Developing and Publicising a Workable Accessibility Strategy

This article looks at the increasing need for developers of institutional and educational websites to develop and follow a strategy for ensuring optimal accessibility of online content. In particular the need is stressed for careful thought about the aims of such a strategy, and to ensure that the strategy meets a balance between ambition, legal responsibility and equitable access to learning and teaching. As an example, the need for a well written public online accessibility statement is discussed, not only as a demonstration of awareness and proactivity, but also as an important factor in its own right in optimising access.

Phipps, Lawrie, Sue Harrison, David Sloan and Betty Willder. Ariadne (2004). Articles>Web Design>Accessibility

Essential Components of Web Accessibility

This document shows how Web accessibility depends on several components working together and how improvements in specific components could substantially improve Web accessibility. It also shows how the WAI guidelines address these components.

Lawton Henry, Shawn. W3C (2006). Articles>Web Design>Accessibility

How Will the New Disability Standards for Education Affect What Universities Do on the Web?

On August 18, 2005 new Disability Standards for Education came into effect in Australia. Questions have been raised about how they may impact on the way universities publish resources on the web. In this article, I provide an overview of the new Standards, their general impact, and conclude that if organisations are already following the advice of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (on how to comply with the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 in relation to the web), the introduction of the Standards should make no appreciable difference.

Dey Alexander (2005). Articles>Web Design>Accessibility>United Kingdom

Inaccessible Website Demo

When people consider disability and web use they often only think of blind people. But of course there are many types of disability which need to be considered when designing web pages. In this demonstration we try to give you a flavour of the kind of difficulties a range of disabled visitors can face.

Disability Rights Commission. Articles>Web Design>Accessibility

Innovative Design Inspired by Accessibility

To design innovative Web applications that create opportunities rather than barriers, study the variety of characteristics of people, situations, and devices in your audience--it will give you new perspective from which to approach your design.

Chisholm, Wendy. Digital Web Magazine (2005). Articles>Web Design>Accessibility

Keys to Access: Accessibility Conformance in VET  

In this research, we aimed to investigate what VET training providers have achieved in terms of accessibility conformance; to reveal and understand the obstacles that may be blocking conformance and suggest strategies that will speed conformance.

Lamshed, Reece, Marsha Berry and Laurie Armstrong. Australian Flexible Learning Framework (2005). Articles>Web Design>Accessibility>Australia

The Importance of Procurement in Accessibility Policy

Most policies in education focus exclusively on the practices of in-house Web development professionals. Few institutions are looking at the Web content and Web-based applications that come to them from other sources (e.g., content management systems, finance systems, student information systems, healthcare or benefit systems, human resource systems). So, what is missing in current policy? A mechanism to procure accessible Web products and services is missing. Without procurement as part of the policy, true system-level accessibility can only be an illusion.

Rowland, Cyndi. National Center on Disability and Access to Education (2005). Articles>Education>Accessibility

Manchester United: Top of the Web Accessibility League?

Manchester United have received a lot of press coverage for the separate accessible version of their website. They've probably invested a lot of time and effort to make this separate website, which according to Trenton Moss is totally unnecessary.

Moss, Trenton. Ecademy (2004). Articles>Web Design>Accessibility>United Kingdom

Screen Readers and CSS Layout

Screen readers are mostly mystical devices for almost all of us. Few of us actually own them. They’re incredibly expensive. Fewer yet know how to use them well, what their capabilities are, or how they actually work. Is it little wonder then, that big names in our web design world question how screen readers handle modern layout techniques? Not at all. The two gurus quoted below have other strengths, and specialities. They probably haven’t used a screen reader in ages.

Easton, Bob. Access Matters (2005). Articles>Web Design>Accessibility>CSS

Screen-Reader Usability at a Standards-Compliant E-Commerce Site

An E-commerce site was redesigned with Web standards in mind. The revised site used semantic HTML markup that usually passes validation tests and also incorporated many common accessibility features. A study was carried out with screen-reader users to determine how well compliance with Web standards and accessibility guidelines translated into actual usability and accessibility.

Clark, Joe. JoeClark.org (2005). Articles>Web Design>Accessibility>E Commerce

Secret Benefits of Accessibility Part 1: Increased Usability

Web accessibility has so many benefits that I really do wonder why such a large number of Websites have such diabolically bad accessibility. One of the main benefits is increased usability, which, according to usability guru, Jakob Nielsen, can increase the sales/conversion rate of a Website by 100%, and traffic by 150%.

Moss, Trenton. SitePoint (2004). Articles>Web Design>Accessibility>Usability

Secret Benefits of Accessibility Part 2: Better Search Ranking

One of the main benefits of Web accessibility is that a Website that's more accessible to people is also usually more accessible to search engines. The more accessible your site is to search engines, the more confidently they can guess what the site's about, giving your site a better chance at the top spot in the search engine rankings.

