| Top Web Hosting Provider of The Month: |
 |
| Visit Bluehost.com | Read Bluehost Review |
|
|
| >> Web Hosting Geeks // Web Hosting Articles // Web Development |
|
|
 |
Web Accessibility: The Basics
What is web accessibility & why is it important? Web accessibility is about making your website accessible to all Internet users (both disabled and non-disabled), regardless of what browsing technology they're using. In addition to complying with the law, an accessible website can reap huge benefits on to your website and your business. Your website must be able to function with all different browsing technologies The first and perhaps the most important rule of web accessibility. Not everyone is using the latest version of Internet Explorer, with all the plug-ins and programs that you may require them to have for your website. Different browsing technologies, each with their own accessibility requirements, can include: * Lynx browser - Text-only browser with no support for tables, CSS, images, JavaScript, Flash or audio and video content * WebTV - 560px in width with horizontal scrolling not available * Screen reader - Page content read aloud in the order it appears in the HTML document * Handheld device - Very small screen with limited support for JavaScript and large images * Screen magnifier - As few as three to four words may be able to appear on the screen at any one time * Slow connection (below 56kb) - Users may turn off images to enable a faster download time * 1600px screen width - Very wide screen This basically means that to ensure your website is accessible to everyone you must provide alternatives to: * Images - in the form of ALT text * JavaScript - through the tag * Flash - with HTML equivalents * Audio & video - by using subtitles or written transcripts For enhanced website accessibility you must also be careful how your pages look when support for CSS and/or tables has been removed. There are two good ways you can check your website is accessible for all these: * Download the Opera browser and read this article on checking web accessibility with Opera (http://www.sitepoint.com/article/checking-just-browser) * Download the Lynx browser from http://lynx.browser.org and see if you can successfully access every part of your website Forms need to be accessible to all web users When a web user fills out a form it's a great thing. People fill out forms to: * Buy a product * Sign up to a newsletter * Ask a question These are the goals of your website! A site visitor may look through your site, decides he likes what he sees and tries to sign up to your newsletter. ...But the form isn't accessible to him so he clicks away and you lose a potential customer. Most forms on the web suffer from accessibility issues. The two main reasons for this are: * Prompt text is incorrectly positioned * Prompt text is unassigned to form items (Prompt text is the text that appears next to each form item, for example, 'name', 'e-mail', 'comments') To find out more please read this article about making your forms accessible ( http://www.webcredible.co.uk/user-friendly-resources/web-accessibility/accessible-forms-1.shtml ). It should be easy for all users to quickly process the content on your website We generally don't read web pages. We scan, trying to find what we're looking for as quickly as possible. On a regular monitor, we scroll down the page looking at the items that stand out from the rest of the text: headings, links, bold text and bullet points. Non-keyboard and visually impaired users often scan pages by tabbing between headings or links. To ensure the accessibility of your website, use headings, links, bold text and bullet points and make sure they contain descriptive text. For example, never use 'click here' for link text. Structure and presentation should be completely separated By separating structure and presentation your website will be accessible to and ready for the future of the Internet: PDAs, mobile phones, in-car browsers, WebTV and 1600px screens. The structure of a document is how it is organised, usually with navigational menu items, headings, sub-headings, paragraphs, lists, and links. The presentation of a document is how these words and images are presented to the end user. The main principle behind this accessibility guideline is to use CSS and not tables to lay out your web pages. Check out our CSS resources area for how to use CSS to increase your website's accessibility. There's more to separating structure and presentation than just laying your web pages out with CSS. Have a look at this HTML element list that tells you which elements are structural and which are presentational. For optimal web accessibility, you can, and should, avoid using presentational elements as they may cause your website to become less accessible to certain users. The end user should have control over your web pages All web users have unique requirements for how they use the Internet, depending on the kind of browser they're using or any kind of handicap or disability they may have. By handing control back to your users you'll enhance your website's accessibility and you site visitors will be able to use your website in the way that best suits them. This accessibility guideline could mean allowing users to resize text, warning them when links are going to open in a new window, or providing a link at the top of the screen that takes the user directly to the page content. This article was written by Trenton Moss. He's crazy about web usability and accessibility - so crazy that he went and started his own web usability and accessibility consultancy ( Webcredible - http://www.webcredible.co.uk ) to help make the Internet a better place for everyone. They offer fantastic accessibility & CSS support packages, which you can read all about at http://www.webcredible.co.uk/support .
