Ten Ways To Make Your XHTML Site Accessible Using Web Standards

Let’s take a look at 10 ways to improve the accessibility of your XHTML website by making it standards-compliant. We’ll go the extra mile and include criteria that fall beyond the standards set by the W3C but which you should follow to make your website more accessible. Each section lists the criteria you need to meet, explains why you need to meet them and gives examples of what you should and shouldn’t do.

Irigoyen, Michael. Smashing (2009). Articles>Web Design>Accessibility>Standards

Creating Accessible Tabular Data Tables: A Help Authoring Guide

This Fast Track tutorial demonstrates and employs web standards and accessibility methods for tabular data table creation. It is presented free of charge to the community as a help authoring, technical writing and web design guide.

Palinkas, Frank M. helpware.net (2009). Articles>Web Design>Accessibility>Help

HTML 5 and Accessibility

Probably the most worrying thing about the HTML Working Group is the lack of respect for differing opinions that some working group members have. The apparent disinterest in accessibility is another troublesome factor.

456 Berea Street (2009). Articles>Web Design>Accessibility>HTML

HTML 5, Microformats and Testing Accessibility

Testing is vital, particularly at the border of accessibility theory and practice. I wonder, for example, if tabindex and accesskey would have made it to the HTML4 spec if there had been full testing with assistive technology users? What I really want to know from the HTML5 people is who they think is going to do this research that will provide the evidence that their gang requires before useful attributes are restored to the specification.

Lawson, Bruce. BruceLawson.co.uk (2009). Articles>Web Design>Accessibility>HTML5

HTML 5 and the Summary Attribute

As I wrote in Help screen reader users by giving data tables a summary, the summary attribute on the table element can be used to provide information that helps non-sighted users understand data tables. The current draft of HTML 5 requires that validators display a warning if they encounter a summary attribute, since it is now an 'obsolete but conforming feature.'

Johansson, Roger. 456 Berea Street (2009). Articles>Web Design>Accessibility>HTML5

Keyboard Accessibility: Basic Steps Towards a More Usable and Accessible Site

A presentation which shows examples of best-practices in web design for accessibility to users who interact with sites exclusively through the keyboard.

Lauke, Patrick H. Splintered (2009). Presentations>Web Design>Accessibility