Web Accessibililty for the Blind

Posted on Friday, December 9, 2005 in Web Development
We have been working on developing a new web-site for Reef to Outback - YWAM for over a year now.  One of the things that we have been pushing for is accessibility and usability in our web design.  There are has been some discussion about this issue over at the Godbit project so I went about doing some research to see what makes a web site accessible for the blind.

Here are some key points from the WC3 - Web Accessibility Initiative that we should keep in mind:
  1. Images & animations: Use the alt attribute to describe the function of each visual.
  2. Image maps. Use the client-side map and text for hotspots.
  3. Multimedia. Provide captioning and transcripts of audio, and descriptions of video.
  4. Hypertext links. Use text that makes sense when read out of context. For example, avoid "click here."
  5. Page organization. Use headings, lists, and consistent structure. Use CSS for layout and style where possible.
  6. Graphs & charts. Summarize or use the longdesc attribute.
  7. Scripts, applets, & plug-ins. Provide alternative content in case active features are inaccessible or unsupported.
  8. Frames. Use the noframes element and meaningful titles.
  9. Tables. Make line-by-line reading sensible. Summarize.
  10. Check your work. Validate. Use tools, checklist, and guidelines at http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG
A good tool that I found to check your own web site is the Watchfire WebXact tool.  Just type in your web-site address and it does a pretty thorough test of it for you.

Sources:
Godbit Project: Do We Really Care?
WC3 - Quick Tips to make Accessible Web Sites
National Federation of the Blind - Web Accessibility



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