Why and how to make a website accessible

"The power of the Web is in its universality. Access by everyone regardless of disability is an essential aspect."
-- Tim Berners-Lee, W3C Director and inventor of the World Wide Web

Web accessibility is about making your website accessible to all Internet users, regardless of what browsing technology they're using. Users you need to think about include those who:

• are blind or partially sighted, and who may be using a screen reader or magnifier
• are colour blind, and who may be unable to distinguish links or images
• use voice-activated software or the keyboard instead of a mouse
• use a slow connection and may have turned off the images
• use a browser without Flash or Javascript enabled
• access the web via a PDA, mobile phone or WebTV.

Below is a short checklist of the most essential areas that need to be accessible to ensure that anyone and everyone can browse your website in comfort:

Informational images must have alternative text
Place the cursor over an informational image. Does a yellow box appear with a brief, accurate description of the image? For users whose browsers don‘t support images, this alternative text is what they’ll see or hear in place of the image.

Forms must be accessible
Once a user is browsing your website, you want to persuade the user to buy your product, sign up to your newsletter, or simply contact you. If your forms are not accessible to every user, you are losing potential customers and contacts.

Text must be resizeable
Partially sighted users may need to increase the size of the text on your website. To check whether your text is resizeable, follow these instructions:

• Internet Explorer: View > Text size
• Netscape: Edit > Preferences > Appearance > Fonts
• Opera: File > Preferences > Fonts > Minimum font size (pixels)

Alternatively, scroll with the wheel of your mouse whilst holding down the control key.

Link text must make sense out of context
Blind users often browse websites by tabbing from one link to the next. Does all the link text on your website make sense out of context? ‘Click here’ and ‘more’ are two common examples of non-descriptive link text.

All areas of the website must be accessible without the use of a mouse
Can you navigate through your website using just tab, shift-tab and return? If not, then neither can keyboard- and voice-only users.

The site must have a text site-map
A site-map is essential, not only for people using screen-readers or navigating without a mouse, but also for anyone who is lost on your site!

Video or audio content must have a written alternative
A deaf person is clearly unable to listen to any audio content. Your website must supply written transcripts.

Making your website accessible to all need not be expensive or onerous, and it will certainly not mean the site is any less attractive or user-friendly to the ma jo rity of your users who will most likely be browsing on a broadband connection with the latest version of Internet Explorer.

For more information on website accessibility, or to request an evaluation of your website, contact Ian Walker or Rebecca St.John on 01442 877167.