4. Who Are You Excluding By Not
Making Your Website Accessible?
5. Why Worry About Accessibility?
If we want to provide equal access to justice
Shouldn’t we ensure that we can provide information to everyone?
6. It Should Be Accessible to Those Who…
• Are color blind
• Can’t see well
7. It Should Be Accessible to Those Who…
• Have difficulty
using their hands
• Are deaf
8. It Should Be Accessible to Those Who…
• Don’t speak English well
• Are not familiar with US
or technology norms
• Don’t have a fast
internet speed
• Are not very familiar
with technology
9. These People See the Web Differently
They may need to rely on
screen readers, or keyboard
shortcuts, or view a page very
close up or without any sound.
11. Six Steps to an Accessible Website
1. Make Your Text Itself Accessible
2. Provide Alternative to Images
3. Make Text High Contrast and Legible
4. Accommodate Screen Readers
5. Design for Those Who Aren’t Using a Mouse
6. Code Pages According to Standards
13. 1. Create Scanable Chucks
Splitting up text into scanable chunks is good for those who may
have difficulty seeing, as well as those who aren’t very literate,
aren’t technologically literate, or don’t speak English well.
14. Summarize
Summarizing information at the beginning of sections and
paragraphs helps everyone – especially those on a screen reader.
http://www.ptla.org
15. Consider Reading Level
Refrain from using high level
legal language on general
pages. Consider adding a
glossary, or frequently
asked questions page.
18. Don’t Make People Rely on Images Alone
If images convey important information, provide an
alternative for people who may have difficulty seeing.
19. Or Video Alone
Informative images and
videos can be helpful for
those who may be unable to
read, but balance that with
accessibility to those who
can’t see and/or hear well.
Captions can bridge the gap.
20. Alt Text
Alt text is useful for those using screen readers, as well as those with
visual impairments who may have trouble seeing details in images.
21. Don’t Rely on Screenshots
For instance, an annotated filing form
22. Don’t Rely on Icons
Visually impaired people
may be unable to see
them, and non U.S.
natives may be unable to
understand them.
34. Avoid Headers in All Caps
Screen readers will emphasize things that are in caps, and
sometimes mistake them for acronyms that should be spelled out.
36. Many People Don’t Use a Mouse
Including those using
screen readers, those
with mobility issues,
and just those who
prefer the keyboard.
37. List of Links
A list of links can be a useful
navigational shortcut for those
on a keyboard or screenreader.
Provide alternative links to
image maps.
41. Don’t Break Browser Defaults
Browsers will, in general, automatically support tools like screen
readers, and navigation by keyboard.
42. Use Standard HTML to Create Links
Be cautious of Javascript dropdowns that select without clicking.
43. Don’t Rely on Fancy Stuff to Provide Content
The content of your site
should be legible even if
you turn your style sheets,
scripts, applets, or all other
programmatic objects.
44. Use Tables and Lists Thoughtfully
Don’t force things into them for the sake of layout.
51. What Does 508 Compliance Mean?
Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 requires that Federal
agencies' electronic and information technology is accessible to
people with disabilities. Section 508 provides remedies to those
aggrieved by violations of this requirement, which, after
administrative remedies are exhausted, allow for both private
rights of action in court and for reasonable attorneys fees.
52. What Does W3C Compliance Mean?
These guidelines, developed by the World Wide Web
Consortium, explain how to make Web content accessible to
people with disabilities. The guidelines are intended for all Web
content developers (page authors and site designers) and for
developers of authoring tools.
53. The Standards (in Simple Terms)
The requirements for both W3C and 508 Compliance are similar.
Occasionally, one has more strict rules than the other, but their
primary difference lies in the fact that W3C Compliance is not
required by any institution, but is rather an optional set of best
practices for web accessibility.
We’ll cover 508 compliance primarily.
54. Visual Elements
• Provide a text alternative for
every non-text element of
your website.
• Videos and animation should
have accompanying captions
or auditory descriptions of the
visual track.
• All information that is
conveyed with color should
also be clear without color
55. Interactive Elements
• Label all form controls
properly, and make their
functionality is accessible for
those using assistive
technologies.
• Allow users to skip repetitive
navigation.
• If a timed response is
required, give the user
sufficient time to indicate
when more time is needed.
56. Technical Elements
• Use markup to associate data
cells with data headers.
• Facilitate frame navigation and
identification with text
• Provide alternative links to
image maps.
• Sites should not cause the
screen to flicker at a frequency
greater than 2 Hz and lower
than 55 Hz
57. Ensure Content Is Always Legible
• Your site must be legible when style scripts, applets, or other
programmatic objects are turned off or not supported.
• Downloads for applicable applets or plug-ins should be provided.
58. The Catch-All
A text-only page, with equivalent information or functionality,
shall be provided to make a web site comply with the provisions
of this part, when compliance cannot be accomplished in any
other way. The content of the text-only page shall be updated
whenever the primary page changes.
59. Balance Legal vs. Human Requirements
For example, should you spend time making complicated
navigation more accessible, or simply offer an alternative page,
or a skip navigation link?
60. What Changes Will You Make?
• Text
• Images
• Video
• Icons
• Forms
• Navigation