Check out other resources for web accessibility by visiting the following:
- Improving the Accessibility of your Website http://www.w3.org/WAI/impl/improving
- Accessibility Color Wheel http://gmazzocato.altervista.org/colorwheel/wheel....
- Accessibility Management Platform http://www.ssbbartgroup.com/register/
- Designing for Inclusion http://www.w3.org/WAI/users/Overview
- Guidelines & Techniques http://www.w3.org/WAI/guid-tech.html
- Evaluating Accessibility http://www.w3.org/WAI/eval/Overview.html
- United Nations Enable http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/rights/humanri...
I hope this blog will help us all to learn to be better web developers by practicing inclusion. This blog only represents the scratching of the surface. I plan on creating additional training on web accessibility in the near future. My aim for this blog is simply to increase awareness about the issue of web accessibility.
Please feel free to leave comments below and if you enjoyed reading my blog please feel free to "like" it. I would enjoy hearing from everyone on their thoughts and insights.
Join the Discussion
Write something…
RaphyAbano
Premium
Hey Steph, nice article on accessibility. I'm with you on this one, and it's definitely something I've encountered at my work (I do e-learning courses) - although I know I should be doing this to my own niche site.
I'd like to share a couple of things I learned as well in my attempts to adhere to both Section 508 and WCAG Compliance:
- Most browsers (and operating systems) carry a "focus box" function which can be enabled using the Tab Key. This will either appear as a bright colored box or as a thin, broken line. Screen readers will recognize this as the viewer's "focal point", and will read out any text on screen or alt-text that has been included in any image.
- I'm sure this isn't applicable to our sites, but as much as possible, avoid any "drag-and-drop" functions on sites as accessibility tools do not provide any means of emulating this.
- Animated content is challenging to view when it comes to accessibility. As much as possible, keep content static, but if it is needed, ensure that there is an alt-text implemented.
- If you're using video, be sure to check if the media you're using has a separate channel for "described audio" as well as an option for closed captioning. This way you are able to accommodate users with your rich media content.
These are just some of the ones I've come to learn about, and so I felt that it should be shared to everyone here. Hope it helps!
- Raphy
I'd like to share a couple of things I learned as well in my attempts to adhere to both Section 508 and WCAG Compliance:
- Most browsers (and operating systems) carry a "focus box" function which can be enabled using the Tab Key. This will either appear as a bright colored box or as a thin, broken line. Screen readers will recognize this as the viewer's "focal point", and will read out any text on screen or alt-text that has been included in any image.
- I'm sure this isn't applicable to our sites, but as much as possible, avoid any "drag-and-drop" functions on sites as accessibility tools do not provide any means of emulating this.
- Animated content is challenging to view when it comes to accessibility. As much as possible, keep content static, but if it is needed, ensure that there is an alt-text implemented.
- If you're using video, be sure to check if the media you're using has a separate channel for "described audio" as well as an option for closed captioning. This way you are able to accommodate users with your rich media content.
These are just some of the ones I've come to learn about, and so I felt that it should be shared to everyone here. Hope it helps!
- Raphy