Presented by Alan Parks For the University of Vermont UCEDD

1. Building Accessible Websites Series Introduction to Web Accessibility Presented by Alan Parks For the University of Vermont UCEDD

2. Agenda Building Accessible Websites Series • What makes a website accessible? • Who benefits? • What are the resources to help make my site accessible? • How do I validate my site?

3. What makes a website accessible? Building Accessible Websites Series • Accessible webs are designed and written in ways that assure that all users can access and benefit from the content. • Common features of accessible webs include: • “alt tags” for all non-text items • Appropriate uses of color; color never conveys content • Tables with content formatted for understandability • Appropriate, alternate representations for PDFs, videos, audio, etc. • See UMaine’s Helpsite for details

4. Who benefits? Building Accessible Websites Series • All users benefit, especially… • …those who are Deaf, blind, have vision impairments; • …those who have learning disabilities; • …those whose native language is different from that of the website; • …those using palm technology. • Who else?

5. What resources are available? Building Accessible Websites Series • UMaine’s Web Accessibility Helpsite - www.umaine.edu/weboffice/accessibility/creating.htm. • HiSoft’s AccVerify is one example of user validation and repair software: http://www.hisoftware.com/support/mm-demos.htm

6. How do I validate my site? Building Accessible Websites Series • AccVerify - validate your entire site locally or on the server • Cynthiasays – www.cynthiasays.com; one server page per minute • AIS Toolbar –www.visionaustralia.org/info.aspx?page=621; IE/Windows only • Checky Toolbar – checky.sourceforge.net/extension.html; Firefox/Mac-Windows

7. Thank you!