A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk Building accessible and useable websites Penny Garrod UKOLN University of Bath Bath, BA2 7AY URL UKOLN is supported by:

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 2 Contents 1.Understanding how people with disabilities use the web 2.Web accessibility guidelines: how can they help? 3.Making effective use of web-based tools and advice 4.What can we learn from others? 5.Conclusions

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 3 Introduction and rationale "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  the web was developed primarily as a visual medium  HTML and browsers have limitations  accessibility issues should be considered at design stage; tendency to focus on visual aspects of web and making site seem ‘cool’ (young and newish medium)  Why do it?: legal imperative:DDA SENDA 2001; social inclusion agenda; convincing facts/statistics; ‘design for all’ – usability + accessibility benefits everyone.

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 4 Understanding how disabled people use the web  Visually impaired people use browser + -screen reader/magnification or braille displays e.g. Dolphin Supernova -keyboard instead of mouse (tab & enter keys to navigate websites)  Motor impairment: upper limbs, manual dexterity, co- ordination; use variety of input devices  Cognitive impairment: learning difficulties; dyslexia – plain language, easy navigation, uncrowded pages examples available on W3C WAI: Note: impossible to design single site accessible to everyone; testing with users with disabilities is best. (BBCi accessibility study, Feb 2003)

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 5 Web accessibility guidelines: how can they help? Guidelines for UK Government websites. Illustrated handbook for web management teams. OeE May 2002 revised March  Section pages on ‘building in universal accessibility’  Checklist of 23 points – includes statement that pages must comply with WAI ‘A’ (priority 1) standard.  includes W3C 10 ‘quick tips’  includes the 14 point checklist of the Web Content Accessibility Initiative Guidelines 1.0  Plus more e.g.myth busting stuff; advice re frames, applets, scripts; provide ‘skip’ navigation etc etc…

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 6 More guidelines and resources  WC3 Web Accessibility Initiative (WCAG) guidelines: the benchmark; most guidelines advise compliance  RNIB: “See it right” campaign; - Recommends WAI guidelines; recent initiative with Mandoforms (online forms specialist); promotion of Adobe PDF accessibility  Higher education (UK):  Trace (University of Wisconsin-Madison,USA):  Jakob Nielsen (2000): Designing web usability: the practice of simplicity. Indianapolis, Ind.:New Riders. Also has website:

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 7 Questions Do guidelines actually help? Are they presented in a format which is easy to use? Are they too complex, long- winded, too time-consuming? Are they used? How do other governments & organisations handle it?

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 8 Lessons from BBCi: Accessibility study: February 2003  Tested with users with disabilities  Identified problem areas: Portable Document Files (PDF); tables; colour schemes; Javascript; Flash  need for meaningful ‘ALT’ tags for images  Identified characteristics of high compliance sites  Set series of tasks for disabled users to carry out  Jargon busting and ‘making the obtuse clear’ very important  Guidelines (WAI) used – but not ‘recipe’ for success  good navigation is vital ……

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 9 Learning from others: Canada

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 10 UKonline: ‘easy access’ site

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 11 Making effective use of web- based tools and advice Bobby: Test for either: W3C compliance or Section 508 (USA). Simple: enter URL, results returned very quickly The Wave: [Pennsylvania’s Initiative on Assistive Technology, Temple University,Philadelphia, USA] – icons denote errors. Enter URL and go….  Bobby and The Wave require considerable human effort to interpret results.  W3C HTML validator may be better: and CSS validator:

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 12 Conclusions  Government guidelines provide comprehensive overview + useful checklists and summaries but…..  Compliance with WC3 guidelines recommended: Priority 1 ‘A’ rating (in line with UK Govt guidelines) or ‘AA’ is even better  Ensure consistency and ease of navigation  Ideally test with users with disabilities; try a screen reader & close eyes; switch off graphics; navigate using tab/enter keys  Learn from award winners e.g. SOCITM’s ‘Better Connected’ award; RNIB’s ‘See it right’ campaign; read the BBCi report – it contains useful stuff

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 13 and more conclusions  Use style sheets  ensure good contrast between text and background and left alignment of text (no right justification)  online forms: can they be completed by people using screen readers/magnification software?  Content: important e.g. plain language, no jargon - helps those with dyslexia or learning difficulties; also note that screen readers read everything on screen.  Use lots of white space – overcrowded screens are hard to read and navigate  Set test tasks;get colleagues to complete them using tab and enter keys – make changes, test again..