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User Accessibility: Website Design Mistakes

Posted on July 25, 2012 by V irginia Gavin in Compliance, T alking PDF, User A ccessibility

A sig n ifica n t por t ion of people a r ou n d th e w or ld u se a ssist iv e tech n olog y to a id sen sor y , m otor or

cog n it iv e disa bilit ies, bu t im pr oper ly desig n ed w ebsite elem en ts r en der th ese tools n ea r ly u seless.

Ev er y a spect fr om n a v ig a t ion to w ebsite tex t to im a g es to dow n loa da ble docu m en ts sh ou ld be

a v a ila ble to th ose w h o u se a ssist iv e tech n olog y . Sect ion 5 08 com plia n ce is a n in v olv ed pr ocess w ith

n o ea sy fix es. How ev er , th er e a r e som e in it ia l, cost-effect iv e steps y ou ca n ta ke on y ou r w a y to

becom in g com plia n t .

Simplify Your Navigation

Clu tter ed, den se n a v ig a t ion ca n m a ke it qu ite difficu lt for a per son w ith m otor or v ision disa bilit ies

to n a v ig a te y ou r w ebsite. A llow som e br ea th in g r oom betw een item s to m a ke it ea sier to click on th e

desir ed item .

Add Alt Text, Tags and Other Labels

A ddin g ca pt ion s to v ideo a n d A LT tex t to in for m a tiv e im a g es is sim ple a n d in ex pen siv e. It ’s on ly

slig h t ly m or e cost ly to a dd tr a n scr ipt ion for a n y v ideo offer ed. Ta g g in g a n d la belin g objects a n d edit

fields is often ov er looked, bu t sim ple to cor r ect .

“ Wh en a n in div idu a l u sin g a scr een r ea der br ow ses a site, a ll objects a r e iden tified specifica lly by th e

desig n er , r a th er th a n sim ply h a v in g th e scr een r ea der a n n ou n ce th e object itself,” sa y s Br a d

Hodg es, a n a ccess tech n olog y con su lta n t to bu sin ess a n d in du str y , w h o u ses a ssist iv e tech n olog y on a

da ily ba sis.

JAVA for Everyone? No.

JA V A is n ot su ppor ted by m a n y a ssist iv e tech n olog ies, r en der in g th e in for m a tion pr esen ted in it

u n u sa ble. Be a w a r e th a t som e “ m u st-h a v e” tech n olog ies a r e poor ly su ppor ted, if a t a ll.

Test Your Website in Different Browsers

Web pa g es ca n beh a v e differ en t ly w h en v iew ed in differ en t br ow ser s.

“ Test in g w ith scr een a ccess is cr it ica lly im por ta n t to en su r in g th a t a ll pa g es per for m sim ila r ly w ith

a ll br ow ser s,” sa y s Hodg es.

In ex pen siv e or fr ee test in g tools ca n r ev ea l per v a siv e issu es; Hodg es r ecom m en ds test in g w ith a

scr een r ea der a n d scr een m a g n ifica t ion . Fr ee scr een r ea der s in clu de Sy stem A ccess 2 Go a n d NV DA

for Win dow s a n d V oiceOv er for OS1 0 (pr ess Com m a n d F5 on a n y OSX m a ch in e).

More Information on Accessibility Guidelines and Requirements

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PDF/UA Com peten ce Cen ter

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Un ited Sta tes A ccess Boa r d

By Shaw na McAlearney

A ssist iv e Tech n olog y , Sect ion 5 08 , Un iv er sa l A ccessibility