ECA 228 Internet/Intranet Design I

1. ECA 228 Internet/Intranet Design I Accessibility

2. accessibility issues • some users • can’t see, hear, or move the way we do • may not mentally process information easily • may have difficulty reading • may not be able to use keyboard or mouse • may have a text-only screen, or very small screen • may have a voice browser ECA 228 Internet/Intranet Design I

3. accessibility issues cont … • making your site accessible to users with disabilities may benefit all users • EG, your choice to use stylesheets to control style across your site may benefit a user with low vision, but may actually decrease download time for all users • by law, some sites must be accessible to more than just sighted, hearing users ECA 228 Internet/Intranet Design I

4. Web Accessibility Initiative • WAI attempts to make the web more accessible to everyone • 5 primary areas • Technology • Guidelines • Tools • Education and Outreach • Research and Development ECA 228 Internet/Intranet Design I

5. guidelines Guidelines address 2 general themes: • Graceful Transformation • separate structure from presentation • provide text alternatives, such as the alt attribute in <img> tags • create documents that work even if users cannot see or hear – include information that serves the same purpose as audio or video • create documents that do not rely on one type of hardware, eg, large monitors ECA 228 Internet/Intranet Design I

6. guidelines cont … • Making Content Understandable and Navigable • make language clear and simple • provide understandable mechanisms for navigating through site • some users cannot use image maps, frames, graphics • some users may lose contextual information when they can view only a portion of the page • put important information above fold • eg, magnified images only display one word at a time • Braille readers ECA 228 Internet/Intranet Design I

7. guidelines cont … • checkpoints • each guideline may contain one or more checkpoints • explanations of how the guideline applies in real-world scenario • each checkpoint is assigned a priority level ECA 228 Internet/Intranet Design I

8. priority levels • Level 1 • site must satisfy this checkpoint, otherwise it will be impossible for some groups to access information • Level 2 • site should satisfy this checkpoint – significant barriers may be removed • Level3 • site may address this checkpoint – will improve overall accessibility ECA 228 Internet/Intranet Design I

9. conformance A document may be rated on its compliance to the 3 priority levels • 3 levels of conformance standards • LEVEL A: all Priority 1 checkpoints are satisfied • LEVEL Double-A: all Priority 1 and 2 checkpoints are satisfied • LEVEL Triple_A: all Priority 1, 2, and 3 checkpoints are satisfied Know Your Audience ECA 228 Internet/Intranet Design I

10. Guideline 1 • if a user cannot use images, movies, sounds, etc, provide equivalent information • guidelines do not suggest avoiding using the above, but providing a text equivalent • text equivalents may be used as synthesized speech, Braille, visually displayed text Provide equivalent alternatives to auditory and visual content. ECA 228 Internet/Intranet Design I

11. Guideline 1 cont … • text equivalent must serve the same function or purpose as an image • EG, the purpose of image of earth from outer space • decoration alt = “photograph of earth from outer space” • illustration of world geography alt = “the polar caps can clearly be seen from outer space” • link to information about the earth alt = “click this link for more information about the earth” ECA 228 Internet/Intranet Design I

12. Guideline 1 cont … • if the text conveys the same purpose for a user with a disability as the image does for other users, it can be considered equivalent • consider using non-text equivalents (pictures, video, audio) for users who have difficulty reading • Checkpoints: • Provide text equivalent for every non-text element, including images, applets, ascii art, animations, buttons, image map regions, etc ECA 228 Internet/Intranet Design I

13. Guideline 2 • ensure that that text and graphics are understandable when viewed without color • foreground and background should not be too close to the same hue • some users may not be able to differentiate colors • Checkpoints: • Make sure any information conveyed with color is also conveyed other ways as well Don't rely on color alone. ECA 228 Internet/Intranet Design I

14. Guideline 3 • markup documents with proper structural elements • control presentation with style sheets rather than presentational elements • <font> • invalid HTML hinders accessibility • using a table to lay out a page may cause problems • do not use presentational markup to convey structure Use markup and style sheets and do so properly. ECA 228 Internet/Intranet Design I

15. Guideline 4 • identify predominant natural language of the document using meta tags • Checkpoints: • Identify changes in the natural language of a documents text. EG, if you include a non-English word in an English document, identify the language with the lang attribute. Clarify natural language usage. ECA 228 Internet/Intranet Design I

