Webmaster Papers




Google
 
Web webhostingpapers.com




/pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">

Web Accessibility: The Basics


What is web accessibility & why is it important?

Web accessibility is about making your website accessible to all Internet users (both disabled and non-disabled), regardless of what browsing technology they're using. In addition to complying with the law, an accessible website can reap huge benefits on to your website and your business.

Your website must be able to function with all different browsing technologies

The first and perhaps the most important rule of web accessibility. Not everyone is using the latest version of Internet Explorer, with all the plug-ins and programs that you may require them to have for your website. Different browsing technologies, each with their own accessibility requirements, can include:

* Lynx browser - Text-only browser with no support for tables, CSS, images, JavaScript, Flash or audio and video content

* WebTV - 560px in width with horizontal scrolling not available

* Screen reader - Page content read aloud in the order it appears in the HTML document

* Handheld device - Very small screen with limited support for JavaScript and large images

* Screen magnifier - As few as three to four words may be able to appear on the screen at any one time

* Slow connection (below 56kb) - Users may turn off images to enable a faster download time

* 1600px screen width - Very wide screen

This basically means that to ensure your website is accessible to everyone you must provide alternatives to:

* Images - in the form of ALT text

* JavaScript - through the tag

* Flash - with HTML equivalents

* Audio & video - by using subtitles or written transcripts

For enhanced website accessibility you must also be careful how your pages look when support for CSS and/or tables has been removed.

There are two good ways you can check your website is accessible for all these:

* Download the Opera browser and read this article on checking web accessibility with Opera (http://www.sitepoint.com/article/checking-just-browser)

* Download the Lynx browser from http://lynx.browser.org and see if you can successfully access every part of your website

Forms need to be accessible to all web users

When a web user fills out a form it's a great thing. People fill out forms to:

* Buy a product * Sign up to a newsletter * Ask a question

These are the goals of your website! A site visitor may look through your site, decides he likes what he sees and tries to sign up to your newsletter.

...But the form isn't accessible to him so he clicks away and you lose a potential customer. Most forms on the web suffer from accessibility issues. The two main reasons for this are:

* Prompt text is incorrectly positioned * Prompt text is unassigned to form items (Prompt text is the text that appears next to each form item, for example, 'name', 'e-mail', 'comments')

To find out more please read this article about making your forms accessible ( http://www.webcredible.co.uk/user-friendly-resources/web-accessibility/accessible-forms-1.shtml ).

It should be easy for all users to quickly process the content on your website

We generally don't read web pages. We scan, trying to find what we're looking for as quickly as possible. On a regular monitor, we scroll down the page looking at the items that stand out from the rest of the text: headings, links, bold text and bullet points. Non-keyboard and visually impaired users often scan pages by tabbing between headings or links.

To ensure the accessibility of your website, use headings, links, bold text and bullet points and make sure they contain descriptive text. For example, never use 'click here' for link text.

Structure and presentation should be completely separated

By separating structure and presentation your website will be accessible to and ready for the future of the Internet: PDAs, mobile phones, in-car browsers, WebTV and 1600px screens.

The structure of a document is how it is organised, usually with navigational menu items, headings, sub-headings, paragraphs, lists, and links. The presentation of a document is how these words and images are presented to the end user.

The main principle behind this accessibility guideline is to use CSS and not tables to lay out your web pages. Check out our CSS resources area for how to use CSS to increase your website's accessibility.

There's more to separating structure and presentation than just laying your web pages out with CSS. Have a look at this HTML element list that tells you which elements are structural and which are presentational. For optimal web accessibility, you can, and should, avoid using presentational elements as they may cause your website to become less accessible to certain users.

The end user should have control over your web pages

All web users have unique requirements for how they use the Internet, depending on the kind of browser they're using or any kind of handicap or disability they may have. By handing control back to your users you'll enhance your website's accessibility and you site visitors will be able to use your website in the way that best suits them.

This accessibility guideline could mean allowing users to resize text, warning them when links are going to open in a new window, or providing a link at the top of the screen that takes the user directly to the page content.

This article was written by Trenton Moss. He's crazy about web usability and accessibility - so crazy that he went and started his own web usability and accessibility consultancy ( Webcredible - http://www.webcredible.co.uk ) to help make the Internet a better place for everyone. They offer fantastic accessibility & CSS support packages, which you can read all about at http://www.webcredible.co.uk/support .

