Web Accessibility Frequently Asked Questions

What is web accessibility?

Web accessibility is the use of design principles to make websites, web applications, and web content usable by people with disabilities who may be using assistive technologies to access the site.

Why is web accessibility important?

People with different kinds of disabilities can experience difficulty using the Web due to a combination of barriers in the information on Web pages, and barriers in the "user agents" (browsers, multimedia players, or assistive technologies such as screen readers or voice recognition).

The percentage of people with disabilities in many populations is between 10% and 20%. Not all disabilities affect access to information technologies such as the Web (for instance, difficulty walking, or a heart condition, would not affect Web access) but many do.

Just as with other parts of the population, not all people with disabilities have access to the Web. But the number of people using the Web is steadily increasing, and for people with disabilities access to this technology is sometimes even more critical than for the general population which may have an easier time accessing traditional sources of information such as print media.

What is the cost of developing accessible websites?

The cost is generally minimal if accessibility principles are incorporated into the development stage. Retrofitting, on the other hand, is far more expensive. Hence, it is critical that webdesigners find ways to integrate accessible design and conformance testing into the development process. Most of the initial costs will be on training and acquiring the appropriate tools to assist with authoring accessible sites and with conformance testing.

Over a period of time, a well designed, accessible website is more cost effective because it takes less time to maintain and update. It is more adaptable to emerging technologies and attracts a larger audience. As more web developers are trained to create accessible site, the costs will diminish.

What are the benefits for making our website accessible?

Beyond compliance with legal mandates, the use of accessible design is beneficial to a wide spectrum of the population. As with many improvements intended for people with disabilities, accessible technology can benefit all users, whether they have a disability or not. The use automatic doors and elevators by the general population illustrates this principle.

Accessible web pages are useful to all because they are easier to navigate, easier to use, and faster to download. Accessible hardware and software also address the needs of an aging workforce.

What are the characteristics of an accessible website?

An accessible website is one that can be used by everyone, including people with disabilities. Some specific characteristics of an accessible site include: clear and logical navigation; easy to read text and understandable links; text descriptions of essential visual elements; transcripts or captions for audio, video, and multimedia content; and interoperability with assistive technology which may be used to render the web content in a usable format.

What are the "Web Content Accessibility Guidelines" (WAIG)?

The "Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0" are a W3C specification providing guidance on accessibility of websites for people with disabilities. They have been developed by the W3C's Web Accessibility Initiative. The specification contains fourteen guidelines which are general principles of accessible design. Each guideline is associated with one or more checkpoints describing how to apply that guideline to particular features of Web pages. An appendix to the guidelines, "List of Checkpoints for the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0" presents the checkpoints sorted by priority for easy reference. These guidelines not only make pages more accessible to people with disabilities, but also have the side benefit of making pages more accessible to all users, or to users using different browsers or one of the emerging handheld or voice-based computers.

Will the WAI guidelines become a legal requirement?

These guidelines are a specification developed by the W3C, an international, vendor-neutral industry consortium, and have been developed under W3C process. W3C is not a legislative body and the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines specification is not a regulation. The United Kingdom's Disabilities Discrimination Act (DDA) requires all website owners to make reasonable efforts to ensure that their websites are accessible. All websites within the .gov.uk domain have to comply with at least priority level 2 (AA) of the WAI Guidelines by the end of 2008. The European Union published a resolution in 2002 calling for all public websites to be accessible (Accessibility of Public Websites -- Accessibility for People with Disabilities: Council Resolution).

Will the guidelines be stable across evolving Web technologies?

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines are designed to be both forwards-compatible and backwards-compatible to the greatest extent possible within the context of evolving Web technologies. Within the document, the fourteen guidelines focus on principles of accessible design and are abstract enough to be stable over time. Each set of checkpoints associated with a particular guideline is specific to a particular feature of Web pages, but still general to a variety of mark-up and presentation languages, and therefore expected to be relatively stable over time. Certain checkpoints include the phrase "until user agents..." because, as browsers and assistive technologies such as screen readers evolve, they will be able to automatically handle certain items that currently create barriers on pages.

The separate "Techniques" document, which is not part of the normative guidelines document, is specific to individual mark-up languages, and will be updated more frequently as technologies evolve.

Can I use "text only" pages to comply with my legal requirements?

Text-only pages should not be necessary to ensure accessibility of Web pages that follow the "Web Content Accessibility Guidelines," except in very rare cases. In fact, text-only pages are frequently counterproductive to accessibility since they tend to be kept less up-to-date than "primary pages," or in some cases leave out information that is on primary pages.

What steps should web developers follow when creating an accessible website?

  1. Know how users with disabilities interact with the web
  2. Understand W3C current technical standards for markup (HTML/XHTML) and stylesheet (CSS) and apply these standards in your design.
  3. Validate conformance with the WC3 technical standards by using tools such as the W3C’s HTML Validation Service and CSS Validation Service
  4. Understand W3C Accessibility Standards for websites (http://www.w3.org/WAI/)
  5. Build the site to be standards conformant (e.g. XHTML 1.0 strict and CSS)
  6. Choose a standards-conformant accessible authoring tools like Dreamweaver or a CMS like Spearhead and use the standards support and accessibility features.
  7. Examine pages using Graphical Browsers Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Netscape Navigator, Opera, and Safari. The following toolbars assist with evaluation:
    • AIS Toolbar for Internet Explorer,
    • WAVE Toolbar for Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Netscape Navigator,
    • Web Developer Extension for Firefox
  8. Use a screen reading program (e.g. JAWS) or a speaking web browser (e.g. IBM Homepage Reader) with the monitor turned off to determine how your web pages are presented audibly.
  9. Ask a variety of users, including users with disabilities, to engage in real-world testing of your page.
  10. Validate conformance with accessibility standards by using and independent validation service.

If we don’t have any employees who are disabled, do we still have to make our intranet accessible?

Yes. Many disabilities are not visible and you therefore may not always know whether a person has a disability or not. In addition, the workplace infrastructure, including its technology infrastructure, should be accessible in preparation for future employees with disabilities so that they are able to be productive from the moment they begin their employment.

Finally, many of the features of accessible websites also benefit those using other technologies. For example, transformable, standards-based content can be readily transferred to PDAs and cell phones and displayed and utilized in a more effective manner.

Do I have to "dumb down" my site in order to make it accessible?

No. Making a website accessible is more about including good design elements than removing them. Nearly all sophisticated and visually-attractive web technologies can be rendered in an accessible manner if designed with accessibility in mind. Creative web designers are able to keep the website visually pleasing and, at the same time, make it accessible for more people to access the site.

Can we direct disabled users to call the office to get the information instead of using the web?

In a business environment where the creation and maintenance of accessible websites is readily achievable, the use of an ‘ad hoc’ approach to accommodating a person with a disability does not offer equal or comparable access. There may be times in very specific instances where something cannot be made accessible and providing the accommodation will be required. However this approach should supplement, rather than take the place of, providing an accessible technology infrastructure. It is also good practice to include a statement on your website that gives contact information for users who experience accessibility problems using the site.

Do we have to be concerned about the accessibility of PDF documents?

Yes, an accessible website includes the accessibility of all its contents, including documents, forms, and other digital objects (multimedia, graphics, etc.). For information about creating accessible PDF documents see the Adobe website

 

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