Accessible Websites

Removing the BarriersAnne L. Allen

University of Florida, Academic TechnologyCenter for Instructional Technology and Training

Accessibility"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

What is accessibility on the web?

Web sites are accessible when individuals with disabilities can access and use them as effectively as people who do not have disabilities.

Who, me? I don’t have any students with

disabilities.

This seems like a lot of trouble for a small number of people who might possibly use the material.

What do these have in common? Carbon paper

Typewriter

Curb cuts

Who benefits? Carbon paper

First developed for blind and partially sighted clerks who could not tell when their quill pens ran out of ink.

Who benefits? Typewriter

The first working typewriter was built by Pellegrino Turri in 1808 for his blind friend Countess Carolina Fantoni da Fivizzono so she could write legible love letters.

Who benefits?Curb Cuts

What kinds of disabilities? Blindness Other visual impairments Learning disabilities Mobility impairments Photosensitive seizure disorders Hearing impairments

What Kinds of Difficulties? Blindness

Inability to access graphical information

Solution Provide a text equivalent for every non-

text element

What Kinds of Difficulties? Visual impairments

Difficulty reading tables and charts Inability to make sense of pages when

magnified

Solution Design sites using relative rather than

absolute values for width and height of rows and columns and images

What Kinds of Difficulties? Learning disabilities

May have difficulty understanding cluttered websites and layout changes from screen to screen

Solution Follow usability and accessibility

guidelines when creating sites – better design for all

What Kinds of Difficulties? Mobility impairments

May not be able to respond that call for a timed response (such as quizzes)

Solution Allow users to adjust the timing of

responses

What Kinds of Difficulties? Photosensitive seizure disorders

Flickering images and text may trigger seizures

Solution Avoid the use of flickering elements

What Kinds of Difficulties? Hearing impairments

Unable to hear multimedia presentations using sound, such as recorded lectures or videos

Solution Multimedia presentations must be

captioned or provided in alternate formats

Assistive Technology How do people with disabilities use

the Web? How do you use the Web without a

mouse?

Assistive TechnologyHow does Quick Glance work? Camera mounted on computer monitor is focused on user's eye.

--the gaze point cursor is placed at the gaze point. "Mouse clicks" are done with a slow eye blink, an eye dwell, or a hardware switch.

It determines where user is looking--

Assistive Technology

Sip and Puff

Assistive Technology

Add-on Touch Screen

one pedal controls cursor movement, the other for mouse clicks

Foot Mouse

Assistive Technology Alternative Keyboards

Assistive Technology On Screen

Keyboards

Assistive Technology

Roller Switches

Power Braille

Accessibility What are the challenges of using the

web without seeing the page?

How does a screen reader read images? Audio files? Video files?

Web Page Reader Home Page Reader

www.ufl.edu

www.nytimes.com

HPR Exercise Find forecast high temperature for today

at www.usatoday.com or www.cnn.com Find what the latest hurricane warnings

are at www.weather.com What trains go from Los Angeles to

Chicago around 7:00 AM on October 1, 2004 (www.amtrak.com)

At www.aa.com find the lowest round trip fare from Los Angeles to Honolulu

Accessibility Could you complete your task?

If not, what were the barriers?

Accessibility is not “in” the Web page

Accessibility is experiential User is able to use data, information,

and services as effectively as someone without a disability

Accessibility is environmental It depends on the interaction of the

document with user agents, assistive technologies--and people