16. Guideline 5 • tables should be used to mark up tabular data, not to lay out a page • Checkpoints: • For data tables having 2 or more logical levels of rows or columns ( header cells, body, footer) use markup to designate those levels ( thead, tbody, tfoot ) • Identify row and column headers Create tables that transform gracefully. ECA 228 Internet/Intranet Design I

17. Guideline 5 cont … • some screen readers reads table cells straight across • will be read as ECA 228 Internet/Intranet Design I

18. Guideline 6 • ensure that pages are accessible even when newer technologies are not supported or are turned off • Checkpoints: • Organize the structure of your document so that it still makes sense even if style sheets are not working as you expect • Ensure that pages are usable even when scripts, applets, and other objects are turned off Ensure that pages featuring new technologies transform gracefully. ECA 228 Internet/Intranet Design I

19. Guideline 7 • ensure that moving, blinking, scrolling, or auto-updating objects or pages may be paused or stopped • Checkpoints: • Avoid causing the screen to flicker – some people with epilepsy can have seizures triggered by flickering or flashing in the 4 to 59 flashes per second range Ensure user control of time-sensitive content changes. ECA 228 Internet/Intranet Design I

20. Guideline 8 • when you have an embedded object that has its own interface, make sure that interface as well is accessible • Checkpoints: • Make programmatic elements such as scripts and applets compatible with assistive technologies Ensure direct accessibility of embedded user interfaces. ECA 228 Internet/Intranet Design I

21. Guideline 9 • use features that enable activation of page elements via a variety of input devices • don’t rely only on one device (mouse, keyboard, etc) to navigate through site • Checkpoints: • Provide client-side image maps rather than server-side image maps Design for device-independence. ECA 228 Internet/Intranet Design I

22. Guideline 10 • Use interim accessibility solutions so that assistive technologies and older browsers will operate correctly • interim means that the W3 considers these issues at the moment, but expect these will not be a problem in the future, when web technologies come out with certain anticipated features Use interim solutions. ECA 228 Internet/Intranet Design I

23. Guideline 11 • use W3C technologies (according to specification) and follow accessibility guidelines • W3C technologies include built-in accessibility features • avoid non-W3C and non-standard features ( proprietary code ) Use W3C technologies and guidelines. ECA 228 Internet/Intranet Design I

24. Guideline 12 • group elements and provide contextual information about the relationship between elements • complex relationships between parts of a page may be difficult for people with disabilities to interpret • Checkpoints: • Title each frame to facilitate identification and navigation Provide context and orientation information. ECA 228 Internet/Intranet Design I

25. Guideline 13 • provide clear and consistent navigation mechanisms to increase the likelihood that a person will find what they are looking for at a site • orientation information • navigation bars • site map Provide clear navigation mechanisms. ECA 228 Internet/Intranet Design I

26. Guideline 14 • ensure that documents are clear and simple so they may be more easily understood • consistent page layout, recognizable graphics, and easy to understand language benefits all users • Checkpoints: • Use the clearest and simplest language appropriate for a site’s content Ensure that documents are clear and simple. ECA 228 Internet/Intranet Design I

27. validation • to check for accessibility, use: • automated tools • human review • invite individuals with disabilities to review the document • invite both experienced and novice users • get feedback from users with a wide range of disabilities • hearing impaired • visually impaired • motor impairments ECA 228 Internet/Intranet Design I

28. validation methods • use automated validation tools • validate syntax of HTML • validate style sheets • view document in text-only browser • view document in several browsers, old and new • view document in screen reader, with magnification, on a small display, etc ECA 228 Internet/Intranet Design I

29. validation methods cont … • use spelling and grammar checking • speech synthesizers may not be able to decipher misspelled words • grammar problems may make document incomprehensible • review the document for clarity and simplicity • ask a human editor to review document • identify cultural barriers ECA 228 Internet/Intranet Design I

30. Bobby • http://bobby.watchfire.com • comprehensive web accessibility software tool • identifies barriers to accessibility • enter a url to check one page at a time • generates a report listing violations of Priority 1, 2, and 3 issues • generates a list of user checks • Bobby is available for purchase ECA 228 Internet/Intranet Design I