Download Disability Discrimination Act 1995 Part 4

Web accessibility
Web accessibility and Disability
A Practical introduction
Robin Christopherson and Curt Holst
AbilityNet
Adapting Technology • Changing Lives
What is web accessibility?
“ Web accessibility is about
designing sites so as many people
as possible can access them effectively
and easily, independent of who they are
or how they access the net
“
Adapting Technology • Changing Lives
Web standards
Standards
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0
Guidelines created in 1999 to explain how to make websites and
intranets accessible to people with disabilities.
They are prioritised into three levels:
Priority Level 1 - 'Must' or level ‘A’
Minimum
Priority Level 2 - 'Should', or level ‘Double-A’
Good practice
Priority Level 3 - 'Ought' or level ‘Triple-A’
Best practice
Adapting Technology • Changing Lives
Who does it affect?
9.8 million people in the UK have a disability under the DDA. The
groups that have specific Issues with web and intranet accessibility are:
 Vision impairment
 Hearing impairment
 Motor difficulties
 Cognitive impairments and literacy
~ Many have more than one disability
Adapting Technology • Changing Lives
Vision
As a very visual medium, the Web presents unique
problems to the millions who have low, restricted or
no vision.
There are 4 broad categories of vision impairment:
 Colour blindness – red/green impairment most common
 Mild vision impairment – larger font size, colours
 Moderate vision impairment – screen magnification, colours
 Blind/severe vision impairment – screen readers
Adapting Technology • Changing Lives
Mild vision impairments –
Adjust the Browser
Adapting Technology • Changing Lives
Magnification software
Adapting Technology • Changing Lives
Key guidelines for mild/moderate
visual impairments




Do not use colour alone to convey information (level 1)
Ensure a consistent and uncluttered page layout (level 2)
Avoid using graphics for text (level 2)
Choose colours that ensure sufficient background and
foreground contrast and avoid combinations of red/green
and blue/yellow (level 2/3)
Adapting Technology • Changing Lives
Key guidelines for mild/moderate
visual impairments
 Ensure all font size definitions are relative -re-sizeable (level 2)
 Offer a hi-viz skin and/or link to a page explaining how to change


colours and font sizes (level 3)
Use a clear non-seriffed font such as Arial, Tahoma or Verdana
(recommended)
Avoid using Flash for text – there are resizing issues (recommended)
Adapting Technology • Changing Lives
Screen-Reader Users
Adapting Technology • Changing Lives
Key guidelines blind web users
 Ensure all images have alt tags - especially links, logos and important
pictures. Use empty alt tags (alt=“”) for decorative images (level 1)
 If you use Flash make sure it works with modern screen readers and
provide an accessible alternative for older readers (level 1)
 If you use frames ensure they have titles and names that make sense
- screen readers navigate in and out of individual frames on a page
(level 1)
 Make sure tabular data is coded accessibly – use the correct table
header tags for column titles (level 1)
Adapting Technology • Changing Lives
Key guidelines blind web users
 Provide transcripts for Multimedia if you use it (level 1)
 Ensure both JavaScript and Applets work with screen readers –
provide alternative content if they don’t. (level 1)
 Choose text for hyperlinks with care – make sure it makes sense out
of context and avoid repetition (level 2)
 Position labels in forms to the left or above input fields and the right of
checkboxes and radio buttons (level 2)
 Offer a “Skip to content” link to jump over navigation links (level 3)
Adapting Technology • Changing Lives
Hearing
Multimedia, including video and audio clips on the web provide captioning and transcripts.
British Sign Language (BSL) users – limited
vocabulary for example ‘Marinade’
Provide a glossary of terms
Adapting Technology • Changing Lives
Motor difficulties
People with motor difficulties face challenges when
navigating and interacting with web pages.
Dexterity, fine motor and coordination difficulties can make
using a standard keyboard or mouse difficult.
Keyboard and mouse alternatives or voice recognition can
be used to navigate and interact with web pages
Adapting Technology • Changing Lives
Hand/Arm Adaptive technology
Alternative Pointing Devices
Adapting Technology • Changing Lives
Hand/Arm Adaptive technology
Alternative Keyboards
Adapting Technology • Changing Lives
Key guidelines for Motor Difficulties
For Keyboard users:
 If you use flash or scripts make sure
pages are useable with the keyboard
(level 2)
 Ensure a logical tabbing order through all
page elements (level 3)
 Use shortcut links – ‘AccessKeys’ for top
navigation links (level 3)
 Limit the number of links on the page
(recommended)
Adapting Technology • Changing Lives
Key guidelines for Motor Difficulties
For Mouse users:
 Graphical or text links should be a decent
size(recommended)
 Avoid graphical or text links in close
proximity not 1/2/3 (recommended)
Adapting Technology • Changing Lives
Cognitive Difficulties and Dyslexia
Cognitive impairments include dyslexia,
memory impairments and attention deficit disorders.
Recommendations:
 Keep the language clear and avoid jargon (level 1)
 Use consistent navigation, sitemaps and breadcrumb trails (level 2)
 Keep movement to a minimum or allow user to it turn off (level 2)
 Use graphical icons as navigation aids (level 3)
Adapting Technology • Changing Lives
Cognitive Difficulties and Dyslexia
Recommendations continued:
 Content should be organised logically and clearly (level 3)
 There should be sufficient spacing between lines,
paragraphs or sections, use bulleted lists (recommended)
 Use a clear non-seriffed font and don’t fully justify text (recommended)
 Dyslexic web users prefer a beige background (recommended)
Adapting Technology • Changing Lives
Sources of help
Many organisations (such as AbilityNet) offer a wide range of services to
help you make your websites and intranets accessible, Including:
• Audits,
• Training
• Site design
• Disabled user testing
Key resources on the web include:
 W3C Web accessibility initiative -http://www.w3.org/WAI/
 Irish National Disability Association (NDA) http://www.accessit.nda.ie/
 Accessify - http://www.accessify.com
 A List Apart - developer resources - http://www.alistapart.com
Adapting Technology • Changing Lives
Contact AbilityNet
To find out more about AbilityNet’s
web services
Call: 0800 269545
Visit: http://www.abilitynet.org.uk
Email: [email protected]
Adapting Technology • Changing Lives