Building accessible and useable websites

1. UKOLN is supported by: Building accessible and useable websites Penny Garrod UKOLN University of Bath Bath, BA2 7AY Email p.garrod@ukoln.ac.uk URL http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/

2. Contents • Understanding how people with disabilities use the web • Web accessibility guidelines: how can they help? • Making effective use of web-based tools and advice • What can we learn from others? • Conclusions

3. Introduction and rationale "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 • the web was developed primarily as a visual medium • HTML and browsers have limitations • accessibility issues should be considered at design stage; tendency to focus on visual aspects of web and making site seem ‘cool’ (young and newish medium) • Why do it?: legal imperative:DDA 1995 + SENDA 2001; social inclusion agenda; convincing facts/statistics; ‘design for all’ – usability + accessibility benefits everyone.

4. Understanding how disabled people use the web • Visually impaired people use browser + • screen reader/magnification or braille displays e.g. Dolphin Supernova • keyboard instead of mouse (tab & enter keys to navigate websites) • Motor impairment: upper limbs, manual dexterity, co-ordination; use variety of input devices • Cognitive impairment: learning difficulties; dyslexia – plain language, easy navigation, uncrowded pages examples available on W3C WAI: www.w3.org/WAI/EO/Drafts/PWD-Use-Web/ Note: impossible to design single site accessible to everyone; testing with users with disabilities is best. (BBCi accessibility study, Feb 2003)

5. Web accessibility guidelines: how can they help? Guidelines for UK Government websites. Illustrated handbook for web management teams. OeE May 2002 revised March 2003. www.e-envoy.gov.uk/webguidelines.htm • Section 2.4 - 29 pages on ‘building in universal accessibility’ • Checklist of 23 points – includes statement that pages must comply with WAI ‘A’ (priority 1) standard. • includes W3C 10 ‘quick tips’ • includes the 14 point checklist of the Web Content Accessibility Initiative Guidelines 1.0 • Plus more e.g.myth busting stuff; advice re frames, applets, scripts; provide ‘skip’ navigation etc etc…

6. More guidelines and resources • WC3 Web Accessibility Initiative (WCAG) guidelines: www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10/ - the benchmark; most guidelines advise compliance • RNIB: “See it right” campaign; www.rnib.org.uk/digital - Recommends WAI guidelines; recent initiative with Mandoforms (online forms specialist); promotion of Adobe PDF accessibility • Higher education (UK): www.techdis.ac.uk/ • Trace (University of Wisconsin-Madison,USA): http://trace.wisc.edu/ • Jakob Nielsen (2000): Designing web usability: the practice of simplicity. Indianapolis, Ind.:New Riders. Also has website: www.useit.com/

7. Questions • Do guidelines actually help? • Are they presented in a format which is easy to use? • Are they too complex, long-winded, too time-consuming? • Are they used? • How do other governments & organisations handle it?

8. Tested with users with disabilities Identified problem areas: Portable Document Files (PDF); tables; colour schemes; Javascript; Flash need for meaningful ‘ALT’ tags for images Identified characteristics of high compliance sites Set series of tasks for disabled users to carry out Jargon busting and ‘making the obtuse clear’ very important Guidelines (WAI) used – but not ‘recipe’ for success good navigation is vital …… Lessons from BBCi: Accessibility study: February 2003

9. Learning from others: Canada www.cio-dpi.gc.ca/clf-upe/6/tools-outils_e.asp

10. UKonline: ‘easy access’ site

11. Making effective use of web-based tools and advice Bobby:http://bobby.watchfire.com/bobby/html/en/index.jsp Test for either: W3C compliance or Section 508 (USA). Simple: enter URL, results returned very quickly The Wave: http://wave.webaim.org/index.jsp • [Pennsylvania’s Initiative on Assistive Technology, Temple University,Philadelphia, USA] – icons denote errors. Enter URL and go…. • Bobby and The Wave require considerable human effort to interpret results. • W3C HTML validator may be better: http://validator.w3.org/ and CSS validator: http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/

12. Conclusions • Government guidelines provide comprehensive overview + useful checklists and summaries but….. • Compliance with WC3 guidelines recommended: Priority 1 ‘A’ rating (in line with UK Govt guidelines) or ‘AA’ is even better • Ensure consistency and ease of navigation • Ideally test with users with disabilities; try a screen reader & close eyes; switch off graphics; navigate using tab/enter keys • Learn from award winners e.g. SOCITM’s ‘Better Connected’ award; RNIB’s ‘See it right’ campaign; read the BBCi report – it contains useful stuff

13. and more conclusions • Use style sheets • ensure good contrast between text and background and left alignment of text (no right justification) • online forms: can they be completed by people using screen readers/magnification software? • Content: important e.g. plain language, no jargon - helps those with dyslexia or learning difficulties; also note that screen readers read everything on screen. • Use lots of white space – overcrowded screens are hard to read and navigate • Set test tasks;get colleagues to complete them using tab and enter keys – make changes, test again..