Accessibility
What is it?
Accessibility is about making sure your website can be used by everyone. That includes, for example, your friend who has an old computer at home, your grandparents who aren't very good with computers, or someone who's blind or just has bad eyesight.
Why should I care?
Accessibility is important to ensure everyone can use the Internet. Some people find it difficult to interact with computers. They may have sight or hearing problems, a physical or learning disability, or just be inexperienced or afraid of the technology. Building a website that is not accessible to everyone is like building a shop without a door. There may be lots inside, but there's no way to get in.
Accessibility is good for everyone
Did you know?
There are over 8.4 million people with some kind of disability in the UK
When building your website, imagine what it is like for people who find it difficult to use the Internet. Remember that not everyone who is disabled is in a wheelchair or needs a guide dog.
You could be physically able, but still benefit from these accessibility guidelines. For example, if you are looking at your monitor in bad light, or you left your glasses at home, you will suffer many of the same problems as a visually impaired person.
You probably don't have arthritis but if you pull a muscle in your arm playing sport, you might have as many problems using a mouse as your 80-year-old grandparents. Someone reading your web page in a noisy classroom may have as many problems understanding it as someone with dyslexia or a learning difficulty.
- Page organisation: Use the right headings, lists and a consistent structure. Use style sheets for layout and style where possible to keep the visual presentation of your site separate from the content.
- Images and animations: Use the alt attribute in your <img> tags to describe each image. Screen readers look for this attribute when they encounter an image and read it out.
- Tables: Try to avoid using tables for layout. If you do use them, make line-by-line reading sensible.
- Multimedia: Provide transcripts or descriptions for multimedia content. If you are using advanced technology that not all users will be able to access, think about whether you could provide a simpler alternative for those users.
Links
Tools, checklist and guidelines at
W3C (World Wide Web Consortium):
http://www.w3.org/WAI/Resources
RNIB:
http://www.rnib.org.uk
How People with Disabilities use the Web:
http://www.w3.org/WAI/EO/Drafts/PWD-Use-Web/Overview.html
Getting started: Making a web site accessible:
http://www.w3.org/WAI/gettingstarted
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines:
http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10/
