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Accessibility
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What
is accessible web design?
Accessible
web design involves creating and maintaining web resources
that are accessible by people with disabilities, including
people who are blind or visually impaired, people who are
deaf or hard of hearing, people with learning disabilities,
and people with mobility impairments. For example:
- A
person who is blind may use a screen reader so that the
computer speaks the contents of the page using a synthesized
voice
- A
person who is Deaf may read the transcript of a digital
video on a web page to learn the content of the video
- A
person with learning disabilities may use a web page
with no blinking text or animated graphics to read content
- A
person with mobility impairments may choose a link from
a list rather than a small imagemap that requires precise
mouse control.
Recommended
Practices
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Know
and learn the University of Iowa Accessibility Policy for
Web Resources.
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Become
familiar with the policy’s technical standards and
functional performance criteria.
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Check
your department/unit website and resources.
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Be
resourceful, use your judgment, educate and train yourself
and others.
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Adopt
or adapt these practices and tips:
1. Provide an accessible link entitled “accessibility and web
site appearance” in the top left hand corner of each page or
site that furnishes users with information about site architecture,
site viewing tips, screen resolutions, web browsers, third-party
software (such as Adobe Acrobat Reader), cascading style sheets,
and accessibility features such as large text, high contrast, etc.
2. Simple web sites that emphasize text, content, and meaning over
stylistic visual elements tend to be more accessible by their very
nature. Content providers can generally minimize the effort required
to make a site accessible by keeping the design simple. This may
be especially useful for informal documents that need to be published
quickly.
3. For the most part, nearly any design can be adapted to comply
with Section 508 standards without sacrificing the aesthetics or
advanced features of the design. Content providers who feel they
need to make design changes to the site in order to make it accessible
should contact one of the resources listed under “Contacts” for
consultation and advice.
4. Individual web content providers should use their best judgment
on how to implement this policy for their own situation.
5. Numerous tools are available for evaluating accessibility and
compliance with Section 508 guidelines, including Web Aim’s
Section 508 web accessibility checklists at
http://www.webaim.org/standards/508/checklist .
University of Wisconsin has excellent information for developers,
designers, students, and faculty at
http://trace.wisc.edu:8080/mailman/listinfo/
6. Individuals, departments, colleges, and administrative units should
use whichever tools best suit their environment. It is important
to remember, however, that no tool is a substitute for informed judgment.
7. It is wise to use a variety of web browsing software (including
text-only browsers), different workstations, with speeds of connection,
a variety of navigation strategies (such as navigating through the
site using only the keyboard), and evaluation tools to test access
to web pages.
8. Keep records of the time, resources, and expenses involved in
creating, designing, retrofitting, testing, and evaluating web resources.
Such records can be used to assess the success and cost of university
accessibility efforts. They are also important documents to have
on hand when federal or state agencies conduct audits.
9. Subscribing to a web accessibility mailing list is a
good way to stay informed about current and disability
practices. Several mailing lists are available through
the Trace Center at the University of Wisconsin, at
http://trace.wisc.edu:8080/mailarchive/sec508/
10. Because of the inherent difficulties in maintaining two equally
effective sites, a universally accessible web site is always preferred
over the creation of an alternative text-based site.
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