Accessible Web Design
What is accessible Web design?
Accessible Web design is universal Web design. NC State's nationally recognized
Center for Universal Design (http://www.design.ncsu.edu/cud)
provides the following definition:
"Universal design is the design of products and environments to
be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the
need for adaptation or specialized design. The intent of universal design
is to simplify life for everyone by making products, communications,
and the built environment more usable by as many people as possible at
little or no extra cost. Universal design benefits people of all ages
and abilities."
In keeping with this definition, it is important as you are developing
Web content to consider who will be accessing your information and how
they will be accessing it. Here are some sample questions to ask about
your Web page:
- How does my page look on different browsers? (e.g., Internet Explorer, Netscape)
- How does my page look to users with different screen resolutions (e.g.,
640 x 480, 800 x 600, 1024 x 768)
- How does my page look to individuals who are using portable computing
devices?
- How does my page look to individuals who are accessing the Web via
telephone?
- How does my page look to blind individuals who are accessing the Web
using a screen reader?
- How does my page look to individuals who are deaf? Is my audio content
closed-captioned or transcribed?
Much of NC State's information and services are now available on-line.
For this reason, it is increasingly important that the information and
services be presented in ways that makes them accessible to everyone, including
persons with disabilities.
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Legal Requirements
NC State is required by Federal law (the Americans with Disabilities Act
of 1990 (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973) to provide
access to its programs and services to all qualified individuals. These
laws prevent NC State from building buildings with no wheelchair access
and, similarly, prevent NC State from building Web sites that deny access
to persons who access the Web through screen readers, cannot hear audio
content or are unable to use a mouse.
A US Department of Justice Policy Ruling on September 9, 1996 confirmed
that the ADA applies to Internet Web Pages.
More recently, Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1998
requires that Federal agencies ensure the accessibility of their electronic
and information technology, including Web-based intranet and Internet information
and applications. The standards for Section 508 were published in the Federal
Register on December 21, 2000, after which agencies would have six months
to comply. Complaints and law suits may be filed after June 21, 2001. Although
Section 508 applies specifically to Federal agencies, another law (the
Assistive Technology Act of 1998, or "AT Act") requires that
any State receiving a grant under this act (i.e., all states) must assure
that it (the State) or any recipient of State funds will comply with Section
508 standards. There is still some debate as to the intended relationship
between the AT Act and Section 508, and the Department of Education has
pledged to work with States to address this. However, many state universities
are assuming Section 508 will apply to them, and are working proactively
toward compliance.
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Guidelines and standards
Designing accessible Web pages is neither difficult nor costly,
particularly when accessible design is considered up front, rather than
after the page is complete.
There are currently two primary sets of guidelines/standards
for developing accessible Web content:
- The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 1.0),
developed by the World Wide Web Consortium's Web Access Initiative (WAI)
- The Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility Standards, developed
by The Access Board (http://www.access-board.gov)
as required by Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1998, described above.
The Access Board drew heavily upon the WCAG 1.0 in creating
its standards. However, the two sets are not identical. The Access Board
worked carefully to use language that is more consistent with enforceable
regulatory language. Whether or not state universities are determined to
be directly covered by Section 508, its published standards are likely
to inform other laws (e.g., the Americans with Disabilities Act) and define "Web
accessibility" in court.
The following is a complete listing of the Section 508 standards
covering Web-based intranet and Internet information and applications.
For each item, the corresponding WCAG 1.0 checkpoint is provided. All WCAG
1.0 checkpoints are Priority 1 checkpoints (i.e., highest priority on a
3-point scale; violating them means your page will be totally inaccessible
to one or more groups). Note that the last five items have no directly
corresponding WCAG equivalent.
- A text equivalent for every non-text element shall be provided (e.g.,
via "alt", "longdesc" or in element content).
(WCAG 1.0 checkpoint 1.1 - Priority 1)
- Equivalent alternatives for any multimedia presentation shall be synchronized
with the presentation.
(WCAG 1.0 checkpoint 1.4 - Priority 1)
- Web pages shall be designed so that all information conveyed with color
is also available without color, for example from context or markup.
(WCAG 1.0 checkpoint 2.1 - Priority 1)
- Documents shall be organized so they are readable without requiring
an associated style sheet.
(WCAG 1.0 checkpoint 6.1 - Priority 1)
- Redundant text links shall be provided for each active region of a
server-side image map.
(WCAG 1.0 checkpoint 1.2 - Priority 1)
- Client-side image maps shall be provided instead of server-side image
maps except where the regions cannot be defined with an available geometric
shape.
(WCAG 1.0 checkpoint 9.1 - Priority 1)
- Row and column headers shall be identified for data tables.
