Content Accessibility

Web Content Accessibility: Guidelines and Techniques

What is this and how is it important?

Quick Tips

The reproduction of the WAI Quick Tips Reference Card below will help your web pages reach Level Priority 1 of the checkpoints list. When all checkpoints at Priority 1 have been met, the document is said to satisfy Conformance Level "A" of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 , a formal W3C recommendation, much like HTML , CSS or XML .

Images & animations .
Use the alt attribute to describe the function of each image.
Image maps .
Use client-side map and text for hotspots.
Multimedia .
Provide captioning and transcripts of audio, and descriptions of video.
Hypertext links .
Use text that makes sense when read out of context. For example, avoid using click here *.
Page organization .
Use headings, lists and consistent structure. Use CSS for layout and style where possible.
Graphs & Charts .
Summarize or use the longdesc attribute.
Scripts, applets & plug-ins .
Provide alternative content in case active features are inaccessible or unsupported.
Frames .
Use noframes and meaningful titles (search engines index page by page).
Tables .
Make line-by-line reading sensible. Summarize.
Check your work!
Validate . Use tools, checklist, and guidelines at www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT/ .

*Unless "click here" accurately and descriptively defines the underlying document.
(It's highly doubtful. As an experiment, search Google for "click here".)

Background and More Help

In 1997, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) created the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) to define the issues, guidelines and techniques that will help produce accessible web sites. For Complete Guidelines and Checklist, see the Web Accessibility Initiative for more information on the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 and its corresponding LIST OF CHECKPOINTS (1.0) . A few important WAI milestones include:

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 (May 1999)
Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 (February 2000)
User Agent Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 (September 2001)
XML Accessibility Guidelines (W3C Working Draft 29 August 2001)

VALIDATE YOUR CODE! Use the W3C's validator , and then for accessibility-related checking, use Bobby , a service of the Center for Applied Special Technology . Bobby will reveal basic coding errors but content is much more than code. Many of the checkpoints must be completed manually. Bobby will guide you through it.

Additional Resources:

Abledata - links from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, U.S. Department of Education
U.S. Access Board - a federal agency committed to accessible design
Accessible Web design - a definition by Chuck Letourneau
Accessible Web Authoring and Resources Education Center (AWARE) - a highly useful site sponsored by the HTML Writers Guild (HWG) . (The guild has declared April to be Web Accessibility Month .)
Dao of Web Design - by John Allsopp from AListApart
Disabled Accessibility and Accessible Design for Users With Disabilities - by usability expert Jakob Nielsen
Usable Web - 786 links on web usability; 40 links on accessibility
Webable - directory of disability-related internet resources
Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility Standards
The Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board wrote these standards for web sites operated by the federal government. Many people believe that this will be the benchmark by which the ADA could be enforced
Equal Access to Software and Information (EASI)
Adaptive Technology for the Internet: Making Electronic Resources Accessible to All - by Barbara T. Mates; seeks to guide information providers in establishing accessible Websites and acquiring the hardware and software needed by people with disabilities
SUNYLA Automation Committee on "web page accessibility"
PDF Conversion by Email , a service proviced by Adobe. The user chooses between plain (ASCII) text or an HTML file. If the PDF is on a local disk, you may send it to the service as a MIME attachment
WebAIM: Web Accessibility in Mind - improving accessibility to online learning opportunities for all people, particularly individuals who currently may have a difficult time getting access to postsecondary online learning opportunities

Local, campus expertise resides in DotCIO's Communication & Middleware Technologies group.

Last modified: December 20, 2007