RELATED ARTICLES


Make Your Communication Come Alive
Design and layout can make your communication come alive and your message immediately apparent. Now, with so much technology at hand, design becomes much easier, but you must develop the ability to plan and visualize what you want to convey. Then decide what will appeal to your readers and help them understand the material.
The Topic Of Your Website
The first thing you will have to deal building your website has nothing to do with the web design itself, it's me related to content writing but it must be defined and will effect the rest of your actions. So first of all you need to decide what the topic of your future website is. Topic is very closely connected to another web design issue: keywords. The keywords you select will depend upon the topic you have chosen. When thinking about website topic ask yourself a few questions: What is the goal of the site you are making? What are you trying to achieve with your site. Specify a goal, preferably in one short sentence.
The Cost Of A Web Site
Just starting out, you can start with a simple informational site, which is all most need initially, and build up to a fuller site (e-commerce and/or interactive) when you can afford it.
Internet Marketing Website Promotion -The 7 Biggest Mistakes I See People Make With Websites!
1. Many people are not getting good or complete advice. Often for example people don't understand all the concepts of Internet Marketing and having a website so they simply pay to have a website developed. Often this website may look good but it falls far short in the area of being "search engine friendly". This is typically because many businesses that deal with the web are very one track focused.
My Yahoo Search - Beyond Bookmarks
Yahoo has long offered email, an online calendar, notes, bookmarks, and more through their free My Yahoo service. Now Yahoo has expanded this service even more by adding My Yahoo Personal Search to the mix.
Why to Have a Website for Your Company
After having decided to start a business, the next thing that arrives in your mind is How to market the Product/Service? How to create a brand? How to recruit people? How & where to advertise? etc? Next is creating departments like Marketing, Operations, Advertising, Branding and Human Resource. You need some way to represent each department?
2 Key Ways to Make Your Site a Success
If one more business owner tells me their website sucks because they're just "too darn busy to deal with it", I'm gonna hurl. That's like saying, "I'm doing business in my dirty underwear because I'm too busy to get dressed." Realize it or not, your website (or lack thereof) is very often the first impression your prospect or peer will have of you. Now, it's no longer a matter of having a website -- it's a matter of having a great one.
Creating Compelling Content , Write It and They Will Come
In a previous ezinearticles.com article,"I Need real visitors, Not Search Spiders" we discussed the need for content. Well written, insightful, informative content will bring your readers/customers in and keep them on your site Long enough to hear about your products or read about the event you are sponsoring. What ever the object of your desire is content holds the key.
Using Mini Websites - Powerful Way to Direct Marketing
Mini Websites are the most powerful and cost effective solution to promote and market your brand. Normally people go for a large site which have 100's of pages of selling nos. products, which confuse visitor and most of the pages remains unviewed by the visitor. Generally people do the search in search engines on specific topic and like to get the specific results only. The normal web surfer spends very little time on sites and does not go beyond 3 to 5 clicks on a site. If the visitor landed at your site and does not found what he was looking for in first two clicks he will automatically switch to another site which he found more relevant. I always advocate the concept of direct marketing as it provide user more time to do research on specific product.
Marketing Your Business Online
As a business you can't afford to ignore the Internet Age; in 2002 there was an estimated 605 million people online around the entire globe, today this is estimated at over a billion users worldwide.
How to Draw Icons or Images on a Mapserver Generated Map
In this example I have used the map of the Itasca demo of the Mapserver. I have done only small changes to the map file. The Itasca demo has (into the html file) the parameters of the path where to store the images:
Streamline your Business Website with a Content Management System
I talk with so many people who have small businesses and would like to have a web presence but don't know the first thing about how to even get started. Some of the reasons I hear are:
4 Marketing Tips for Resourceful Webmasters!
The internet is a sea of knowledge. Getting your information to 'float' by the right audience can be like finding that one special grain of sand on the seashore. Paying big bucks for marketing can strain your already limited budget. What is a webmaster to do? Let's discuss four valuable and proven ways to market your site without breaking the bank.
Art, Artists, and the Web:Part: 2--First Steps in Building an Artist?s Website
What you should do and know if you are an artist and you have decided to have a website.
What YOU Should Know Before Getting A Web Site!
Everyday thousands of new businesses make the leap and take their business on line, what about yours? If you haven't already, I'll bet you have thought about it and wondered how much more business you could be doing if you just went on line?and right about then, you wonder what it would take to get your business on line?
The 5 Biggest Mistakes Almost All Web Designers Make
Huge Mistake #1: Creating a Website with Flash -- Did you know in a recent study, top internet marketers discovered that having a website created with Flash, actually DECREASED the response from prospects and customers by as much as three-hundred-and-seventy percent?
Is Your Website Innovative? Increase Your Business Over Night!
While studying online for IT investment opportunities, I found that one main factor was constant. All of the biggest money makers have eye-catching, simple, innovative, and the cleanest websites online!
Does Your Business Really Need A Website?
Website, website, website, everyone says you need one. But do you really? It all depends. It depends on your market, business objectives, and even your comfort level and if you are willing to step outside of it.
How to Create a Professional Web Site in 24 Hours
And whether your business sells products or services, you can use a Web site to increase your revenue and reduce your start-up costs. While you're at school, your Web site can take orders, answer common customer questions and introduce potential prospects to your business, among many other possibilities. For example, Ryan Allis, a 19-year-old entrepreneur now attending the University of North Carolina, was able to successfully create and market a Web site that sold a product that helps people with arthritis. As a result of his efforts, his company was able to generate more than $1 million in sales by the time Allis was seventeen years old.
Website Globalization
Globalize Your Website