MORE RESOURCES:
Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Web Design for the Professional Magician Part I - Selecting the Perfect Domain Name Selecting the Perfect Domain NameThe first issue I have with magician web sites is the improper use of domain names. Examine the following list of URLs and select the most professional one: www. Is Your Website Innovative? Increase Your Business Over Night! While studying online for IT investment opportunities, I found that one main factor was constant. All of the biggest money makers have eye-catching, simple, innovative, and the cleanest websites online!Having a corporate style website may greatly increase your business!Looking professional online is extremely important, especially if you want to attract big money to your door. Do You And Your Website Have Credibility? I recently received an unsolicited e-mail from some company offering me their search engine optimization services for $199. Even though I had absolutely no interest in the offer, just out of curiosity, I decided to check out this company with the various search engines. Improving Usability for Screen Reader Users Simply ensuring your website is accessible to screen reader users is unfortunately not enough to ensure these users can find what they're looking for in a reasonably quick and efficient manner. Even if your site is accessible to screen reader users, its usability could be so incredibly poor that they needn't have bothered coming to your site. Websites for Writers - Why You Need One and How to Get Started Today It may seem like the publishing industry's equivalent of Beanie Baby madness- everyone is talking about writer's websites. Freelancers and authors everywhere are jumping on the bandwagon, publishing sites to promote themselves and their work. 12 Tips To Great Websites Why do some sites succeed while the vast majority of others fail? More and more website owners are asking themselves these questions. The answers are often more obvious than you may think. Why A Simple Counter is Never Enough for Your Website A simple website stats counter is not enough if you are really interested in finding out information about your traffic. Certainly, a simple web counter will tell you how many people have visited your site, but that is it. MySQL Database Handling in PHP Most interactive websites nowadays require data to be presented dynamically and interactively based on input from the user. For example, a customer may need to log into a retail website to check his purchasing history. Frequent Business Question: How Do You Start a Web Business? Today it seems everyone is jumping on the entrepreneur bandwagon, and who could blame them? Setting your own schedule, working from the comfort of your own home, and never having to deal with a horrible commute or office politics again, this option is quite popular among all ages. With the advent of the technology age, it seems more individuals are looking to the internet to provide them with goods or services. CPanel Fantastico - Features and Benefits Fantastico is a 3rd-party cPanel add-on and can be purchased and added to the standard cPanel interface. Fantastico allows you to quickly install a variety of open-source scripts. Building eCommerce Websites that Work - Part 2 Succeeding with an eCommerce website is a dream for many these days. It may seem nearly impossible at times, but it can be done. Achieving Differentiation With Your Website Internet Marketing is not a miracle marketing strategy - competition still exists and you need to have a unique approach with regards to:Web Design Just as in the "real world", where your brand needs to have a unique look and feel about it, so does your website. You won't have much luck finding a web design template that is consistent with your corporate identity. Unlocking the Power of Your Website! Why do some web sites reap huge benefits while others just get lost in the shuffle? Do some web masters have a secret that most of us have overlooked? Actually, there is a secret to unlocking the power of your web site and it has to do with words. When communicating via the web, words truly make all the difference. Beyond Web Usability: Web Credibility If you've been developing websites on Mars for the past few years then you'll be forgiven for not knowing about web usability. You'll still be creating splash intro pages, having pages with massive download times and using more images than you can shake a stick at. You Need To Treat Your Website Like An Employee - Heres 5 Ways To Do It People often come to me in a state of crisis and say their website isn't working. Usually they're in a cold sweat:"Mike, give me some practical things I can do to get more sales from my website!"You want practical advice? Stop treating your website like an object in your business and start treating it like an employee. Build a Web Site that Works...Even for a Safari Hobby! My life's greatest passion is a safari hobby. And what would that be, you ask. Nonsense! Why Do I Need a Website? "I don't sell anything online, I don't advertise online, in fact I don't really even know how to use a computer.. Live Support from Your Website? Can You Do It for Free? I'm a freelance programmer and somehow I managed to get clients, speak with them, and generate leads for years without a live help system. To be honest, I had put in bids for a "live" help system several times, and I wasn't aware there were free options out there. How to Maximize the Value of Every Visitor to Your Website While most marketers are beginning to understand the critical importance of maximizing conversion rates, few are tracking or working to maximize another critical measurement of website effectiveness.Visitor value?Visitor value is simply a representation of how much money you make per visitor to your website. The Problem with Automated Accessibility Testing Tools An automated accessibility tool is a piece of software which can test a web page, or even an entire website, for accessibility. Automated accessibility tools are useful because they can save you a huge amount of time.
|
|
|
|
|
| © 2004 - 2008 "Web Hosting Geeks" | Web Hosting Reviews | Customer Reviews | RealMetrics Reviews | Hosting Articles | Directory | Partners | Contacts Over 7000 articles: web hosting, web development, domain names, ecommerce, web design, site promotion, ppc advertising, seo, site promotion and many others. Web hosting reviews, ratings and awards are not based on any incentives or commissions. Names and trademarks are the properties of their respective owners. A direct link to Web Hosting Geeks (http://webhostinggeeks.com) must be provided in order to use any of the above information. Contact us for more info. Partners: Hosts by speed, Cheap Website Hosting, Free Website Hosting, Cheap Web Hosting, Top 10 Web Hosts, Top 10 Web Hosting Deals, Best Website Hosting, Free Web Hosting, Free Web Hosting, Dedicated Server Hosting, Adult Web Hosting, Web Hosting Discussions, Dedicated Server Reviews, Best Web Hosting, Web Hosting Discounts, HostProfessor.com, rsuog, halyava, PHP Website Hosting Services, Web Hosting Reviews, Hosting Uptime, Best Web Hosting Reviews, Cheap Webhosting, Web Hosting, Flash Templates, CMS Templates, Web Hosting Reviews, Website Hosting Reviews, Web Hosting Providers, Best Web Hosting, Top Web Hosting, RSUOG Web Hosting |
