Accessible Web Site Design
-- Why and How
What are the Guidelines that identify an accessible site?
OSU requires web developers to meet or exceed the OSU Web Accessibility Policies and Standards, which are based on Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Section 508 requires that certain guidelines or priorities are met to insure those with visual, auditory, physical, mental, or learning disabilities are able to access electronic information.
Understanding Section 508 Standards
The WAC has created a tutorial that overviews and explains Section 508 Subpart 1194.22: Web-based intranet and internet information and applications.
View/Print this entire tutorial.
Tutorial Contents:
NOTE: Novice designers and those with simple(basic)page design will want to pay special attention to sections A, C, D, F, G, H, I, J, N, and O. The other sections cover web elements usually only found in more complex sites that use advanced scripting techniques.
NOTE: Information in this tutorial adapted from the Section 508 web site: http://www.section508.gov and the Access Board's Guide to the Section 508 Standards for Electronic and Information Technology.
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What is the Difference Between Section 508 and the WCAG Guidelines?
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is an international, vendor-neutral consortium, with over 400 Members. It promotes evolution & interoperability of the Web and has a strong focus on the universality of the Web. As a branch of the W3C, the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) coordinates with all the other domains of the W3C and is sponsored by a variety of government and industry supporters of accessibility. Because Web accessibility is a problem on many levels, WAI has five levels of work:
- ensuring that Web technologies support accessibility;
- developing guidelines for accessibility;
- improving tools to evaluate and repair Web accessibility;
- developing materials for education and outreach;
- coordinating with research and development.
In support of it's goals, the WAI created the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), which explain how to make accessible Web sites; contain general guidelines; and establish three priority levels of checkpoints for web designers:
[Priority1]
These priorities must be satisfied. Failure to do so will result in one or more classification of disabilities finding it impossible to access the electronic information.
[Priority 2]
These priorities should be satisfied. Failure to do so will result in one or more classification of disabilities finding it difficult to access the electronic information.
[Priority 3]
These priorities may be satisfied. Failure to do so will result in one or more classification of disabilities finding it somewhat difficult to access the electronic information.
Many of the requirements defined by Section 508 are covered by Priority One and, to a lesser extent, Priority Two issues established by the WAI . While the WAC primarily uses the OSU Web Accessibility Policies and Standards as the guideline for identifying and evaluating an accessible site, in most cases, web designers meeting the WAI’s Priority One guidelines also will have met the minimum OSU standards.
"The power of the Web is in its universality. Access by everyone regardless of disability is an essential aspect."
-- Tim Berners-Lee, W3C Director and inventor of the World Wide Web.
What are the WCAG Priority One issues and How are they determined?
For a complete list of Priority One, Two, and Three issues, see the W3C's "Checklist of Checkpoints for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0." Priority One guidelines include:
In General:
- Provide a text equivalent for every non-text element (e.g., via "alt", "longdesc", or in element content). This includes: images, graphical representations of text (including symbols), image map regions, animations (e.g., animated GIFs), applets and programmatic objects, ascii art, frames, scripts, images used as list bullets, spacers, graphical buttons, sounds (played with or without user interaction), stand-alone audio files, audio tracks of video, and video.
- Ensure that all information conveyed with color is also available without color, for example from context or markup.
- Clearly identify changes in the natural language of a document's text and any text equivalents (e.g., captions).
- Organize documents so they may be read without style sheets. For example, when an HTML document is rendered without associated style sheets, it must still be possible to read the document.
- Ensure that equivalents for dynamic content are updated when the dynamic content changes.
- Until user agents allow users to control flickering, avoid causing the screen to flicker.
- Use the clearest and simplest language appropriate for a site's content.
And if you use images and image maps:
- Provide redundant text links for each active region of a server-side image map.
- Provide client-side image maps instead of server-side image maps except where the regions cannot be defined with an available geometric shape.
And if you use tables:
- For data tables, identify row and column headers.
- For data tables that have two or more logical levels of row or column headers, use markup to associate data cells and header cells.
And if you use frames:
- Title each frame to facilitate frame identification and navigation.
And if you use applets and scripts:
- Ensure that pages are usable when scripts, applets, or other programmatic objects are turned off or not supported. If this is not possible, provide equivalent information on an alternative accessible page.
And if you use multimedia:
- Until user agents can automatically read aloud the text equivalent of a visual track, provide an auditory description of the important information of the visual track of a multimedia presentation.
- For any time-based multimedia presentation (e.g., a movie or animation), synchronize equivalent alternatives (e.g., captions or auditory descriptions of the visual track) with the presentation.
And if all else fails:
- If, after best efforts, you cannot create an accessible page, provide a link to an alternative page that uses W3C technologies, is accessible, has equivalent information (or functionality), and is updated as often as the inaccessible (original) page.
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10 Basic Considerations
When Designing a Web Site.
- Organize the information well.
- A site with animations, flash, frames, or complex layout should provide a 'Text Only' alternative. This can be done many ways including copy-and-paste.
- Highest contrast between text and background should be used.
- Text size should as large as possible. Font size 12 & 14 may be too small, depending on the font used.
- Leading (the space between lines of text) should be 25-30% of the font size (or point). This makes reading text for the visually impaired much easier.
- "True Type" fonts (those with TT next to them in your font listings) tend to be proportioned and spaced for easier reading with the exception of the more complicated or decorative fonts.
- Tables: a) Use relative sizing: size tables and table cells using percents not inches. (e.g., 95% instead versus 11 inches.) b) For data tables, do not nest (put a table inside a table): "split" a cell into several rows or columns if needed. Avoid nesting layout tables whenever possible.
- Make links descriptive, not just "click here". IE: "Web Accessibility Center's Application Form" versus "Click Here for Application".
- Provide a text tag (ALT tag) for all pictures, photos, graphics and decorative fillers. Make sure the tag is descriptive (e.g.,"Image professor demonstrating teleconferencing benefits"' versus "prof13a.jpg" or "image".
- Punctuate. Punctuation is important at the end of headings, links and contact information. Screen 'Readers' for the blind pause at punctuations -- text with no punctuation will sound like a run-on sentence.
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Go to: Part I. or Part III.
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