Accessible Web Design
Created | Updated Jan 28, 2002
<p><h2>What is accessible web design? </h2></p>
<p>Well really it's simply good web design. It means that your pages will be able to be viewed most easily by everyone - regardless of their browser (do they use IE or Netscape or something else?), their screen resolution (not everyone uses 800x600), their personal preferences (often people prefer to see the text alternative to pictures which take a long time to download), and even their disability (some might be using software that speaks everything back to them - just like the real H2G2!).</p>
<p>There is a huge amount of information out there on good web design. The best source is from the founding fathers of accessible web design who have put together the guidelines that have been adopted globally as the benchmark to which all forward-thinking web authors ensure their pages comply. Megadodo Publications themselves couldn't have come up with a clearer set of guidelines for the material submitted by their roving researchers.</p>
<p>The World Wide Web Consortium is that most sage of bodies who have put together these guidelines. Find them at their Web Accessibility Initiative home page:</p>
<p><center><h2><a href="www.w3c.org/wai" target="_blank">www.w3c.org/wai</a></h2></center></p>
<p>If you have existing code you would like to test for its accessibility why not ask a policeman? You can always trust a good old English Bobby (with the possible exception of Inspector Gilks). A good utility for identifying those parts of your pages that transgress good practice can be found at:</p>
<p><center><h2><a href="www.cast.org/bobby" target="_blank">www.cast.org/bobby</a></h2></center></p>
<p>A policemans helmet will appear next to each guilty offender.</p>
<p>"But what of H2G2" I hear you cry. "How does this earthbound version of the greatest of guidebooks the galaxy has ever known fare on this score?" There are a few aspects of this site that need some attention. No images or image maps have text descriptions, for example. But on the whole it's pretty good. </p>
<p>"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 </p>
<p>Well really it's simply good web design. It means that your pages will be able to be viewed most easily by everyone - regardless of their browser (do they use IE or Netscape or something else?), their screen resolution (not everyone uses 800x600), their personal preferences (often people prefer to see the text alternative to pictures which take a long time to download), and even their disability (some might be using software that speaks everything back to them - just like the real H2G2!).</p>
<p>There is a huge amount of information out there on good web design. The best source is from the founding fathers of accessible web design who have put together the guidelines that have been adopted globally as the benchmark to which all forward-thinking web authors ensure their pages comply. Megadodo Publications themselves couldn't have come up with a clearer set of guidelines for the material submitted by their roving researchers.</p>
<p>The World Wide Web Consortium is that most sage of bodies who have put together these guidelines. Find them at their Web Accessibility Initiative home page:</p>
<p><center><h2><a href="www.w3c.org/wai" target="_blank">www.w3c.org/wai</a></h2></center></p>
<p>If you have existing code you would like to test for its accessibility why not ask a policeman? You can always trust a good old English Bobby (with the possible exception of Inspector Gilks). A good utility for identifying those parts of your pages that transgress good practice can be found at:</p>
<p><center><h2><a href="www.cast.org/bobby" target="_blank">www.cast.org/bobby</a></h2></center></p>
<p>A policemans helmet will appear next to each guilty offender.</p>
<p>"But what of H2G2" I hear you cry. "How does this earthbound version of the greatest of guidebooks the galaxy has ever known fare on this score?" There are a few aspects of this site that need some attention. No images or image maps have text descriptions, for example. But on the whole it's pretty good. </p>
<p>"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 </p>
