Wikipedia

Web accessibility

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Vidook (talk | contribs) at 23:16, 27 June 2007 (→User agent devices: deleted first paragraph as it is very common knowledge that users use web browsers/PDAs and mobile phones to access the internet, and search engines robots are irrelevant). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
For Wikipedia's accessibility guideline, see Wikipedia:Accessibility.

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. For example, when a site is coded with semantically meaningful HTML, with textual equivalents provided for images and with links named meaningfully, this helps blind users using text-to-speech software and/or text-to-Braille hardware. When text and images are large and/or enlargable, it is easier for users with poor sight to read and understand the content. When links are underlined (or otherwise differentiated) as well as coloured, this ensures that colour blind users will be able to notice them. When clickable links and areas are large, this helps users who cannot control a mouse with precision. When pages are coded so that users can navigate by means of the keyboard alone, or a single switch access device alone, this helps users who cannot use a mouse or even a standard keyboard. When videos are closed captioned or a sign language version is available, deaf and hard of hearing users can understand video. When flashing effects are avoided or made optional, users prone to seizures caused by these effects are not put at risk. And when content is written in plain language and illustrated with instructional diagrams and animations, users with dyslexia and learning difficulties are better able to understand the content. When sites are correctly built and maintained, all of these users can be accomodated while not impacting on the usability of the site for non-disabled users.

The needs that Web accessibility aims to address include:


Technology

User agent devices

A wide range of techniques and technologies are available to facilitate Web access for people with disabilities, or for users in general. These can be divided into two (non-exclusive) classes: enabling technologies, which circumvent a major disability such as blindness; and assistive technologies for lesser impairments.

Enabling technologies include:

  • Self-voicing web browsers (also called speech, voice, or talking browsers) to read textual content aloud.
  • Speech recognition software that can accept spoken commands to the computer, or turn dictation into grammatically correct text.
  • The Braille terminal, consisting of a Refreshable Braille display which renders text as Braille characters (usually by means of raising pegs through holes in a flat surface) and either a QWERTY or Braille keyboard.

Assistive technologies

Main article: Assistive technology

In addition to dedicated Web content user agents, a wide range of assistive technologies is available to help people with computer accessibility. These technologies can greatly assist access to Web content for people with disabilities. Examples include:

  • Speech recognition software, which can be useful for those who have difficulty using a mouse or a keyboard.
  • Screen magnification software, which enlarges what is displayed on the computer monitor, making it easier to read for vision impaired users.
  • Keyboard overlays which can make typing easier and more accurate for those who have motor control difficulties.
  • Screen reader software, which can read out, using synthesised speech, either selected elements of what is being displayed on the monitor (helpful for users with reading or learning difficulties), or which can read out everything that is happening on the PC (used by blind and vision impaired users).
  • Translation software to allow reading of websites in foreign languages especially for those who had been diagnosed to have a learning disability.

Machine-translation technology

Software which can automatically translate content from one natural language to another is called machine-translation software. This is exemplified by Alta Vista's Babel Fish, a Web site which can translate blocks of text or other Web pages back and forth between English and major European languages. These translations are generally imperfect. Commercial software packages which do a better job can be bought and installed locally on the user's personal computer.

However, in order for these technologies to be fully effective when users are browsing the Web, it is essential that websites are designed to be accessible. The quest for universal Web accessibility is an ongoing attempt to develop Web content so that it is accessible via all user-agent devices for all people.

The Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)

Main article: Web Accessibility Initiative

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) introduced Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) to develop Web accessibility guidelines and resources. It seek to provide support materials to help understand and implement Web accessibility.

Guidelines on accessible web design

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines

Main article: Web Content Accessibility Guidelines

In 1999 the WAI published the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines WCAG 1.0. In recent years, these have been widely accepted as the definitive guidelines on how to create accessible websites.

Since 2003, the WAI has been working on the second edition of these guidelines, the WCAG 2.0, which aim to be up to date and more technology neutral. This is currently at the Working Draft stage.

Criticism of WAI guidelines

In articles such as WCAC 2.0: The new W3C guidelines evaluated and To Hell with WCAG 2.0, the WAI has been criticised for allowing WCAG 1.0 to get increasingly out of step with today's technologies and techniques for creating and consuming web content, for the slow pace of development of WCAG 2.0 and for making the new guidelines difficult to navigate and understand. In one attempt to provide guidelines that are designed to be up to date, easier to understand, and more relevant and practical to typical web development projects, Joe Clark's WCAG Samurai project has published an unofficial set of errata to WCAG 1.0.

