Home
>
Web Development
>
Web Accessibility: The Basics

Web Accessibility: The Basics

What is web accessibility & why is it important?

Web accessibility is about making your website accessible to all Internet users (both disabled and non-disabled), regardless of what browsing technology they're using. In addition to complying with the law, an accessible website can reap huge benefits on to your website and your business.

Your website must be able to function with all different browsing technologies

The first and perhaps the most important rule of web accessibility. Not everyone is using the latest version of Internet Explorer, with all the plug-ins and programs that you may require them to have for your website. Different browsing technologies, each with their own accessibility requirements, can include:

* Lynx browser - Text-only browser with no support for tables, CSS, images, JavaScript, Flash or audio and video content

* WebTV - 560px in width with horizontal scrolling not available

* Screen reader - Page content read aloud in the order it appears in the HTML document

* Handheld device - Very small screen with limited support for JavaScript and large images

* Screen magnifier - As few as three to four words may be able to appear on the screen at any one time

* Slow connection (below 56kb) - Users may turn off images to enable a faster download time

* 1600px screen width - Very wide screen

This basically means that to ensure your website is accessible to everyone you must provide alternatives to:

* Images - in the form of ALT text

* JavaScript - through the tag

* Flash - with HTML equivalents

* Audio & video - by using subtitles or written transcripts

For enhanced website accessibility you must also be careful how your pages look when support for CSS and/or tables has been removed.

There are two good ways you can check your website is accessible for all these:

* Download the Opera browser and read this article on checking web accessibility with Opera (http://www.sitepoint.com/article/checking-just-browser)

* Download the Lynx browser from http://lynx.browser.org and see if you can successfully access every part of your website

Forms need to be accessible to all web users

When a web user fills out a form it's a great thing. People fill out forms to:

* Buy a product * Sign up to a newsletter * Ask a question

These are the goals of your website! A site visitor may look through your site, decides he likes what he sees and tries to sign up to your newsletter.

...But the form isn't accessible to him so he clicks away and you lose a potential customer. Most forms on the web suffer from accessibility issues. The two main reasons for this are:

* Prompt text is incorrectly positioned * Prompt text is unassigned to form items (Prompt text is the text that appears next to each form item, for example, 'name', 'e-mail', 'comments')

To find out more please read this article about making your forms accessible ( http://www.webcredible.co.uk/user-friendly-resources/web-accessibility/accessible-forms-1.shtml ).

It should be easy for all users to quickly process the content on your website

We generally don't read web pages. We scan, trying to find what we're looking for as quickly as possible. On a regular monitor, we scroll down the page looking at the items that stand out from the rest of the text: headings, links, bold text and bullet points. Non-keyboard and visually impaired users often scan pages by tabbing between headings or links.

To ensure the accessibility of your website, use headings, links, bold text and bullet points and make sure they contain descriptive text. For example, never use 'click here' for link text.

Structure and presentation should be completely separated

By separating structure and presentation your website will be accessible to and ready for the future of the Internet: PDAs, mobile phones, in-car browsers, WebTV and 1600px screens.

The structure of a document is how it is organised, usually with navigational menu items, headings, sub-headings, paragraphs, lists, and links. The presentation of a document is how these words and images are presented to the end user.

The main principle behind this accessibility guideline is to use CSS and not tables to lay out your web pages. Check out our CSS resources area for how to use CSS to increase your website's accessibility.

There's more to separating structure and presentation than just laying your web pages out with CSS. Have a look at this HTML element list that tells you which elements are structural and which are presentational. For optimal web accessibility, you can, and should, avoid using presentational elements as they may cause your website to become less accessible to certain users.

The end user should have control over your web pages

All web users have unique requirements for how they use the Internet, depending on the kind of browser they're using or any kind of handicap or disability they may have. By handing control back to your users you'll enhance your website's accessibility and you site visitors will be able to use your website in the way that best suits them.

This accessibility guideline could mean allowing users to resize text, warning them when links are going to open in a new window, or providing a link at the top of the screen that takes the user directly to the page content.

This article was written by Trenton Moss. He's crazy about web usability and accessibility - so crazy that he went and started his own web usability and accessibility consultancy ( Webcredible - http://www.webcredible.co.uk ) to help make the Internet a better place for everyone. They offer fantastic accessibility & CSS support packages, which you can read all about at http://www.webcredible.co.uk .

eco-friendly cleaning service Buffalo Grove ..

In The News:

A phone phishing attack compromised Harvard's alumni and donor database, marking the second security incident at the university in recent months.

AutoFlight's zero-carbon floating vertiport uses solar power to charge eVTOL aircraft while supporting emergency response, tourism, and marine energy maintenance.

A new phone return scam targets recent buyers with fake carrier calls. Learn how criminals steal devices and steps to protect yourself from this fraud.

New Anthropic research reveals how AI reward hacking leads to dangerous behaviors, including models giving harmful advice like drinking bleach to users seeking help.

The Fox News AI Newsletter gives readers the latest AI technology advancements, covering the challenges and opportunities AI presents.

Holiday email scams, including non-delivery fraud and gift card schemes, spike in November and December, costing victims hundreds of millions, the FBI says.

Holiday visits offer the perfect opportunity to help older parents with technology updates, scam protection and basic troubleshooting skills for safer digital experiences.

Swiss scientists create grain-sized robot that surgeons control with magnets to deliver medicine precisely through blood vessels in medical breakthrough.

Researchers exploited WhatsApp's API vulnerability to scrape 3.5 billion phone numbers. Learn how this massive data breach happened and protect yourself.

Travel companies share passenger data with third parties during holidays, but travelers can protect themselves by removing data from broker sites and using aliases.

Xpeng's humanoid robot moves so realistically that crowds believed it was fake, marking a major advancement in robotics technology ahead of 2026 commercial launch.

Researchers discover phishing scam using invisible characters to evade email security, with protection tips including password managers and two-factor authentication.

iPhone and Android users can reduce battery drain and data usage by restricting Background App Refresh to Wi-Fi connections instead of mobile networks.

Scammers nearly stole an Apple account by exploiting the support system with authentic-looking tickets and phone calls, users can protect themselves with safety steps.

FoloToy restored sales of its AI teddy bear Kumma after a weeklong suspension following safety group findings of risky and inappropriate responses to children.

Threat intelligence firm Synthient uncovers one of the largest password exposures ever, prompting immediate security recommendations.

Viral video shared by Elon Musk shows Tesla's Optimus humanoid robots performing tasks from cooking to construction, garnering over 58.5 million views on social media.

Chinese hackers used Anthropic's Claude AI to launch autonomous cyberattacks on 30 organizations worldwide, marking a major shift in cybersecurity threats.

Apple's new Sleep Score feature gives you a rating for your nightly rest quality. Learn how to set it up on your Apple Watch and iPhone today.

Essential phone settings to enable before losing your device, including Find My network, location services and security features for iPhone and Android.

The Fox News AI Newsletter gives readers the latest AI technology advancements, covering the challenges and opportunities AI presents.

Cybersecurity research shows weak passwords remain a major threat, with simple patterns and number sequences putting millions of accounts at risk.

New Android malware BankBot YNRK silences phones, steals banking data and drains crypto wallets automatically. Learn how this advanced threat works.

FDA approves first human trial for Paradromics' brain-computer interface that could restore speech for paralyzed patients through neural technology.

New phishing platform QRR targets Microsoft 365 users across 1,000 domains in 90 countries. Learn how to spot fake login pages and protect your accounts.

Web Accessibility: The Basics

Web Development