Website Accessibility
Resourcesdeveloped by: Harold Goldstein --
http://goldray.com/webdesign/accessibility.htmlSection 508
The DOJ Section 508 homepage links to the DOJ accessibility guidelines. The Official Section 508 site offers a linked 508 design tutorial. Another basic 508 tutorial includes this starightforward 508 checklist. The Access Board Guide is from the federal agency devoted to acessibility. The W3C and the Website Accessibility Initiative (WAI)
The World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C) WAI created content accessibility guidelines (WCAGS). The WCAG Working Group site links to quick tips, HTML techniques, the WCAG 2 draft, more. The WAI Resource page include the WAI checklist reviews recommendations for specific HTML techniques. Try the W3C slideshow tutorial on meeting the WCAGs; see especially the checkpoints and guidelines. Testing and Accessibility Tools
UsableNet has a free online one page test. Their LIFT Online service identifies and fixes usability/accessibility issues sitewide. ($50/year/site, $300/year for unlimited use) Downloadable Lift onsite is for the MAC. GCN has compared 508 audit tools; Builder.Net has reviewed Accessibility Software. The Lemur lists test sites; sitepoint has this DIY tool comparison. Bobby is the classic online accessibility test tool; the WAVE is newer, the 508 version is beta. Delorie's backward compatibility tool views a page w/tags turned off; the web purifer rewrites to an HTML standard. APrompt, a free download based on the WAI but configurable for 508, diagnoses and repairs one page at a time. pwWebSpeak is a non-visual/auditory browser - free for blind individuals or for testers. SSB Technologies' InSight tests accessibility; InFocus tries to fix problems. ($1600 for pair - $500 in volume) CNet loves them when they work well but HiSoftware's AccRepair ($1000) didn't fair well in Cnet's review. Crunchy Technologies has a sutie of tools including Pagescreamer. The National Center for Accessible Media's (NCAM) web accessibility projects include Magpie for captioning. A speech and braille web browser; the JAWS viewer; the IBM HomePage Reader. Simply Web 2000 is a free talking browser. Webaim has a low vision simulation; a screen reader simulation, more. Alternate browsing environments; complete browser archive site. Accessify.com offers a collection of tools; navigation, pop-ups, forms, tables - all accessible.
ChecklistsThe ITI's Accessibility Template makes initial assessments; the W3C/WAI checklist is more complete. The NIEHS form tells what 508 rules apply to you; WebAIM gives a complete 508 pass/fail. Not a checklist but Dive Into Accessibility presents a 30 day program to convert make a site accessible. Organizations and General Resources
The HTML Writers Guild (HWG) has a superb accessibility page; the HWG offers a fine 7 week course. WebAim's Accessibility 'How-To' includes common HTML fixes, tutorials, quick tips, more.
- Accessibility Features in FrontPage 2003 - similar document for FP2000. Microsoft has its Accessibility Resource page; from here select accessibility general/technical articles
- using SAMI for closed captioning - more details on closed captioning; - see Accessibility Guides by Disability; a nice How-To article; as it applies to FP2003. Websavvy-Access offers a variety of resources - see especially their top accessibity authoring practises. The National Center for Accessible Media (NCAM) talks of making educational sites accessible. The Digital Web has their article on designing for accessibility. Sitepoint has a series of accessibility articles including this DIY tool comparison. Websavvy's Top Ten Accessibility Practices; AnyBrowser's Accessible Site Design Guide with editing/testing tools. Building Accessible Websites is a book that is online also see Web Acessibility for People with Disabilities. Sites that Serve as Examples
Commerce, the National Weather Service and NIEHS discuss implemention of each 508 rule. The Dayton Art Institute has an exhibit, Access Art; here is how they did it. Issues with Particular Disabilities and Specific Software
Color Blindness and web design and how your site looks to the colorblind. Also see Microsoft Accessibility Guides by Disability. The W3C discusses specific examples of how disabled people use and view the web. Using Acrobat 5 to enhance website accessibility; here is an article about making pdfs accessible and another article about PDFs; writing accessible Java applications; making accessible Flash. Aural Style Sheets - adding sound to stylesheets for access. Accessibility features of CSS. Mailing lists/discussion groups.
See the section 508 listerv, and the W3C accessibility working group mailing list (search archives). The Accessify Web Accessibility Forum covers issues (technological, legal, etc.) in making accessible sites. The MSDN IE Blog is a good resource for everything IE; there is a recent thread on accessibility.