Moss, Trenton. SitePoint (2004). Articles>Web Design>Accessibility>Search Engine Optimization

Seven Accessibility Mistakes (Part 1)

There are several reasons inaccessible Web products get published. One we discussed in my last article is that some clients just don’t care about accessibility. Their reasons make a lot of sense if you put yourself in their shoes. Another reason is developer mistakes. Making mistakes is natural, and suffering the consequences and learning from them is what makes us better developers and better people.

Heilmann, Christian. Digital Web Magazine (2006). Articles>Web Design>Accessibility>Case Studies

Seven Accessibility Mistakes (Part 2)

This two part-article discusses reasons why some projects fail to result in properly accessible products.

Heilmann, Christian. Digital Web Magazine (2006). Articles>Web Design>Accessibility

Seven Screen Reader Usability Tips

Simply ensuring that your Website is accessible to screen reader users is, unfortunately, not enough to guarantee that these users can find what they're looking for in a reasonably quick and efficient manner. Even if your site is accessible to screen reader users, its usability could be so poor that they needn't have bothered stooping by in the first place.

Moss, Trenton. SitePoint (2005). Articles>Web Design>Accessibility>Usability

Speaking ALT Text

I have a few late model screen readers and I also have simple audio recording tools. I'll use them to get you closer to what these screen readers actually say. I'll start a collection of recordings so you can hear for yourself what these tools say.

Easton, Bob. Access Matters (2005). Articles>Web Design>Accessibility>Usability

The Convergence of the Aging Work Force And Accessible Technology

This paper discusses the effects of America’s aging work force on business growth and productivity and illustrates how accessible technology can equip employers and mature workers to face the challenges posed by this demographic trend.

Mosner, Ellen and Craig Spiezle. Microsoft (2004). Articles>Web Design>Accessibility>Elderly

The Lifecycle of Web Accessibility

In this article we'll divide the life cycle of web accessibility into 5 different phases and we'll see how they are strictly interconnected with other disciplines such as graphic design, development and content management.

Volpon, Antonio. evolt (2002). Articles>Web Design>Accessibility

WCAG and the Myth of Accessibility

Kevin Leitch explains why he feels that the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines have failed in their mission to ensure that web content is accessible to all.

Leitch, Kevin. Juicy Studio (2004). Articles>Web Design>Accessibility>Standards

The Market for Accessible Technology

This report presents findings about individuals who are likely to benefit from the use of accessible technology. It also includes findings about working-age adults and computer users and presents data about the aging population in the US and its impact on computer use. This report concludes with statements about how these findings affect the information technology (IT) industry.

Microsoft (2003). Articles>Accessibility>Technology

Accessible Technology in Computing: Examining Awareness, Use, and Future Potential

Presents new findings about the use of computers among individuals with difficulties/impairments. It also discusses factors that influence the use of computers and accessible technology and includes data about the current awareness and use of accessible technology. This report concludes with a forecast of growth in the demand for accessible technology and an overview of the opportunities for the IT industry to make accessible technology easier to discover and use.

Microsoft (2004). Articles>Accessibility>Technology

Appropriate Use of Alternative Text

Adding alternative text for images is the first principle of web accessibility. It is also one of the most difficult to properly implement. The web is replete with images that have missing, incorrect, or poor alternative text. Like many things in web accessibility, determining appropriate, equivalent, alternative text is often a matter of personal interpretation. Through the use of examples, this article will present our experienced interpretation of appropriate use of alternative text.

WebAIM (2005). Articles>Accessibility>Image Editing>Web Design

An Eight-Step Implementation Model

The inaccessibility of web content can have a significant impact on the lives of individuals with disabilities. Many people without disabilities are ignorant of the importance of the issue to those who are directly affected. They are also often ignorant of the tremendous benefit that accessible web content can be. Accessible web sites offer independence to individuals with disabilities that would otherwise not have it.

WebAIM (2006). Articles>Web Design>Accessibility>Project Management

Links and Hypertext: An Introduction to Links and Hypertext

Some types of links are more accessible than others, and some types of links are completely inaccessible to people with certain types of disabilities. Because links are so basic to the functionality of web content, inaccessible links are one of the most severe barriers to overall accessibility.

WebAIM (2005). Articles>Web Design>Accessibility>Hypertext

Using JAWS to Evaluate Web Accessibility

This article is designed to help users who are new to JAWS learn the basic controls for testing web content, and to serve as a reference for the occasional JAWS user.

WebAIM (2005). Articles>Web Design>Accessibility>Assessment