With regards
to the Web, a disability is where the user has
some condition that makes it difficult to use
traditional computer input and output devices
in the way they were intended. Pages should
be coded for meaning rather than appearance.
Web Access
Symbol
A globe, marked with a grid, tilts at an angle.
A keyhole is cut into its surface. The symbol
should always be used with the following alt-text
tag:
Web Access Symbol (for people with disabilities)
Web Accessibility Initiative
See http://www.w3.org/WAI for guidelines about
web accessibility and then plan a staged rollout
of accessibility:
1. Home pages and high-traffic pages redesigned
to follow the important accessibility rules
immediately
2. New pages should follow high and low-priority
guidelines.
3. Medium Traffic pages should be gradually
redesigned to follow the high-priority accessibility
rules.
4. The longer-term goal would be that all high-traffic
pages and new pages be redesigned to follow
all the accessibility guidelines.
Visual
Disabilities
Always ensure high contrast between foreground
and background colours and avoid busy background
patterns. Emphasise the structure of the page
by proper HTML markup. Always encode information
with relative font sizes e.g. set the font size
attribute to a percentage of the default font
size. Test pages with default font set to 10,12,14,18
and 24 points.
Alt Attributes
Use ALT attributes as an alternative way of
displaying your images to users who are unable
to see them. This will allow the user to hear
or see the alternative text if the image is
not displayed.
All image maps should be client-side
and use ALT and/or TITLE tags for the link options.
Decorative images which have no meaning should
use ALT= “”.
www.foxfordservices.com provide ALT and TITLE
attributes with their images as shown here.
Auditory
Disabilities
Transcripts should be available of oral audio
clips, and videos should be available in versions
with subtitles.
Motor
Disabilities
Some users have difficulty with detailed mouse
movements and holding down multiple keyboard
keys simultaneously. Improved browser design
should be able to take care of most of these
issues.
