Internet Fundamentals/Web Accessibility

Web accessibility is the inclusive practice of ensuring there are no barriers that prevent interaction with, or access to, websites on the World Wide Web by people with physical disabilities, situational disabilities, and socio-economic restrictions on bandwidth and speed. When sites are correctly designed, developed and edited, more users have equal access to information and functionality.

Accessibility

Objectives and Skills

Objectives and skills for this lesson include:

• Understand web accessibility standards
• Apply web accessibility standards to web pages

Readings

1. Wikipedia: Web accessibility

Multimedia

1. YouTube: Introduction to Web Accessibility and W3C Standards
2. YouTube: Web Accessibility Guidelines - How to make your code Web Accessible

Activities

1. Review Mozilla: What is accessibility?.
2. Use the W3C Markup Validation Service to validate HTML for one or more web pages. Make any corrections necessary to pass the validation check.
3. Use the WAVE Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool to evaluate web accessibility for one or more web pages. Make any corrections necessary to pass the accessibility check. Review SuperCoolDesign: How To Write Good Alt Text. Verify that ALT tags fully describe all images and multimedia used.
4. Use the WebAIM: Contrast Checker to check color contrast for one or more web pages. Make any corrections necessary to pass the contrast check.
5. Use the Paletton website to identify good color schemes. Experiment with monochromatic, adjacent-color, three-color, and four-color designs.

Lesson Summary

• Web accessibility is the inclusive practice of ensuring there are no barriers that prevent interaction with, or access to, websites on the World Wide Web by people with physical disabilities, situational disabilities, and socio-economic restrictions on bandwidth and speed.
• The needs that web accessibility aims to address include:
  • Visual
  • Motor/mobility
  • Auditory
  • Seizures
  • Cognitive and intellectual
• Assistive technologies include:
  • Screen reader software
  • Braille terminals
  • Screen magnification software
  • Speech recognition software
  • Keyboard overlays
  • Subtitles / captions
• The Worldwide Web Consortium (W3C) has published Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.
• Web accessibility depends on a combination of:
  • Content
  • User agents (web browsers, etc.)
  • Assistive technology
  • User strategies (knowledge, experience, training, etc.)
  • Content developers
  • Authoring tools
  • Evaluation tools
• Web accessibility guidelines include:
  • Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines (ATAG)
  • Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)
  • User Agent Accessibility Guidelines (UAAG)
• Compliance with web accessibility guidelines is a legal requirement primarily in North America, Europe, parts of South America and parts of Asia.

Key Terms

accessibility

The design of products, devices, services, vehicles, or environments so as to be usable by people with disabilities.

assistive technology

Adaptive and rehabilitative devices for people with disabilities and the elderly.

authoring tool

A program that has pre-programmed elements for the development of interactive multimedia software titles.

disability

Any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or effectively interact with the world around them (socially or materially).

user agent

Any software, acting on behalf of a user, which retrieves, renders and facilitates end-user interaction with Web content.

Assessments

• Flashcards: Quizlet: Web Site Accessibility
• Quiz: Quizlet: Web Site Accessibility

See Also

• Web Design/Accessibility
• W3C: Accessibility
• W3C: Web Content Accessibility Guidelines

References

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