Web Accessibility
© 2004
by Karen Lagrange
at http://www.kalidust.com
There are many web surfers
who have some type of disability and use assistive
technology for their computers. It may be a cognitive
or physical disability from sight problems to
the unability to use their hands.
And while senior citizens don't consider themselves
to have a disability, they often do experience
difficulty with physical movement, limited vision
or loss of sight and other limitations and also
require the use of assistive technology.
Assistive devices can consist of screen readers
for those who have limited sight or who are blind,
head pointers for those who do not have the use
of their hands, or require the use of keyboard
shortcuts because of limited use of their hands.
"Section 508 requires that Federal agencies' electronic
and information technology is accessible to people
with disabilities. " as quoted from http://www.section508.gov/.
Section 508 is part of
the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and went into effect
June 21, 2001.
While it may take some extra effort to make a
site accessible, something to remember is that
people with disabilities control over $175 billion
dollars in discretionary income. Senior citzens
also control a large portion of dollars in discretionary
income.
In making a site accessible, these are some things
to do
- use alt text on images
(spacer images can have "")
- use table cell headers
- use enough contrast in
the color of the text and the background
- avoid quick flashing animations
If it is impossible to
make a site accessible, then an all text equivalent
of the site should be made. There are some scripts
that can convert a page to all text on the fly,
without the need for updating two portions of
a site.
Checklists:
http://www.webaim.org/standards/508/checklist
http://www.w3.org/WAI/Resources/#ch
Some links on accessibility:
http://bobby.watchfire.com
http://www.w3.org/WAI/
http://diveintoaccessibility.org/
Web
Accessibility
© 2004
by Karen Lagrange
at http://www.kalidust.com
About the Author:
Karen is a website developer
and CEO of Kalidust®
Designs, Inc. located in Opelousas, Louisiana.
She specializes in small business website development.
She also advocates on behalf of children and adults
with disabilities and specializes in websites
for disability organizations.
This article may be freely republished
as long as the article, including the header and
footer information, is republished in its entirety,
unedited, and with all links working.
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