Australian university website accessibility revisited

1. Ausweb 07 Australian university website accessibility revisited Dey AlexanderScott Rippon

2. Summary of paper • Accessibility audit done in 2003 • 98% sites not accessible • Looked at 4 pages from 41 university websites • 100% sites not accessible • 135 of 164 pages were not WCAG 1.0 level-A conformant • Failures against 7 of 17 priority one checkpoints • Most failures against checkpoint 1.1 – text equivalents • Most problems with text equivalents for images

3. Who uses text equivalents for images? • Blind users • Use screen reader or text browser with speech output • Hear the text alternative for an image read out • People who use a text browser • Prefer it for a range of reasons • People who use a graphical browser with images turned off • Usually related to bandwidth issues

4. “Text equivalent” – both words are important • "Text" important because • It can be read/displayed by all user agents • graphical browsers • text browsers • voice browsers and screenreaders • braille readers • handhelds

5. “Text equivalent” – both words are important • "Equivalent" is important because • Any old text alternative will not do • Must fulfill the same purpose or function of the original content • Must provide an equivalent experience for the end user

6. Two main types of images • Contain content • Text rendered as an image • Text on photos, etc • Logos and taglines • Decorative or layout • Set a mood • Help tables/pixel-based layouts work

7. Text equivalents for decorative images • Consider the function, then think of how to make the experience equivalent • For someone interacting within a non-graphical environment, decoration and layout are irrelevant, so • Leave ALT attribute blank, but • Don’t leave it out of the IMG element <img src=“students-smiling.jpg” alt=“”>

12. Text equivalents for content images • Consider the function, then think of how to make the experience equivalent • Text displayed as an image • Function: the message in the text • Navigation buttons • Function: tells you what’s on the linked page • University logo • Function: tells you which site you’re on

21. Detailed findings online www.deyalexander.com.au/publications/ausweb07

22. For discussion later? • Why does this problem persist? • Lack of knowledge? • Don’t know about text alternatives • Don’t know who they’re for, how they’re used • Don’t care? • Not enough time to do web stuff anyway • “We don’t have any blind users” • Don’t check? • No QA process for basic accessibility