1. Web Accessibility

2. It’s Happening Here

3. Agenda Web Accessibility –What is it? –What are the types of disabilities? –Why is it important to you as a provider? –What can you do to comply?

4. Patrick Henry Hughes Student at U of L

5. What is Web Accessibility?

6. Wikipedia says: Web accessibility refers to the practice of making websites usable by people of all abilities and disabilities. When sites are correctly designed, developed and edited, all users can have equal access to information and functionality.websitesdisabilities

7. OK… so… WHAT IS IT? Web accessibility is designing with accessibility in mind. It is creating websites and other electronic media that is free of barriers to those who use assistive technology devices or alternative measures to access and navigate electronic information.

8. Types of disabilities

9. Blindness or Low Vision Vision Issues include –Low Vision Have some vision but need magnification and good contrast –Blindness Have no vision, requires audio stimulus or screen readers –Color Deficiency (color blindness) Have visual abilities, but cannot see some color spectrums. Requires good contrasts.

10. Hearing Loss or Deafness Hearing Issues include –Deafness Unable to recognize conversational speech through hearing –Hard of Hearing Some loss of hearing function but still able to use hearing for communication Often requires amplification.

11. Motor Skill Impairment Motor Skills Issues include many conditions that limit one’s ability to use conventional mouse and/or keyboard –Common causes include arthritis, Parkinson’s disease, various forms of muscular dystrophy, repetitive strain, stroke, spinal cord injury, etc. –For many with motor skill impairments, assistive technology enables them to navigate your website. Best suggestion is to make sure your site can be easily navigated with keyboard

12. Motor Skill Impairment Motor Skills Issues include many conditions that limit one’s ability to use conventional mouse and/or keyboard –Common causes include arthritis, Parkinson’s disease, various forms of muscular dystrophy, repetitive strain, stroke, spinal cord injury, etc. –For many with motor skill impairments, assistive technology enables them to navigate your website. Best suggestion is to make sure your site can be easily navigated with keyboard

13. Cognitive Issues Cognitive Issues include –Learning Difficulties Dyslexia Attention Deficit –Memory Difficulties Easily the least understood of common issues –Estimated to have affected more people than all other categories combined –Research is showing that Cognitive issues are quickly becoming one of the largest affected groups Recommendations are slowly appearing

14. Photosensitive Epilepsy –For some, blinking text or images are annoying in general, but, they can also cause photoconvulsions (photosensitive epileptic seizures) –Most people are sensitive to blinking in the range of 4 – 59 times per second –Avoid flashing text and images Novelty of tag wore off long ago Annoying at best, dangerous at worst –If you feel you need these “exciting” graphics to make your site compelling, perhaps you need to re-think your content.

15. Go to maps.google.com Search for your home address Now – disable images Exercise 1

16. Exercise #2 Let’s watch a portion of this video. Pay close attention, there will be a short quiz afterwards. http://youtube.com/univoflouisville Now, watch it in an alternative version http://www.overstream.net/view.php?oid=ndtluvivmbmr Did the alternative version make any difference for you?

17. Why is it important?

18. Let’s state the obvious It’s The Law –Rehabilitation Act Section 504 Section 508 –Americans with Disabilities Act –Kentucky Statutes KRS 61.6980 – 61.988

19. So What? Nielsen estimates that about 90% of business-oriented web sites suffer from usability issues.Nielsen A recent Harris Poll found that people with disabilities spend twice as much time on the Internet as people without disabilities.Harris Poll If users with or without disabilities cannot use a site, so what?

20. Why is Web Accessibility Important to YOU as a provider? According to the World Wide Web Accessibility Initiative, providers have the following benefits: 1.Increase Market Share and Audience Reach 1.How many does your site exclude? 2.Improve Efficiency 1.Where do search engines rank your site? 3. Demonstrate Social Responsibility –Is it really going to hurt you to do the right thing? 4. Reduces Legal Liability –Are you ready for a lawsuit?

21. OUCH! That hurts! Some are learning the hard way that they must comply with Federal and State laws and guidelines. Judge allows class action against Target Web site October 3, 2007

22. What can we do to comply?

23. Universal Design “The design of products and environments to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design” -- Ron Mace, founder of the Center for Universal Design at NC State University

24. Universal Design Adapts to the full range of user ability and preference Regardless of skill, knowledge or concentration level, is easy to understand and use Provides essential information regardless of sensory abilities Minimizes effects of unintended actions allows easy recovery Considers physical requirements and does not fatigue user – regardless of body size, posture, or mobility Appealing and useful to all users

25. W3C - 10 Quick Tips The links in the Quick Tips below mostly go to the techniques documents that provide implementation guidance - including explanations, strategies, and detailed markup examples.techniques documents 1.Images & animations: Use the alt attribute to describe the function of each visual.Images & animations 2.Image maps. Use the client-side map and text for hotspots.client-side maptext for hotspots 3.Multimedia. Provide captioning and transcripts of audio, and descriptions of video.captioning and transcripts of audiodescriptions of video 4.Hypertext links. Use text that makes sense when read out of context. For example, avoid "click here."Hypertext links 5.Page organization. Use headings, lists, and consistent structure. Use CSS for layout and style where possible.Page organizationheadingslistsCSS 6.Graphs & charts. Summarize or use the longdesc attribute.longdesc 7.Scripts, applets, & plug-ins. Provide alternative content in case active features are inaccessible or unsupported.alternative content 8.Frames. Use the noframes element and meaningful titles.titles 9.Tables. Make line-by-line reading sensible. Summarize.Tables 10.Check your work. Validate. Use tools, checklist, and guidelines at http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAGCheck your workValidate http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG http://www.w3.org/WAI/quicktips/

26. Follow WCAG Guidelines WCAG Version 1 Priorities Each checkpoint has a priority level assigned by the Working Group based on the checkpoint's impact on accessibility. [Priority 1] A Web content developer must satisfy this checkpoint. [Priority 2] A Web content developer should satisfy this checkpoint. [Priority 3] A Web content developer may address this checkpoint. http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10/full-checklist.html

27. 5-minute Quick Check Disable or turn off images in your browser Disable or turn off support for JavaScript Tab through the page, try navigating without a mouse Increase the font size by typing Ctrl+ or using the browser Disable/turn off support for CSS If you have tables on your page, linearize Look at site in different browsers and check for consistency.

28. Tools & References Tools W3C Validator, online html validatorW3C Validator W3C CSS Validator, online stylesheet validatorW3C CSS Validator Watchfire WebXACT test for quality, accessibility, and privacy (formerly Bobby)Watchfire WebXACT test for quality, accessibility, and privacy TotalValidator, online accessibility evaluation tool & Firefox ExtensionTotalValidator The Wave, an online accessibility evaluation toolThe Wave References World Wide Consortium Web Content Accessibility Guidelines WebAIM, Web Accessibility in Mind from Utah State UniversityWebAIM Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) Apple's Accessibility Website Dive Into Accessibility HTML guidelines Jim Thatcher's Web site, with links to online accessibility resourcesJim Thatcher's Web site Adobe's Accessibility Resource Center Washington State University DoIT Website http://www.washington.edu/doit/Video/www.html

29. Thank You