Accessibility - Suggestions

It doesn't matter if you do all the error checking in the world, or if you have the most beautiful graphics, if your site or application design isn't usable, it's not going to do well. Get input and advice on usability and user interface issues here.

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CoderGoblin
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Accessibility - Suggestions

Post by CoderGoblin »

Purpose of the Topic
For this topic I would like suggestions on how to think outside normal screen design on how to cater for those people who are unable to read a normal screen (using the normal browser be it IE/Firefox etc), due to visual impairment or other disability. Links to applications allowing developers to experience how others use the page design would also be appreciated.

Why
I admit, when I design a page I always tend to design for the screen. With Ajax and other newish "fads" this tends to be even more the case. One of the things we should all be aware of though, is providing pages accessible to the disabled. I think it is even law in some countries (uk for example). Sure we all know the basics such as avoid the use of tables, use css instead unless the information is really tabular table, use alt attributes in images, have alternatives to javascript etc and sometimes we actually do it. The question is how can we "experience" what a page is like to use through the eyes of a person with disabilities... We hear of screen readers etc but how many of us actually have them and have experienced them. One simple way to "test" a site is to use Lynx on Linux, but that is the only one I know about.

Initial Reading
SitePoint - An Introduction To Accessible Web Design
Web Design Group - Accessibility Myths
Web Design Group - Accessibility Tips
matthijs
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Post by matthijs »

Excellent idea. Some links which can be of help:

Tools and wizards:
http://webxact.watchfire.com/
"WebXACT is a free online service that lets you test single pages of web content for quality, accessibility, and privacy issues."

http://www.contentquality.com/
"The HiSoftware Cynthia Says is a web content accessibility validation solution, it is designed to identify errors in your content related to Section 508 standards and/or the WCAG guidelines. Unlike HiSoftware's Desktop Software, AccVerify, this online test only validates one page at a time."

Graybit
"GrayBit is an online accessibility testing tool designed to visually convert a full-color web page into a grayscale rendition for the purpose of visually testing the page’s perceived contrast."

Web Accessibility Tools Consortium [WAT-C]
"The Web Accessibility Tools Consortium [WAT-C] provides a collection of free tools to assist both developers and designers in the development and testing of accessible web content. The consortium is a collaboration of some of the world's leading accessibility practitioners, founded by Accessible Information Solutions (Australia), Infoaxia (Japan), The Paciello Group (USA), Wrong HTML (Japan), and Juicy Studio (UK)."
They have for example a colour contrast analyser.

Accessify
Has a list of several tools and wizards

More reading
WCAG2 quick reference

This year on the Webstock 06 conference Darren Fittler gave a presentation on how it is to surf the net as a blind user. Note: he is blind himself. The recordings can be downloaded from the site. Seeing his presentation will definitely open your eyes. Or at least re infirm strongly what you already knew.
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CoderGoblin
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