Web Accessibility

1. Web Accessibility Linda Ehrnschwender Charles Schmiesing Co-chairs INFOhio Web Accessibility Committee

2. What is web accessibility? • Making your web site useable to anyone regardless of individual capabilities and disabilities.

3. What is a disability? • Obvious ones include blindness, deafness, sight or hearing disabilities, and physical disabilities. • Not so obvious are color blindness, learning disabilities, and age related disorders.

4. Why do I need to worry about that? • Section 508 of the National Rehabilitation Act requires that Federal agencies' electronic and information technology is accessible to people with disabilities, including Federal employees and members of the public.

5. Who will benefit from this? • 21 % of Americans have a disability. • In Ohio 236,000 students have a disability. • Do the Math: If you have 3000 students in your district, 630 of them will have a disability!

6. Below is the results of a study by Jakob Nielsen. It shows the usability of web sites is considerably less for disabled users.

7. What can cause difficulties accessing my web page?

8. Screen readers – used by those with visual disabilities, blindness, and more frequently now, students with learning disabilities. • Is your HTML code understandable when read by a screen reader?

9. Choice of color scheme - Color blindness and other visual impairments create a need for high contrast colors.

10. Animated, flashing graphics, pop-up boxes – can be distracting to ADHD or LD students; can even cause seizures in epileptics.

11. Confusing navigation, cluttered screens Difficult to see or click with a mouse. Where would a parent look for forms? In a locker!

12. Fancy fonts – cause difficulty for those with vision impairments and motor problems.

13. What does an accessible web page look like? • American Federation of the Blind is a good example.

14. How do I know if my page is accessible or not? • There are many free validation tools available. • They will scan your page and provide you with a report of problem areas. • Some tools will tell you how to fix problems and some will fix them for you! • Links to validation tools are available from WebABLE.

15. Bobbyis one example of a website validation tool. Enter url of page to test.

16. Your page will display with problem areas marked.A guide to reading the report is available.

17. Specific problem areas are identified.

18. The Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) has established 3 levels of priorities to make your website accessible. • Level 1 priority items must be met. • Level 2 priority items should be met. • Level 3 priority items may be met. • Guidelines explaining these are available. • You may find the checklist format helpful.

19. Guidelines for theweb developer

20. Images & animations. • Use the alt attribute to describe the function of each visual. Not meaningful: "images/hp_top_logo.gif“ Better: alt="logo for the American Foundation for the Blind, fulfilling Helen Keller's vision"></td>

21. Image Maps • Avoid “Mouse-overs”.

22. Multimedia • Provide captioning and transcripts of audio, and descriptions of video. • MP3 version of greeting • RealAudio version of greeting • WAV version of greeting • Or read the text version of greeting.

23. Hypertext links • Use text that makes sense when read out of context. • Avoid "click here." • Good example: Click the DASite on the map below--or the links following the map--to visit each DASite's home page.

24. Page organization • Use headings, lists, and consistent structure. • Use CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) for layout and style where possible. • Several tools are available to assist you with CSS. Style Master is an example.

25. Graphs & charts • Summarize or use D link coding summary = "This table is used to contain all content on this page. The first cell will contain the pages primary side image to represent to the viewer where they are located within the site."

26. Make line-by-line reading sensible. Summarize the contents and structure. Tables

27. Scripts, applets, & plug-ins • Provide alternative content in case active features are inaccessible or unsupported. • The Java Accessibility Program has specific guidelines to assist you.

28. Frames. • Be sure frames are titled and labeled properly.

29. Check your work • Validate your site! • Use checklist and guidelines from Web Content Accessibility Guidelines

30. Tips for the advanced web developer: 1.Provide equivalent alternatives to auditory and visual content. 2.Don't rely on color alone. 3.Use markup and style sheets and do so properly. 4.Clarify natural language usage. 5.Create tables that transform gracefully. 6. Ensure that pages featuring new technologies transform gracefully. 7.Ensure user control of time-sensitive content changes.

31. 8.Ensure direct accessibility of embedded user interfaces. 9.Design for device independence. 10.Use interim solutions. 11.Use W3C technologies and guidelines. 12.Provide context and orientation information. 13.Provide clear navigation mechanisms. • Ensure that documents are clear and simple.

32. What can I do to help raise awareness? • If your school includes web development in courses, be certain that accessibility is included in the curriculum. The student's careers may depend on it. (Section 508)

33. Ask your superintendent if the school's policies regarding students with disabilities include the school's web pages. • If not, share accessibility information with him. Offer to do a presentation to the Board of Education.

34. Many teachers now have their own web sites for their class. Even though they may not have any students with disabilities, there might be parents that do. • Offer to discuss the topic at a staff meeting.

35. Learn more about assistive technology Ohio’s Assistive Technology Distance Learning Project Online courses include: • Assistive Technology Fundamentals • Funding Assistive Technology • Computer Access Overview – Devices and Software Graduate credit available.

36. Money is available! • $9.4 MILLION in grant money from Assistive Technology Infusion Project for individual students. • Apply for an LSTA grant to purchase adaptive equipment for your library.

37. ORCLISH has a wealth of information to share with you. Find your local SERRC ORCLISH

38. For more information, see the INFOhio web site.

39. Bibliography • INFOhio – www.infohio.org • ORCLISH – www.orclish.org • WebABLE – www.webable.com • Section 508 - www.usdoj.gov/crt/508/508home.html • Web Content Accessibility Guidelines - www.w3.org/TR/WCAG/ • Web Content Accessibility Checklist - www.w3.org/TR/WCAG/full-checklist.html • Ohio’s Assistive Technology Distance Learning Project - www.orclish.org/oatdlp/intro.html • Assistive Technology Infusion Project - www.atip.state.oh.us/index.asp?text=1 • LSTA Grants - http://winslo.state.oh.us/publib/lsta98.html • Jacob Nielsen’s Alert Box - www.useit.com/alertbox/20011111.html • American Federation of the Blind – www.afb.org • Bobby - www.cast.org/bobby/ • Style Master - www.westciv.com/style_master/ • Java Accessibility Program - http://trace.wisc.edu/world/java/jseval.htm

40. Please feel free to use all or any parts of this presentation to share accessibility information with your colleagues. It is hyperlinked for your convenience. INFOhio’s Web Accessibility Committee