Other guidelines

Philippines

As part of the Web Accessibility Initiatives in the Philippines, the government through the National Council for the Welfare of Disabled Persons (NCWDP) board approved the recommendation of forming an adhoc or core group of webmasters that will help in the implementation of the Biwako Millennium Framework set by the UNESCAP.

The Philippines was also the place where the Interregional Seminar and Regional Demonstration Workshop on Accessible Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) to Persons with Disabilities was held where eleven countries from Asia - Pacific were represented. The Manila Accessible Information and Communications Technologies Design Recommendations was drafted and adopted in 2003.

United Kingdom

In the UK, the Disability Rights Commission (DRC) in collaboration with BSI have published Pas 78 which outlines good practice in commissioning accessible websites.

Legally required web accessibility

A growing number of countries around the world have introduced legislation which either directly addresses the need for websites and other forms of communication to be accessible to people with disabilities, or which addresses the more general requirement for people with disabilities not to be discriminated against.

U.S.

In the U.S., the Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act requires that Federal agencies and their contractors give disabled employees and members of the public access to information (including web sites) that is comparable to the access available to others; the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability; and Section 225 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 requires suppliers to make telecommunications products and services accessible unless not requiring significant difficulty or expense. It is complicated, and dependent on case law, exactly how the latter two apply to Web site accessibility.

On September 7, 2006, Judge Marilyn Hall Patel ruled in National Federation of the Blind v. Target Corporation that a retailer with a physical storefront may be sued if its website is inaccessible to the blind. However, Judge Patel did not rule on the merits of the plaintiff's case, which will be adjudicated at a later date.

Australia

In 2000, an Australian blind man won a court case against the Sydney Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (SOCOG). This was the first successful case under Disability Discrimination Act 1992 because SOCOG had failed to make their official website, Sydney Olympic Games, adequately accessible to blind users. The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) also published World Wide Web Access: Disability Discrimination Act Advisory Notes. All Governments in Australia also have policies and guidelines that require accessible public websites; Vision Australia maintain a complete list of Australian web accessibility policies.

Ireland

In Ireland, the Disability Act 2005 was supplemented with the National Disability Authority's Code of Practice on Accessible Public Services in July 2006. It is a practical guide to help all Government Departments and nearly 500 public bodies to comply with their obligations under the Disability Act 2005.

United Kingdom

In the UK, the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA) does not refer explicitly to website accessibility, but makes it illegal to discrimate against people with disabilities. The DDA applies to anyone providing a service; public, private and voluntary sectors. The Code of Practice: Rights of Access - Goods, Facilities, Services and Premises document published by the government's Disability Rights Commission to accompany the Act does refer explicitly to websites as one of the "services to the public" which should be considered covered by the Act.

Website accessibility audits

A growing number of organisations, companies and consultants offer website accessibility audits. These audits, a type of system testing, identify accessibility problems that exist within a website, and provide advice and guidance on the steps that need to be taken to correct these problems.

A range of methods are used to audit websites for accessibility:

  • Automated tools are available which can identify some of the problems that are present.
  • Expert technical reviewers, knowledgeable in web design technologies and accessibility, can review a representative selection of pages and provide detailed feedback and advice based on their findings.
  • User testing, usually overseen by technical experts, involves setting tasks for ordinary users to carry out on the website, and reviewing the problems these users encounter as they try to carry out the tasks.

Each of these methods has its strengths and weaknesses:

  • Automated tools can process many pages in a relatively short length of time, but can only identify some of the accessibility problems that might be present in the website.
  • Technical expert review will identify many of the problems that exist, but the process is time consuming, and many websites are too large to make it possible for a person to review every page.
  • User testing combines elements of usability and accessibility testing, and is valuable for identifying problems that might otherwise be overlooked, but needs to be used knowledgeably to avoid the risk of basing design decisions on one user's preferences.

Ideally, a combination of methods should be used to assess the accessibility of a website.

See also

References

  • Clark, Joe (2003). Building Accessible Websites. New Riders Press. ISBN 0-7357-1150-X. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |month= and |coauthors= (help)
  • Thatcher, Jim (2003). Constructing Accessible Web Sites (Reprint ed.). Apress (Previously by Glasshaus). ISBN 1-59059-148-8. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |month= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  • Slatin, John (2002). Maximum Accessibility: Making Your Web Site More Usable for Everyone. Addison-Wesley Professional. ISBN 0-201-77422-4. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |month= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)

Standards and guidelines

Government regulations

Resources for users

Resources for designers

Web accessibility checkers

Disability/Impairment Simulators and Other Tools

Web browser accessibility features

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Web_accessibility&oldid=141063805"