The Accessible Web: Improving the Universal Experience
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Presentation on Web and document accessibility presented to the National Endowment for the Arts' LEAD conference, August 2014.
Transcript of The Accessible Web: Improving the Universal Experience
The Accessible WebImproving the universal experience
What is web accessibility?
None of these should be required on a website:● Keyboards● Mice● Monitors● Desktop computers
Interface Independence
The essence of web accessibility: content is not dependent on the tools used to access it.
Section 504: Equal Opportunities
If your web site:● Is part of your programs or services● Provides information on programs or
services● Shares documents required to register for or
get information about your programs● Then you’re subject to 504.
Section 504: Equal Opportunities
Under Section 504: you must provide alternate formats of information you share.
The ideal web site minimizes the need to create alternate formats: one web site with universal access.
Principles of Accessibility
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20/
● Perceivable● Operable● Understandable● Robust
What does that mean?
Web accessibility is for everything on the web:
● Web sites● PDFs● .doc, .ppt, .xls, .everything else
Testing Web Sites for Accessibility
Keyboard Accessibility
● Unplug your mouse.● Hit the tab key
Can you navigate to every link? Can you tell where you are?
Testing Web Sites for Accessibility
Keyboard AccessibilityCompare these two sites:
● http://themes.joedolson.com/universal/● http://themes.joedolson.com/iatc/
Testing Web Sites for Accessibility
Form Labeling
● Has a profound impact on web site users● Is extremely easy to detect.
Testing Web Sites for Accessibility
Form Labeling Example:
Bad News
Testing Web Sites for Accessibility
Form Labeling Example:
Good News!
Testing Web Sites for Accessibility
Form LabelingCompare these two sites:
● http://dev.joedolson.com/form-bad.html● http://dev.joedolson.com/form-good.html
Testing Web Sites for Accessibility
Alternative Text
● Disable Images● Is any information missing?
What’s gone with images disabled? Is this an equal experience for the user?
Testing Web Sites for Accessibilityhttps://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/image-block/
● http://www.girlandthegoat.com/
Joe Dolson
Example of web site with images enabled.
Joe Dolson
Example of web site with images disabled.
Testing Web Sites for Accessibility
Inclusive Content
It doesn’t matter how accessible your site is if you don’t have accessible content.
Testing Web Sites for Accessibility
Inclusive Content
● Accessible text content● Accessible PDFs● Accessible Audio and Video
Testing Web Sites for Accessibility
Accessible Text Content● Scannable: Use headings and bullet points.● Avoid directional text: where is “left” in a
screen reader?● Use meaningful link text: what does “Click
here” mean?
Testing Web Sites for Accessibility
Accessible PDFs● The source document must be accessible
o Alternative text for imageso Use heading structures - don’t just change fonts and
sizeso Export to PDF, don’t just print to PDF
http://webaim.org/techniques/acrobat/converting
Testing Web Sites for Accessibility
Accessible PDFs - what about scanning?
● Not accessible by default - just big images.● Use Optical Character Recognition● Edit the document to add structure
http://wac.osu.edu/pdf/scan/pdffromscan.html
Testing Web Sites for Accessibility
Inspect your PDFs:With Acrobat X
● Tools > Advanced > Accessibility > Full Check
● View > Zoom > Reflow● Tools sidebar > Action Wizard > Make
Accessible
Testing Web Sites for Accessibility
Accessible Audio & VideoTwo factors: the player and the content.● Player Accessibility● Text transcription● Closed Captioning● Audio Description
In Summary
Web accessibility is complex and subjective; but there’s still an objective difference between inaccessible and usable - you too can spot that difference.
