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What is web accessibility? |
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The accessibility of websites covers much more than just access for the disabled. It's about giving people unhindered access to a web site from various devices, such as web-enabled televisions, mobile phones and personal digital assistants (PDA's). It's also about giving access to users who have different screen sizes, browser types and settings, or those who do not have plug-ins such as Flash. Following Accessible design also helps pages load faster! |
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| 2. |
Is creating a text-only equivalent is sufficient for Web Accessibility? |
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Creating an alternative text-only site also needs planning for Accessibility, and certain issues need to be borne in mind… |
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A text-only version is not necessarily accessible. |
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Two versions of the same website represents a huge commitment of time and money for you. |
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Your primary site may not be accessible to many users. |
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'separate’ accessible website for blind and disabled users can be one more way to make them feel marginalised from mainstream society. |
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| Web Accessibility isn't just about blind and disabled users being able to use your site - it's about everyone being able to access it successfully. It really doesn't have to take very much time or money to make your website accessible. |
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| 3. |
Myth : Making Accessible websites is complicated and expensive... |
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To develop an accessible website from scratch will cost virtually the same as to develop a website that isn't accessible. A very large, highly inaccessible website may take a bit more time and money to fix up, although the basic layout and design usually need not change.
Web accessibility is not complicated and anyone with basic web design skills can easily implement it. |
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| 4. |
Myth: Accessible websites are not attractive… |
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A well planned Accessible website need not affect the design of the website in any way whatsoever. To fully dispel this myth, have a look at these websites: |
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http://www.mcys.gov.sg (AAA compliant) |
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http://www.holidaycitytravels.com (Section508 Compliant) |
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http://www.dpa.org.sg (AAA Compliant) |
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| 5. |
Myth: Accessible websites stifle creativity. |
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Web accessibility actually places very few restrictions on website design. In fact, as with regular websites, you're only really limited by your imagination when creating accessible websites. |
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Myth: Visitors to my site do not have a problem accessing information… |
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Various statistics show that 5% to 20% of the ‘internet population’ has some form of disability and poor planning excludes this segment from accessing your website. |
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Myth: Accessibility restricts web page design. |
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Not at all. As with regular websites, web developer are limited only by their imaginations One is able to achieve all the impact of presentations, images, colors fonts, etc. The approach to Accessibility needs open thinking. For example, font size should not be hard-coded (users can adjust them using style sheets); images need alternative, textual narration (access devices can understand these), colors may be used but not as the only means to differentiate information, etc. |
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| 8. |
Myth: The blind and the impaired do not use the Internet. |
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On the contrary, blind and disabled people benefit from the Internet perhaps more than anyone else. For example, visually impaired people generally call the supermarket when they want to go shopping to inform them of their arrival. When they get there, a store assistant will accompany them around the store. Through accessible websites blind people can now shop at home, and in their own time. |
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| 9. |
How do I know if my site is accessible? |
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It is generally accepted that if your site conforms to the good practice outlined in the World Wide Web Consortiums (W3C) Website Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), you have demonstrated your commitment to making your site accessible. This standards setting body was founded in 1994 by Tim Berners-Lee, the man credited with inventing the Internet. Evidence from court cases in other countries with similar legislation suggest that the W3C Guidelines are likely to be used as the main way to measure accessibility of an organizations website. A growing number of countries are setting up guidelines for Accessible electronic content and even implementing laws – these are generally based on W3C’s recommendations. W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0
Design A.FA can provide you a cursory evaluation without any cost to you. Please fill this simple Evaluation Form to receive a report on your website within 72-hours. |
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| 10. |
What are accessibility levels? |
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The W3C WCAG guidelines are a series of checkpoints designed to ensure your site is fully accessible to disabled people. The checkpoints are grouped into different levels of compliance.
Priority 1 or A: If your website does not meet Priority 1, 'one or more groups will find it impossible to access information in the document'.
Priority 2 or AA: If your website does not meet Priority 2 guidelines, 'one or more groups will find it difficult to access information in the document'.
Priority 3 or AAA: If your website does not meet this checkpoint, 'one or more groups will find it somewhat difficult to access information in the document'. |
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| 11. |
Is there an ongoing process to maintain an accessible site? |
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You should check the accessibility of your website regularly (more so after updating or modifying content) to ensure that you are providing an accessible service to your customers.
This is the second in a series of our newsletter on Web Accessibility. Future newsletters will address such topics as compliance certification, existing litigation; approaches to compliance, and business benefits from compliance.
If you would like to know more about Web Accessibility, please do not hesitate to contact me. |
