Accessibility

The term accessibility in relation to websites, refers to the degree to which the information contained in the site is accessible to all users of the Internet.

This raises a question of what are the likely causes that might limit a user accessing the information on a site?

The likely causes include;

• The design and technologies used in the site construction are incompatible with the software (Browser or screen reader) used to present the site information.
• The design and technologies used in the site construction are incompatible with the software (Browser or screen reader) used to present the site information.
• The design does not provide for users with disabilities. i.e. Scalable text sizes, contrast, machine readable information.

Statistics from several sources have shown that more than thirty percent of the Web Public are older persons or people with various types of disabilities. The needs of this larger group can be more easily accommodated with simple and inexpensive design tips such as re-sizable text, large tactile buttons, and clear, easy-to-follow instructions.

The Director of the W3C, and one of the creators of the World Wide Web itself, Tim Berners-Lee, describes it quite simply as "access by everyone, regardless of disability"

Web Standards and Guildlines

Although not standards in the traditional sense, the specification's and recommendations laid down by the World Wide Web consortium (W3C) are an attempt to solve these incompatibility problems and take account of the needs of users with disabilities. In addition best practice guidelines have emerged from the WWW design community and various bodies such as the BBC, British Standards Institute (PAS 78:2006) which are helping to standardising the way in which website design is carried out and reduce these problems.

The principle recommendations of these standards, specification's and guidelines are:

• That the page content and style are separated
• Page content is laid out semantically i.e. In the order that it should be read and with appropriate emphasis.
• The page content coding conforms to HTML or XHTML specification's.
• The page style is defined using CSS (Cascading Style Sheets)
• The site is functional if the CSS is disabled
• Design and Structure are validated to conform to HTML / XHTML and CSS specifications.
• A statement of Accessibility is provide for the site.
• The use of technologies such as Javascript, Flash are limited and tested to degrade if not enabled by the user.
• Full testing of the site must be completed to ensure conformance to WCAG “AA. (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines)
• Testing to include review by 3rd parties including members from the disabled community.
• Provision for maintenance of the site so that it remains compliant after changes to content.

Conclusion

Organisations that embrace the recommendations and guidelines of these bodies will benefit from having a website that is accessible to the largest group of users and limit the frustration that can felt by users that are unable to reach the information that a site offers.

Benefits

• Faster Pages - implementing standards based design greatly reduces the amount of code which reduces the load on web servers and reduces the time taken to download a page.
• Search Engine Friendly - search engines only see the content of the site and are able to index the information more readily without being confused by the presentation layer.
• Lower Design and maintenance costs - with the seperation of the content and presentation, changes to a sites design is implemented in a single style sheet, not on every page. This greatly reduce the time and cost to design and maintain the site.
• More satisfied Customers - Adhering to specification's (web standards) ensures that the site content is accessible to the largest number of browsers and devices. Content can easily be read in any browser, phone, PDA or those using assisting software.
• Future proof - By authoring pages using web standards, it ensures that the site content will be readable in the future when new devices and software is introduced.

Bibliography

Guide to good practice in commissioning accessible websites BSI PAS 78:2006

Web Standards Solutions - Dan Cederholm

http://www.w3.orgWorld Wide Web Consortium W3C

Functionality

E-commerce, catalogues, bulletin boards and sites that can be edited online.