Web accessibility

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Definition

“Web accessibility refers to the inclusive practice of making websites usable by people of all abilities and disabilities. When sites are correctly designed, developed and edited, all users can have equal access to information and functionality.” (Wikipedia, retrieved no 18, 2010)

See also: web usability, usability, ergonomics and cognitive ergonomics

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines

These guidelines explain how to make Web content accessible to people with disabilities. The guidelines are intended for all Web content developers (page authors and site designers) and for developers of authoring tools. The primary goal of these guidelines is to promote accessibility. However, following them will also make Web content more available to all users, whatever user agent they are using (e.g., desktop browser, voice browser, mobile phone, automobile-based personal computer, etc.) or constraints they may be operating under (e.g., noisy surroundings, under- or over-illuminated rooms, in a hands-free environment, etc.). Following these guidelines will also help people find information on the Web more quickly. These guidelines do not discourage content developers from using images, video, etc., but rather explain how to make multimedia content more accessible to a wide audience.

, Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 retrieved 12:57, 4 June 2008 (UTC).

Users with accessibility problems

According to wikipedia

  • Visual: Visual impairments including blindness, various common types of low vision and poor eyesight, various types of color blindness;
  • Motor/Mobility: e.g. difficulty or inability to use the hands, including tremors, muscle slowness, loss of fine muscle control, etc., due to conditions such as Parkinson's Disease, muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy, stroke;
  • Auditory: Deafness or hearing impairments, including individuals who are hard of hearing;
  • Seizures: Photoepileptic seizures caused by visual strobe or flashing effects.
  • Cognitive/Intellectual: Developmental disabilities, learning disabilities (dyslexia, dyscalculia, etc.), and cognitive disabilities of various origins, affecting memory, attention, developmental "maturity," problem-solving and logic skills, etc.;

Some of you may think that you can ignore these populations since they are small. Besides ethical questions, also consider that you may be in situations where you are disabled:

  • Visual: You drive a car, so you want an audio browser.
  • Motor: You try to view web pages on your cell phone ;)
  • Auditory: You are in a boring meeting or a class and want to "listen" to news
  • Cognitive/Intellectual: You are drunk are really tired, but need to repair a server. So it's got to be both simple and effective.

Assistive technology

According to WAI's How to Make Presentations Accessible to All (retrieved nov 24 2010), “Assistive technologies are software or equipment that people with disabilities use to improve interaction with the web, such as screen readers that read aloud web pages for people who cannot read text, screen magnifiers for people with some types of low vision, and voice recognition software and selection switches for people who cannot use a keyboard or mouse.”

Software

Analysis
  • NVDA NonVisual Desktop Access (NVDA) is a free and open source screen reader for the Microsoft Windows operating system. Providing feedback via synthetic speech and Braille, it enables blind or vision impaired people to access computers running Windows for no more cost than a sighted person. Major features include support for over 20 languages and the ability to run entirely from a USB drive with no installation.
  • WAVE is a free web accessibility evaluation tool provided by WebAIM. It is used to aid humans in the web accessibility evaluation process. Rather than providing a complex technical report, WAVE shows the original web page with embedded icons and indicators that reveal the accessibility of that page. Either as online form or as Firefox toolbar.
Browsers extensions
  • Opera 11 has good support for voice browsing. The module must be installed (instructions included in the link)

Standards and Issues

Guidelines

See also Guidelines-based review (for checklists)

Overviews at W3C
Other

Formal recommendations

A first version of the web content guidelines (and that is still frequently cited) was published in 1999 as Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 (WCAG), W3C Recommendation 5-May-1999

WCAG 2.0 became a formal recommentation (standard) in december 2008. According to the WCAG Overview (retrieved 16:37, 24 November 2010 (CET)), version 2 of the Web Content Accesssibility Guidelines “has 12 guidelines that are organized under 4 principles: perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust. For each guideline, there are testable success criteria, which are at three levels: A, AA, and AAA.”. This standards document is completed by four supporting documents:

The relationship between these four texts is explained in The WCAG 2.0 Documents and its following figure:

WCAG 2.0 documents, copyright © W3C

Other

Bodies

Links

  • WebAIM. (Probably) the best one-stop place for all questions around accessibility. Introductions, standards, legal norms, tools.
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