Accessibility Presentation

Summary of all my research so far:

The Futures project set me off on the Accessibility route.

Inclusive design research showed:

• Separation of style and content
• CSS & XHTML
• A single site can have several style sheets, which can be read by different devices. When connecting to the website, the device automatically knows which style sheet to access and will display it appropriately (eg @media in coding)

Colour blindness:

• Red-green type is the most common
• 1 in 12 males and 1 in 200 females have some form of colour vision deficiency

Colour - Gender differences:

• Approx 2-3% of world's women have additional visual equipment (a 4th core in the eye) that gives them a significant increase in colour differentiation - similar to the super-vision in birds
• Generally women prefer lighter, soft pastel colours and men prefer brighter, cool colours

Colour Symbolism:

• Colour conveys meanings in two primary ways: natural associations and psychological symbolism
• People are comfortable when colours remind them of similar things
• Successful design requires an awareness of how and why colours communicate meaning

Colour and e-Commerce:

• Colours must be as accurate as possible
• Colours must succeed in conveying information
• Colours must function as the primary structural element in the store's design (the layout)
• Colours must create a sense of visual harmony
• Colours should bear some relationship (either symbolic or literal) to the product or service
• Don't try to invent the colour wheel by using unusual colours
• Use colour harmony principles to create a pleasant visual experience

Accessibility Guidelines - Only part of the picture:

• A recent UK survey of 1000 British web sites was taken
• Fewer than 19% of home pages were level A compliant
• Only 6 passed for Level AA, with 4 failing the manual tests
• So only 2 sites were AA compliant
• No home page was level AAA compliant

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 (WCAG 1.0):

• Provide text equivalents of non-text content eg images etc
• Don't rely on colour alone
• Ensure XHTML or HTML and CSS is written correctly
• Identify changes in language
• Avoid tables to layout information
• Ensure pages work if technologies switched off
• Don't use fast moving objects
• Provide other ways to access embedded objects
• Design for device-independence eg mouse, keyboard, voice recognition software etc
• Ensure readable by older browsers
• Use W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) technologies and guidelines
• Provide context and orientation information
• Provide clear navigation mechanisms
• Ensure documents are clear and simple

Wikipedia - Web Accessibility:

• When a site is coded with meaningful HTML, with textual equivalents provided for images and links named meaningfully, this helps blind users using text-to-speech software and/or text-to-Braille hardware
• When text and images are large and/or enlargable, it is easier for users with poor sight
• When links are underlined as well as coloured, this ensures that colour blind users will be able to notice them
• When clickable links and areas are large, this helps users who can't control a mouse easily
• When pages are coded so users can navigate with a keyboard alone, or a single switch device, this helps users who can't use a mouse or standard keyboard
• When videos are subtitled or a sign language version is available, deaf and hard of hearing users can understand video
• When flashing effects are avoided or made optional, users prone to seizures are not put at risk
• When content is written in plain language and illustrated with instructional diagrams and animations, users with dyslexia and learning difficulties can understand better
• In the UK, the DRC (Disability Rights Commission) with BSI (British Standards Institute) have published Pas 78 which outlines good practice in commissioning accessible websites

RNIB - Accessibility Myths:

• You must provide text only pages on your site
• You cannot use images
• You have to use a large font
• Red and green cannot be used
• Colour choice is more important than contrast

Webcredible - The future of web accessibility:

• 7 years since the W3C released the 1st version of guidelines
• Web 2.0 : next generation of websites
• Includes AJAX (Asynchronous Javascript and XML), a technique for using a number of existing technologies to create highly interactive web applications, and user generated content (blogs etc)
• AJAX-based web pages require Javascript support
• Accessibility will become less guideline driven, which means employing experts will become the norm
• Alternative accessible versions will be more common
• Javascript, PDF and Flash will no longer be thought of as "evil"!

Webcredible - Beyond Guidelines: Advanced accessibility techniques:

• Hidden text can be useful for screen reader users
• Most common and useful page items to insert invisible text are Headings, Form labels and Skip links (placed right at the top of a HTML file)
• Sensible link text as links can be front loaded onto a pop up box so people can go straight to the content
• Visible font resizer
• Place instructions first
• Large headings
• Large link target (area)

Zanet Web Design - Excellent design tool:

• WebXact
• Good idea to have a screen reader to test yourself
• Check keyboard accessibility (using the tab key)

Accessibility 101 - Top 10 Accessibility Tips:

• Provide ALT text for images, and alternative content for all other media
• Use CSS for styling and HTML for document structure
• Associate table headers with table cells and use tables only for data
• Provide skip links to let a user skip repetitive content
• Don't use flash, frames or tables for layout purposes
• Design for device independence
• Use simple language and specify language used
• Make sure colours and fonts contrast sufficiently
• Don't fix a font size on your website
• Use percentages or ems (emphasis) for your layout

Accessibility 101 - UK Web Accessibility Fact Sheet 2007:

• A disabled person can make a claim against you if your website makes it impossible or unreasonably difficult to access information and services. If you have not made reasonable adjustments and cannot show that this failure is justified, then you may be liable under the Act, and may have to pay compensation and be ordered by a court to change your site - RNIB 2005
• There are over 8 million people registered as having a disability in the UK

Pas 78:

• Guide to good practice in commissioning accessible websites
• Pas 78 has been commissioned to provide guidance to website commissioners on the steps you should take to commission an accessible website, W3C guidelines & specifications, the role of the guidelines, software tools and user testing within the development cycle
• Pas 78 is a 'work in progress' and it could mature to a British standard

Howard Chambers email interview:

• Visual impairment is probably the most common disability
• Jaws and Supernova are the most common software used
• Subscribes to 'Ability' magazine
• Presentations need subtitles
• Hand held devices are becoming more common

Dan Ballance email interview:

• Calderdale College website is being redesigned to strict XHTML
• Separation of Content (XHTML) and appearance (CSS)
• Don't use tables for layout - use CSS
• The page has a flow and elements are either inline or block elements within that flow. Elements can then be floated to the left or right and taken out of the main page flow
• Use Google to search things eg float firefox inline margin invisible will help with cross-browser compliancy
• Text only link and skip to content link (hidden)
• Unobtrusive javascript and progressive enhancement

Unobtrusive javascript:

• Keep javascript separate - Never add into document
• Only use javascript to enhance a functionality that is already given, don't rely on it
• Keep effects mouse independent

Progressive enhancement:

• Uses web technologies in a layered fashion that allows everyone to access the basic content and functionality of a web page, using any browser or internet connection
• A basic markup document is created, geared towards the lowest browser functionality, and then the designer adds in functionality or enhancements to the presentation and behaviour of the page, using CSS and Javascript etc
• Also benefits Search Engine Optimisation because basic content is always accessible to Search Engine spiders