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Info Sheet: Web Accessibility Starter Guide

Standards

• Check if you department/organization has existing web standards
• Check your page for valid HTML 4.01
• http://validator.w3.org/
• Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, §1194.22
• http://webaim.org/standards/508/checklist
• World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), Priority 1, 2, and 3
• http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10/full-checklist.html
• Accessibility standards are separate from Web standards, as they are functional requirements
• Usability and accessibility standards overlap and are identical many times
• Usability Heuristics (shortcuts) for good design
• http://www.useit.com/papers/heuristic/heuristic_list.html

Components to Assess

• Frames

In general, we discourage the use of frames, whenever possible

http://webaim.org/techniques/frames/

• Forms

Proper use of LABEL tags is of utmost importance

http://webaim.org/techniques/forms/

• Images

Images are fine, just do not rely on them heavily to convey information

http://webaim.org/techniques/images/

• Tables

Tables are great, but we discourage their use for formatting purposes

http://webaim.org/techniques/tables/

• Multimedia

Includes video, sound, and rich text, such as PDF documents. Provide alternative means to also convey the information

http://webaim.org/techniques/

(under ‘Rich Media’/Multimedia’)

• Scripts

We strongly discourage the use of scripts (such as mouseovers) whenever possible : http://webaim.org/techniques/javascript/

• Presentation
• Styles
• http://webaim.org/techniques/css/
• Use of Tables
• http://webaim.org/techniques/tables/
• Semantics (Heading Levels)
• http://webaim.org/techniques/structure/
• Link Text
• Make sure link text is descriptive (do not use words like ‘Click here’)
• http://www.cs.tut.fi/~jkorpela/www/click.html

• Navigation
• Shortcuts
• Use ‘Skip Navigation’ whenever possible
• http://jarmin.com/demos/access/skipinfo.html
• Heading Levels
• Headings can also be used as navigational aids
• http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/struct/global.html#edef-H1
• Descriptive Links
• Do not use terms such as “click here”
• http://www.cs.tut.fi/~jkorpela/www/click.html
• Keyboard Access
• Make sure all interactive elements do not require a mouse to be functional
• http://webaim.org/techniques/keyboard/

Accessible University (http://www.washington.edu/accessit/AU/ )

A mock university site developed by the DBTAC project to illustrate concepts in accessible design, from accessible components, navigation, structure, and examples, such as accessible JavaScript

Great Lakes ADA & IT Center Website (http://www.adagreatlakes.org )

Can be used for reference on how to use Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) for layout instead of tables, an example of ‘skip navigation’ links, use of page heading levels, as well as other techniques.