EASI
is the Premiere Provider of Online Training
on Accessible Information Technology for Persons with Disabilities
EASI's Web Design Access Kit
Web pages can be created using Universal Design principles permitting their use by people with different browsers, different connection speeds, palm pilots, PDA's and by people with disabilities using adaptive computer technology. They can also be created in ways that exclude many of the above users.
This is an EASI Starter Kit to help you utilize design principles that will provide access to your pages for people with disabilities.
Why should I make my Web pages accessible?
How do I know if my Web pages are accessible?
Why Should I Make My Web Pages Accessible?
EASI believes that there are four reasons for you to make your Web pages accessible for people with disabilities:
The web is an amazing and miraculous thing for millions of the formerly
print disabled. Using adaptive computer technology, these people can now read
newspapers, search distant library databases, shop, chat and exchange e-mail.
However, thoughtless web design can also slam the door of freedom and independence
in their faces.
Colleges and universities have to provide their print communications in an alternative
format for people with disabilities. Other institutions are frequently doing
the same thing. Providing information in electronic format on the web is, by
far, the least expensive way to extend information to this special population.
The Americans with Disabilities Act is the best known legislation for people
with disabilities. It is increasingly being defined to apply to providing web
pages in an an accessible format. Title II requires providing communications
to people with disabilities that is "as effective as" that for other
people. The courts frequently recommend electronic formats as the most inexpensive
and efficient alternative communication. Section 504 of the Vocational Rehabilitation
Act requires education to be available to students with disabilities, and the
court points to the need to make computer and information systems in ways that
are accessible to students. Finaly, section 508 requires government to only
purchase items that either are accessible or can readily be adapted for access.
It appears that this may apply to many state colleges and university.
Everyone is living longer and longer. Even with improved health, most of us will find our eyesight and hearing diminishing. WE may also develop arthritis in our fingers. Using the computer will become more and more difficult. At which age do you plan on stopping using the Internet?
How Do I Know if My Web Pages are Accessible?
BUT, how do they search my pages anyhow?
Some people with motor impairments can use an alternative mouse to control the browser. Others use alternative keyboards, (such as on-screen keyboards) and navigate the page using the tab key. Users with low vision and some learning disabled users view the computer monitor with the help of screen enlargement software which means they can only see a portion of the page at one time. People who are blind use screen reading software to read the page outload with a synthesized voice which mean they have no access to unlabeled graphics.
How Do I Get Started?
There are at least four ways to check your Web pages for their accessibility to users with disabilities:
Turn off images on your browser.
Turn your mouse upside down.
You can use the tab key to navigate the links on your page. This will give you a glimpse of how your pages are experienced by someone who is blind and can not see the images or who has a mobility impairment and can't use the mouse.
2. Focus Group
Find a group of computr users with various disabilities who use adaptive technology. Have them surf your pages and share their experience
3. On the Internet there are tools that validate web pages for their accessibility. The best known is Bobby. Others include TOM and TIDY.
While these tools are only rough indicators of accessibility, they provide an excellent beginning picture of your page's accessibility.
4. Study accessible design principles so that you can make a skilled judgement on your own page.
Helpful Quicktips
Here are some helpful quicktips developed by the World Wide Web Consortion's
Web Access Initiative.
http://www.w3.org/wai
1. Images & animations. Use the alt attribute to describe the function of all visuals.
2. Image maps. Use client-side MAP and text for hotspots.
3. Multimedia. Provide captioning and transcripts of audio, descriptions of video, and accessible versions in case inaccessible formats are used.
4. Hypertext links. Use text that makes sense when read out of context. For instance, do not use "click here."
5. Page organization. Use headings, lists, and consistent structure. Use CSS for layout and style where possible.
6. Graphs & charts. Summarize or use the longdesc attribute
7. Scripts, applets, & plug-ins. Provide alternative content in case active features are inaccessible or unsupported.
8. Frames. Label with the title or name attribute
9. Tables. Make line by line reading sensible. Summarize. Avoid using tables for column layout.
10. Check your work. Validate the HTML. Use evaluation tools and text-only browsers to verify accessibility.
Where Can I Get Help?
If you are a technically proficient Webmaster with detailed knowledge of HTML encoding, the Web Access Initiative of the World Wide Web Consortium has provided an online, technical manual that will permit you to design accessible Web pages.
EASI realizes that most Web designers have many responsibilities and are not expert HTML authors. In fact many use WHAT YOU SEE IS WHAT YOU GET editors and have rarely, if ever, seen HTML code. EASI's Barrier-free Web Design Workshop is an online, four-week-long course for you. It only deal with special HTML code necessary for accessibility features. It also demonstrates how to use these features in WYSIWYG editors.
To see the syllabus, schedule and registration information for the Barrier-free
Web Design Workshop go to:
http://www.rit.edu/~easi/workshop.htm
Contact Information
Email Norm Coombs, (CEO EASI) nrcgsh@rit.edu
Email Dick Banks (CIO EASI) dick@easi.cc
EASI
P. O. Box 818
Lake Forest, CA 92609
Phone: 949-916-2837