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June 21, 2001. (are you ready?). Web Design for the Visually Impaired. Compliance with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act Amendments, 1998. Americans with Disabilities Act.
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June 21, 2001 (are you ready?)
Web Design for the Visually Impaired Compliance with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act Amendments, 1998
Americans with Disabilities Act • 1990 Law ensures equal opportunity for persons with disabilities in employment, State and local government services, public accommodations, commercial facilities, and transportation • Section 508 of the 1998 Rehabilitaion Act Amendment requires standards for information technology under ADA.
Rehabilitation Act Amendments • Sets standards for access to information technology by the disabled. • Applicable to government agencies and organizations which prepare info for the U.S. government. • Prepare anyway! Sooner or later, the standards will be extended under ADA
Section 508 Requirements • Disabled individuals must have comparable access to information as the non-disabled do. Few exceptions. • Standards apply to computers, software, operating systems, and the techniques of presentation of information, such as Internet and Intranet web pages.
Focusing on the Web • How do visually impaired and blind access the web? • What can we, responsible for web development, do to ensure good compliance?
Two Approaches • Develop alternate sets of materials • Develop materials which are adaptable
Visually Impaired • Those with partial vision • The colorblind • The dyslexic • Those susceptible to seizures
Visually Impaired • For partial vision, make text resizable without L-R scrolling. Design for it. Test it. • For colorblind, avoid passing information through color alone. Underline links. • For dyslexic, best assisted by readers • For seizure susceptible, avoid blink rates between 2 and 55 cycles per second.
The Blind • Two modes: text to braille and text to speech • Software: JAWS, Connect Outloud, Outspoken (Mac), PW Webspeak, • Reader software varies in capabilities. The best will announce links, headers, table structure, frame structure, etc., as it reads the text and your descriptions!
Blind Navigation • Can you navigate a complex web page without touching a mouse? • Consider navigation of frames, tables, ads, long header menus, pop-ups, etc. • Keystrokes can select next and previous link, jump to top or bottom of page, shift frames, close a window, stop reading, restart reading, etc. Learn, design for it.
Graphics • Make sure ALL graphics have alt="" parameters. • Explain the purpose thoroughly in alts • Purely decorative graphics should use alt="" with no content between quotes • Avoid all color cues and graphical cues (image maps). Think it through.
Links • Make sure the link text is thoroughly descriptive. • Avoid "click here" links. (The blind can skip from link to link.) • Provide links at the top to skip over long repeated navigational link series (pages are revisited frequently). • Image maps MUST have alternate menus. • Underline links!
Tables • Readers describe table structure. • Always use <TH> tags where applicable, both for columns and rows. • Never omit your closing </TR>, </TH>, and </TD> tags • Generally, use percentages, not pixels
Testing Your Pages • WAVE 2.01, Pennsylvania's Initiative on Assistive Technology • Bobby, Center for Applied Special Technology
Forms • Is everything well labeled?
Planning for Compliance • What are your priorities? • Inventory your problems. • Always put yourself in the shoes of the disabled • Create a plan • Do the most important things first. • Do it right the first time.
Links to Disability Resources www.walthowe.com/disabilitylinks.html