

They wanted a simple, basic site that had to be accessible, the site is still being developed, but eventually there will be resources on there aimed at the very individuals who may find small text, moving a mouse etc. problematic. It's a long arduous learning curve, we've just got a streaming video onsite, we now have to work out a way of providing a transcript for people to use.

Testing the site with various online checkers is fine, but it's the real people you need to test the site. Also to be able to get a unique prospective of how they actually see or hear a site. Blind people are often left out and not so long back I was able to experience first hand what a web site sounds like to a blind person, tag lines being read out or certain quotes, brackets, strong tags, they certainly know their html off by heart whilst surfing the net!

When website design first took off when we were all playing with 33.3 and 56k modems it was how many cool quick downloadable graphics can you put on one site, roll over images, java pictures, and then with the launch of broadband we had all flash sites, every site created was full of design and colour. Thankfully, despite our increased Internet speed, sites are starting to become simple in nature, pleasing to the eye, coordinated colours, graphics and design are being used appropriately and gradually they're becoming more accessible. What people tend to forget with the new EU and DDA regulations, it's only going to take one individual, or a group to pursue a website over an accessibility issue, which in turn raises a whole new debate.

I've heard of a few cases against companies who's sites were not accessible, they've not received that much media coverage, but what would happen to the vast majority of websites and designs that would come under a breach of accessibility?

So for every new website out there, accessibility has to be a priority, I think especially for those from this forum who rely upon revenue from their websites with adverts / click thru's products on commerce sites etc. I think we all need to remember that blind, deaf and people suffering motability and coordination issues also participate in surfing the net They to are customers and visitors to those of us who have websites. Plus, don't forget that the more accessible your site, the better it will be for everyone out there who comes across it.

It's only going to take one media charged case to bring a halt to flashy websites and poor design - which may or may not be a good thing. How would we all verse in having to meet strict enforced guidelines over content and design? It’s better to start now than later.

 

[dman_2007]

Does anyone here know about any good online tool which check how accessible a website is?

 

[TnT13]

WAVE - Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool is ok to use, but you're better off checking manually too. It will give you a good idea and a few pointers, but there's nothing better than a real check by a real person.

Hope that helps!

 

[dman_2007]

WAVE - Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool is ok to use, but you're better off checking manually too. It will give you a good idea and a few pointers, but there's nothing better than a real check by a real person.

Hope that help!

Nice tool, thanks for sharing. + rep.

 

[smeagain]

Tis a Legal requirement in the UK, covered by DDA legislation, so yes I do design with Accessibility in mind and have done for some time.

 

[TnT13]

Out of interest, has anyone paid for or been awarded a WAI / level 1 2 or 3 certificate to go with their website?

It seems costly, and I'm quite sure only niche / targeted websites would probably pay for such a certification, but just wondering if anyone here has?

 

[tb987]

Does anyone here know about any good online tool which check how accessible a website is?

Check this out IBM Human Ability and Accessibility Center: aDesigner. The simulation tools are scary - no more grey on grey menus. It is frigtening what happens to you ability to see contrast as you get older - it is happening to me :sweat: and is going to get worse.

This firefox plugin is a must and has built in accessibility checker https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/60

I think something like 40% (if I remember the presentation rightly) of Web users have accessibility issues of some kind - many people often assume that accessibility means catering for people with visual impairments of some kind, but it includes people with learning difficulties, dyslexia, deafness and problems with motor skills (navigation keys)

Some tips I picked up that are a real pain for blind Web users - links open in same browser window, use meaningful title tags for links, make anchor text meaningful i.e. not read more etc, give all images alt tags and leave them blank if they add nothing of interest e.g. don't use alt="logo"

Cheers,

Tony

 

[hasan_889]

check this url for vivid accessibility check www(dot)cynthiasays(dot)com

its a excellent tool.

 

[dman_2007]

check this url for vivid accessibility check www(dot)cynthiasays(dot)com

its a excellent tool.

Very nice tool hasan, thanks for sharing it with us. +rep added.

 

[tb987]

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/60 provides simple access to the Cynthiasays.com to vailidate WAI etc