Accessibility Tips
The Paciello Group provides this area to share tips and techniques with our clients and the accessibility community. We will regularly post new suggestions and techniques provided by visitors. if you would like to offer a suggestion for us to publish on this page, please use the link below and we will credit your contribution on this page.
1. The accessible designer remembers that among other things, Web accessibility is designed to promote access by individuals with varied environments.
Following are some things to keep in mind about potential users from the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines:
- They may not be able to see, hear, move, or understand easily — or at all.
- They may be in a situation where their eyes, ears, or hands are busy or interfered with (for example, driving to work, working in a loud environment, and so on).
- They may have difficulty reading or comprehending text.
- They may not have or be able to use a keyboard or mouse.
- They may have an early version of a browser, a different browser entirely, a voice browser, or a different operating system.
- They may have a slow connection, a small screen, a text-only screen, and so on.
- They may not speak or understand fluently the language in which the document is written.
2. Provide equivalent alternatives to auditory and visual content
All images and area attributes within image maps should have alternative text provided in the ALT attribute. Not only does this make the Web page accessible, but it is also required by the HTML 4.0 Recommendation. Image-based navigation tools and form elements all need text-based alternatives such as a full text-navigation menu.
Important visual information can include photographs of a retailer’s products, a graph or chart of financial information, or a video clip of a news story. Each of these objects should have an additional text-based alternative presentation of its content. This long description differs from the alternative text in the previous guideline, as it is a reformatting of the visual content, not a description of it. For example, an alternative text for a video clip might appear as follows: ALT= “news video story on recent airline disaster.” However, the LONGDESC content would be a URL pointing to a file containing a transcript of the audio portion of that news feed, along with a description of any key visuals. You can also use LONGDESC to implement a text transcript for motion pictures or videos that include Descriptive Video Services (DVS), which are full audio descriptions of spoken dialog and sound effects. Transcripts should always be provided for audio-based content. This includes audio portions of video, as well as descriptions of important but nonverbal audio communication. If a sound file of the male lion’s roar accompanies the presentation of a photograph of a pride of lions, describe that to the user. Not only does this serve users with hearing disabilities, but it can also help users who are at workstations without sound cards, or who may be struggling with a slow Internet connection. Additionally, search engines can pick up this text-based content.
3. Don’t rely on color alone
Color should never be the only indication of importance or context for your information. Users who are color blind or are using a device that isn’t capable of color display are not able to perceive such emphasis.
4. Use markup and style sheets properly
Avoid using structural markup for the visual result given by a few popular browsers. Documents that contain orderly and appropriate structural markup can transfer to almost any type of user agent or display device and still stand on their own.
5. Clarify natural language usage
Use the new markup for abbreviations and acronyms to help expand text that may be unfamiliar to your reader. Also, identify changes in the natural language of a document where they occur by using the LANG attribute.
6. Create tables that transform gracefully
Tables should be reserved for truly tabular data; they should not be used for fine control of visual layout (such as placing text into columns). One metric is to read the information in your table horizontally, without regard to column borders. If it makes sense, it’s tabular data. Otherwise, you’ve used the table for layout rather than structure.
7. Ensure that pages featuring new technologies transform gracefully
Being on the cutting edge can be fun, but be aware that many of your users may not have a user agent capable of rendering new content formats. Be sure to provide alternative formatting for content contained in frames and scripts by using the NOFRAMES and NOSCRIPT elements. Any dynamic content should have an alternative presentation that does not rely on the interactive capabilities of the user agent.
8. Ensure user control of time-sensitive content changes
Not everyone can read or process information at the same pace. If you have scrolling or changing information, be sure there is a mechanism available for the user to pause or stop the flow of data.
9. Ensure direct accessibility of embedded user interfaces
If an embedded object such as an applet or ActiveX control is used, the interface for that object must also be accessible. Details on such techniques are discussed in Chapter 9.
10. Design for device independence
Not everyone has a mouse, and not everyone has a keyboard. Keyboard shortcuts, tabbing order, and event handlers all contribute to the accessibility of forms and elements. Keep in mind that people with a variety of input devices may interact with your documents.
11. Use interim solutions
Accessibility may simply mean being thorough in your implementation of design elements, making allowances for browsers that don’t fully or correctly implement elements. For example, by using placeholder text in form text-input controls, an older browser enables users to navigate directly to that control, where they have difficulty doing so by tabbing, for example, with empty elements.
12. Use W3C technologies and guidelines
Adhere to W3C recommendations for markup and content development guidelines; this provides greater security that your documents degrade gracefully to software that may not fully implement the most recent technologies.
13. Provide context and orientation information
Complex pages can be daunting to even the quickest user. Group related elements together using labels, headings, and names for frames. Form elements should be clearly labeled and placed into option groups.
14. Provide clear navigation mechanisms
The most frequently used feature of any Web site is the navigation system. No matter where on a site a user may be, there should be a way to return to the home page or major subsections with only one or two steps.
15. Ensure that documents are clear and simple
Consistent layout and navigational icons aid those with cognitive disabilities. Clear and concise language can assist all users, and can be a great help for those whose native language is not that used on your site.