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Accessibility tips & tricks continued ...

Follow good design rules:

TIP: Bookmark the W3C web site and visit it regularly

Good design rules are documented in the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) specifications.

The W3C contributes to efforts to standardize Web technologies by producing specifications (called "Recommendations") that describe the building blocks of the Web. These Recommendations (and other technical reports) are freely available to all from the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative web site (w3.org/WAI) and include detailed Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).

W3C quick tips

• Images & animations: Use the alt attribute to describe the function of each visual.
• Image maps: Use the client-side map and text for hot spots.
• 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 "click here".
• Page organisation. 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 the noframes element and meaningful titles.
• Tables. Make line-by-line reading sensible. Summarize.
• Check your work. Validate. Use tools, checklist, and guidelines at www.w3.org/TR/WCAG

NB: The Complete Checklist is also available on the W3C site.

The W3C site is packed with information and resources for accessibility newbies and gurus. Whether you are a techie or business analyst, a user or a manager this site is sure to answer your accessibility questions. It includes specifications, checklists, tutorials, listserves, validation tools, news, talks, and frequently asked questions.

W3C Themes of accessible design

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) include recommendations for both accessibility and usability.

The first 11 guidelines are about ensuring graceful transformation including:

• Separating structure from presentation
• Providing equivalent information for visual and auditory content
• Creating documents that do not rely on one type of hardware

These are followed by a series of guidelines for making content understandable and navigable, such as:

• Using plain language
• Keeping it simple
• Being consistent
• Designing for scannability
• Proving clear orientation and navigation tools

TIP: Cost accessibility into your web site project from the beginning

It is easier and cheaper to make a web site accessible from the beginning than to try and retrofit accessibility "on the run". This ensures costs do not escalate once you've gone live.

TIP: Accessibility is the law

A decision in the US District Court (2002) found that US disability discrimination law does not cover the Internet. However, having an inaccessible web site is definitely in breach of Australian disability discrimination legislation.

"Under the Federal Disability Discrimination Act - as well as under equivalent laws in all Australian States - it is unlawful to discriminate against a person on the grounds of their disability by having a web site which they cannot access," said Dr Sev Ozdowski, Acting Disability Discrimination Commissioner. [Reference HREOC Media Release October 2002 "Internet still covered under Australian Discrimination Law "]

At the W3C International Web Accessibility Summit 2000, Graeme Innes, Deputy Commissioner of the Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC), also said publicly that it would be hard to see how the argument of "unjustifiable hardship" could be supported concerning changes required to make a web site accessible. This has also been tested legally in 2000, when Bruce Maguire took the Sydney Olympic Games to Court over their inaccessible web site and won.

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