Building accessible websites for everyone
Tim Ziersch, Annabel Gregory, Rob Garrett & Libby Price,
The Crippled Children's Association of SA Inc,
PO Box 2438 Regency Park SA 5942.
After almost 2 years of work, The Crippled Children's Association of South Australia has launched 4 new websites that provide information about physical disability and services. From the outset, the Association was determined to set new standards for website accessibility for people with a disability. The sites incorporate a range of innovative accessibility features enabling access by adapted keyboards, special switches, communication devices and screen readers. Site visitors with a wide range of cognitive functioning are aided by the plain language of the site, a comprehensive on-site glossary and the ability to have the site text read out aloud. All features are accommodated in single, graphics-rich sites, substantially avoiding text-only alternatives. The site has aimed to meet, at the highest level of compliance, the 14 Web Accessibility Guidelines developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the international body that monitors and guides the development of accessible website design. The new sites can be found at www.cca.org.au, kids.cca.org.au, teens.cca.org.au and www.regencypark.org.au. Web pages constructed by Fusion Enterprises Pty Ltd.