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"Ten quick tests to check your website for accessibility"
The Disability Discrimination Act says that websites must be made accessible
to disabled people. So how can you check that your website is up to par? There
are a number of basic tests you can make to address some of the main issues.
Webcredible, a web accessibility and usability consultant, suggest a number
of guidelines that provide a good start in increasing accessibility to your
site visitors.
1. Check informational images for alternative text
Place the cursor over an informational image, for example, the organisation
logo. Does a yellow box appear with a brief, accurate description of the image?
For users whose browsers do not support images, this alternative text is what
they will see (or hear) in place of the image.
2. Check decorative images for alternative text
Place the cursor over a decorative image that does not have any function other
than to look nice. Does a yellow box appear with a description of the image?
It should not. There is no reason for users whose browsers do not support images
to know that this image is there, as it serves no purpose.
Be careful though as this is not a foolproof test. If a yellow box does not
appear, this could mean one of two things:
The alternative text of the image is assigned a null value, which means that
it will be ignored by browsers that do not support images. This is the ideal
scenario.
The alternative text of the image is simply not set at all, which means that
users whose browsers do not support images will be alerted to its existence
but will be unable to find out what purpose it carries ? something which is
very frustrating! This is certainly not the desired outcome.
3. ?Listen? to any video or audio content with the volume turned off
If you turn your speakers off, you are clearly unable to listen to, or follow,
any audio content. This situation is faced by a deaf person on a daily basis.
Ensure your website supplies written transcripts, so that deaf people can understand
the message that your website is conveying.
4. Check that forms are accessible
Usually there is prompt text next to each item in a form. For example, a contact
form might have the prompt text ?name?, ?e-mail?, and ?comments?, each one next
to a box where your site users will enter the information. When you click on
the prompt text, does a flashing cursor appear in the box next to that text?
If not, your forms are inaccessible.
5. Check that text can be resized
In Internet Explorer (used by over 90% of Internet users) go to View > Font
size > Largest. Does the text on your website increase in size? If not, then
your website is inaccessible to web users with poor visibility.
6. Check your website in the Lynx browser
The Lynx browser is a text-only browser and does not support many of the features
that other browsers such as Internet Explorer have. You can check how your site
looks in this browser with the Lynx Viewer, available at http://www.delorie.com/web/lynxview.html.
If your website makes sense and can be navigated through the Lynx browser, then
it will be fulfilling many of the web accessibility guidelines.
7. Check that you can access all areas of your website without the use of a
mouse
Can you navigate through your website using just tab, shift-tab and return?
If not, then neither can keyboard- and voice-only users.
8. Check that there is a site map
Can you find a site map? If not, then neither can people who are lost on your
website.
9. Ensure link text makes sense out of context
Blind Internet users often browse websites by tabbing from one link to the next.
Does all the link text on your website make sense out of context? ?Click here?
and ?more? are two common examples of non-descriptive link text.
10. Check your web pages with an automated program
Two programs available for free on the Internet are Bobby (http://bobby.watchfire.com)
and Wave (http://www.wave.webaim.org). They are unable to provide you with all
the information that you need, as some checks must be done by humans, but they
can tell you some of the areas where your site might be going wrong.
By:Trenton Moss
target="new">http://www.webcredible.co.uk |
