graphic with four colored squares
Cover page images (keys)

Web Accessibility

22 Aug 2005

Ivan Herman, W3C

Web Accessibility

(If your browser has proper implementation of the object element of XHTML (e.g., Mozilla?s Firefox) and you have a SVG plugin installed, you might want to use the same slideset using SVG. Some of the images may have added interaction and they also rescale better?)

Table of Contents:

  1. Introduction: visual user view
  2. Nonvisual user view
  3. It is not only about the blind
  4. Why is it important?
  5. It is even more general
  6. There is also a business case...
  7. W3C's WAI Activities
  8. WAI Guidelines
  9. Other WAI activities
  10. WCAG Guidelines 1-8
  11. Alternatives to visual content
  12. WCAG Guidelines 9-14
  13. Design for device-independence
  14. W3C Technologies and WAI
  15. W3C Technologies and WAI (cont.)
  16. Alternative texts and metadata
  17. Homework 1: Validate content
  18. Homework 2: Check accessibility

Introduction: visual user view

Introductory image with logo, MIT's photo, name, and an image of an average user

Nonvisual user view

Same as introduction, but all images are just grey rectangles, and the user is now a blind person

It is not only about the blind

vision, hearing, physical diffi

Why is it important?

It is even more general

There is also a business case...

"Google is, for all intents, a blind user. A billionaire blind user with tens of millions of friends, all of whom hang on his every word. I suspect Google will have a stronger impact than [laws] in building accessible websites."
Karsten M. Self

W3C's WAI Activities

WAI Guidelines

Other WAI activities

WCAG Guidelines 1-8

  1. Provide equivalent alternatives to auditory and visual content
  2. Don't rely on color alone
  3. Use markup and style sheets and do so properly
  4. Clarify natural language usage
  5. Create tables that transform gracefully
  6. Ensure that pages transform gracefully
  7. Ensure user control of time-sensitive content changes
  8. Ensure direct accessibility of embedded user interfaces

Alternatives to visual content

same as the image with grey rectangles, but each rectangle has now an explanatory text

WCAG Guidelines 9-14

  1. Design for device-independence
  2. Use interim solutions
  3. Use W3C technologies and guidelines
  4. Provide context and orientation information.
  5. Provide clear navigation mechanisms.
  6. Ensure that documents are clear and simple.

Design for device-independence

Same content transformed to various output types

W3C Technologies and WAI

    <section>
       <h>Header Text></h>
       <p>Bla bla bla></p>
    </section>

W3C Technologies and WAI (cont.)

Alternative texts and metadata

Introductory image with alternate text and some RDF property arcs

Homework 1: Validate content

Homework 2: Check accessibility