(WCAG 1.0 checkpoint 5.1 - Priority 1)
- Markup shall be used to associate data cells and header cells for data
tables that have two or more logical levels of row or column headers.
(WCAG 1.0 checkpoint 5.2 - Priority 1)
- Frames shall be titled with text that facilitates frame identification
and navigation.
(WCAG 1.0 checkpoint 12.1 - Priority 1)
- Pages shall be designed to avoid causing the screen to flicker with
a frequency greater than 2 Hz and lower than 55 Hz.
(WCAG 1.0 checkpoint 7.1 - Priority 1)
- A text-only page, with equivalent information or functionality, shall
be provided to make a Web site comply with the provisions of this part,
when compliance cannot be accomplished in any other way. The content
of the text-only page shall be updated whenever the primary page changes.
(WCAG 1.0 checkpoint 11.4 - Priority 1)
- When pages utilize scripting languages to display content, or to create
interface elements, the information provided by the script shall be identified
with functional text that can be read by assistive technology.
(No directly corresponding WCAG 1.0 checkpoint)
- When a Web page requires that an applet, plug-in or other application
be present on the client system to interpret page content, the page must
provide a link to a plug-in or applet that complies with ä1194.21(a)
through (l).
(No directly corresponding WCAG 1.0 checkpoint)
- When electronic forms are designed to be completed on-line, the form
shall allow people using assistive technology to access the information,
field elements and functionality required for completion and submission
of the form, including all directions and cues.
(No directly corresponding WCAG 1.0 checkpoint)
- A method shall be provided that permits users to skip repetitive navigation
links.
(No directly corresponding WCAG 1.0 checkpoint)
- When a timed response is required, the user shall be alerted and given
sufficient time to indicate more time is required.
(No directly corresponding WCAG 1.0 checkpoint)
The full text of Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility Standards
is available at The Access Board's Web site: http://www.access-board.gov/sec508/508standards.htm
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 1.0) and many other
valuable resources on this topic are available from the WAI Web site: http://www.w3.org/WAI/
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Tutorials on accessible Web
design
There are several online tutorials that provide information
and examples regarding accessible Web development. Here are a few that
we found to be particularly helpful:
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Tools for measuring accessibility
-
http://www.cast.org/bobby
The first Web accessibility assessment tool, named Bobby, was
developed by the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST) and is available
through a Web interface or as downloadable software. Bobby will check your
Web page(s) for accessibility and provide a detailed report showing specific
areas needing improvement, including HTML code. The current version of
Bobby is based upon WCAG 1.0, so it is not entirely compatible with the
Section 508 standards.
-
http://www.temple.edu/inst_disabilities/piat/wave/
WAVE (Web Accessibility Versatile Evaluator), is a Web-based application
developed at The Institute on Disabilities at Temple University. It's
similar to Bobby, but its output focuses on the GUI Web page rather than
on the HTML code, so it may be easier for some content developers to
use. It also identifies the reading order of all the elements on the
page, which Bobby does not. One drawback is that it works with single
pages only and doesn't yet have the ability to spider entire sites.
-
http://aprompt.snow.utoronto.ca/
A-Prompt was collaboratively developed by the Adaptive Technology Resource
Centre (ATRC) at the University of Toronto and the TRACE Center at the
University of Wisconsin. It's currently available in beta, and the A-Prompt
folks are working with developers to incorporate the tool into future
releases of major Web editor and courseware products. Its distinguishing
feature is its accessibility wizard, which prompts developers with specific
recommended fixes.
- http://www.ssbtechnologies.com
SSB Technologies has developed a set of three Web accessibility tools:
- Insight is a Web accessibility assessment tool.
- Infocus, like A-Prompt, provides an interface through which the Web
developer can correct accessibility problems.
- Clarity generates reports on the accessibility of an entire Web site,
including summary statistics.
Unlike the other three products described above, these are commercial products,
and many consider them to be highly priced.
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Resources
The following external links (active Internet connection required)
provide additional information, particularly regarding the accessibility
of emerging technologies and the accessibility of Web-delivered science,
math and engineering curricula.
If you have additional questions, please feel free to contact either
of the following individuals:
For additional NC State information visit:
Assistive Technology Home Page (http://www.ncsu.edu/it/dss/)
Learning Technology Services - Quick Tips to Make Accessible Web Sites
http://my.ncsu.edu/index.cfm?category=367&tab=1&nocol=1&select=367
For other NC State Web site accessibility inquiries:
Ricky Lee - ricky_lee@ncsu.edu (mailto:ricky_lee@ncsu.edu)
Disability Services Office
For on-line NC State curricula:
Lisa Fiedor - lisa_fiedor@ncsu.edu (mailto:lisa_fiedor@ncsu.edu)
Learning Technologies Service (LTS)
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Last modified
March 5, 2008
by dlschmid
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