Accessibility

A Definition

Accessibility commonly refers to the activity of making the web highly usable for people with disabilities.

References

The most important and comprehensive site discussing Web Accessibility is the W3C's Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI). Their home page has a list of Resources, including introductions, tips, FAQs, guidelines, checklists and descriptions of techniques for making sites accessible.

You may also look at Google's directory page for accessibility.

The WAI

Of particular interest to Web Designers is the W3C's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0. This should be considered required reading. It describes 14 guidelines for making web content accessible:

  1. Provide equivalent alternatives to auditory and visual content.
  2. Don't rely on color alone.
  3. Use markup and style sheets and do so properly.
  4. Clarify natural language usage
  5. Create tables that transform gracefully.
  6. Ensure that pages featuring new technologies transform gracefully.
  7. Ensure user control of time-sensitive content changes.
  8. Ensure direct accessibility of embedded user interfaces.
  9. Design for device-independence
  10. Use interim solutions.
  11. Use W3C technologies and guidelines.
  12. Provide context and orientation information.
  13. Provide clear navigation mechanisms.
  14. Ensure that documents are clear and simple.

Under each guideline are several checkpoints. There are over 60 checkpoints in all. The W3C has published a prioritized list of these checkpoints. They are ranked as follows:

Priority 1 ("Must") Rules
If these aren't satisfied some users will not be able to access some information.
Priority 2 ("Should") Rules
If these aren't satisfied some users have difficulty accessing some information.
Priority 3 ("May") Rules
If these aren't satisfied some users will have a little difficulty access some information.

The W3C's checklist is excellent: you would be wise to read all these checkpoints (there are a few dozen!) and look at the associated implementation techniques that accompany them. (This could take upwards of 20 hours to read and study properly, even for experienced web designers, but is well worth it.)

Who Has an Accessible Site?

You can certify yourself that you conform to W3C Accessibility Checkpoints and put a logo on your conforming pages. You can claim Level A (Priority 1 checkpoints met), Double-A (Priority 1 and 2 met) or Triple-A (Priority 1, 2, and 3 checkpoints met). If you use these logos you are morally responsible for actually meeting the checkpoints.

Independent Certification: A group called the Accessibility Center of Excellence will certify a cite if you satisfy the W3C's Priority 1 Checkpoints. An example certified site is http://www.ca.gov/. (The fact that this center is part of a company currently in Chapter 11 should not detract from the fact that at least someone out there cares about accessibility.)

Neilsen on Accessibility

Some of Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox articles discuss accessibility. These are required reading!