|
10_COMMANDMENTS_OF_WEBSITE_ACCESSIBILITY
| 10 COMMANDMENTS OF WEBSITE ACCESSIBILITY
We keep hearing about something called 'accessibility' for
websites. So what is it all about huh?
Well, it is all about webmasters making sure that they give any
disabled visitors who come to their site an equivalent
experience to that which a non-disabled person would have. So,
if your site has garish rainbow coloured text and is full of
puerile nonsense, then you must inflict your garbage on disabled
visitors (who probably have enough problems already) as well as
the rest of us.
How can you make sure your site is accessible?
**********************************************
Accessibility is a legal requirement in the UK and USA for
government departments and anyone providing goods or services.
Although personal homepages may be technically covered by
accessibility laws (don't ask me, I'm not a lawyer) you probably
would not be prosecuted for infringing the rules on an ordinary
personal home page. But if you are worried about accessibility,
use one of the free online validators. There are lots of them.
The one most people know is Bobby (http://webxact.watchfire.com).
Rebels ******
Some people though, get far too obsessed with accessibility
rules. The Web does need some rules. But people seem to forget
that it also needs innovators, mavericks and rebels just as
much. Otherwise the Web and all of us who use it will probably
all die of boredom.
But if you do need the rules, here they are.
TEN COMMANDMENTS OF ACCESSIBILITY
*********************************
1. Thou shalt worship Bobby and shall have no other
accessibility checkers before him.
(And no 'marquee' tags either. They are so Internet Explorer!
Some of us do use other browsers, you know.)
2. Thou shalt use 'alt' tags and/or 'title' tags in your images,
because many people browse with images switched off. Also
because some partially sighted or blind people use screen
readers, which obviously cannot 'read' images.
3. Thou shalt not use 'alt' tags in each and every one of your
'spacer' gifs.
Although it would be technically correct to use 'alt' tags in
spacer gifs, it would obviously be a nightmare if a disabled
person (or anyone for that matter) had to listen to a screen
reader reading out the 'alts' in all of these tags. And besides,
those hundred plus spacer gifs are only there because you can't
design properly to begin with. Yes I am bitchy aren't I?
4. Thou shalt use javascript only as a last resort because many
people browse with javascript switched off.
If you do have to use javascript then remember to use a noscript
tag and provide a way for someone without javascript to use your
site.
5. Thou shalt not use Java applets, because many people browse
with Java switched off.
Basically, people are so fed up of waiting for slow loading,
jerky applets that usually contribute little to our enjoyment of
either life or your website. And as for that java applet of a
shimmering lake, if I never see that again...
6. Thou shalt use tables only as a last resort.
Tables are meant to hold 'tabular data', not entire webpages.
7. Thou shalt design thy website using divs and CSS wherever
possible. But remember to ensure that your pages can be used
without CSS as some people browse with style sheets switched off.
Basically, you should try to design your website in such a way
that the end user can resize your text and, if desired, they can
use their own style sheet instead of yours. Yes folks, the whole
idea of spending hours and weeks of your precious time designing
a beautiful website, is so that people can decide they want it
to look like something completely different.
8. Thou shalt not use WAV, midi or other sound files because
many people browse with sound switched off.
Using sound files often means people need to use a plug-in. If
this applies to your web page, remember to provide a link to
somewhere that the plug-in can be downloaded. If you use a small
image as the link to the plug-in website, remember to use an
'alt' tag in the image because many people browse with images
switched off.
9. Thou shalt not use Flash.
Admit it, you're just showing off aren't you
10. Thou shalt throw up thy hands in despair and rent thy style
sheet asunder.
There are too many rules. It's just not worth it. How many
allowances do you have to make for the way people use the
Internet anyway? Why not just print out copies of your web page
and post them out on request instead? For all I know, many
people probably browse without a computer or with the
electricity switched off or something and we don't want them to
miss out as well do we?
By the way, if you do decide to distribute printed copies of
your web pages, don't forget to produce a Braille version and a
foreign language edition as well.
Note: this article is intended for entertainment purposes only.
No offence is intended to anyone involved in the field of Web
accessibility. This article will be made available in a special
Morse code edition early next year.
About the author:
Blogger extraordinaire and co-owner of http://poostreaks.com
|
|
| |
| |
