raghavan20 wrote:
3. General Question:
I hv now-a-days started to build sites which are XHTML compliant and W3C CSS compliant but I have not implemented WAI yet.
How many of you professionals really practise WAI in your projects? Is implementing worth enough? Will this soon be a common standard as XHTML standard has become?
Since you got #1 and #2 figured out now, I'll focus on #3.
Yes, I do my best on all of my designs to meet WAI. Its really not as challenging as people make it out to be - at least it hasnt been for me.
I'll describe my development style, and maybe it will clarify how/why its easier for me.
First, I mockup a design/layout in a graphics program (The Gimp or Photoshop). This gives me 100% control visually to get the concept down. It may literally just be a bunch of scribbles, but it gives me a clear mental picture of where things will go. Then I work on reducing the number of images I use. I start by simplifying the design. If I use a solid color background, I probably won't need a background image - thats a big savings.
I continue until I think I have the majority of the page accomplished without using graphics. Then I use the program to make whatever graphics I have left to make.
Then I move to a webdesign program like NVU. In it, I create the html for the page. I make sure to make alt tags for all graphics (WAI: 1.1), and use html-compatible code as I develop - including making forms accessible (WAI: 1.1).
I avoid using tables for layout whenever possible (WAI: 5.1, 5.2). I also make sure that I use semantic markup: Have a title, headings, sub-headings (h1, h2), and so forth.
Next, I check my page in the colorblind filter test to ensure that everything can be accessed without color (WAI: 2.1).
Finally, I turn off stylesheets (WAI: 6.1) and linearize the page - which helps show me what the search engines will see. I may rearrange the placement of elements to ensure that a description is near the top of the linearized output.
By then, the page is pretty much complete. By doing those things in that order, I already accomplish virtually every P1 checklist item without trying. Then I can run it through WAI, and look for issues in P2 and P3, but generally, I already keep those items in mind when developing.
I use Firefox with the web developer plugin for all my testing, and it has single-click access to almost everything I listed above.
Honestly, the only problem I generally have with WAI is the "Accesskey" requirement, which numerous articles have shown to be more harmful than helpful.
I should mention that I suffer from accessibility issues (visual), so I'm very aware of the issue, and a loud advocate for making accessibility part of your design workflow. As a result, I may not be the typical developer in that sense.