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Testing Web site Accessibility
Review of disabilities, legislation & techniques
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What we’ll cover
Web accessibility overviewAccessibility toolsBreak out sessionSummarise findingsAccessibility toolkit
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Web Accessibility Overview
DisabilitiesLegislationICT Compliance
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What is Web site Accessibility?
Assistive technologies TTS (text-to-speech) browsersText-only browsersVoice-enabled browsersKeyboard or mouse commandsBraille devicesScreen magnification
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Why is it Important?
More people accessing the webDisabled : 10% to 20%Average age of population in many countries is increasingCarry-over benefits for other usersLegal requirements
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Disabilities
Low VisionHearingMotor SkillsCognitive AbilitiesLow Grade Technology
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Low Vision
Background colourContrastColour scheme can be over-riddenAvoid GraphicsItalicsUnderlineCAPITALISATION
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Hearing
CaptionsTranscripts
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Motor Skills
Key Tabs <IMG SRC="banner.gif" ALT="Navigation banner" WIDTH="580" HEIGHT="21"BORDER="0" usemap="#bannermap“>
<MAP NAME="bannermap“> <AREA SHAPE="rect" HREF="internal.html" ALT="Employee information" COORDS="506,2 577,18" TABINDEX=“3“>
<AREA SHAPE="rect" HREF="news.html" ALT="News and events" COORDS="186,2 303,18" TABINDEX="1“>
<AREA SHAPE="rect" HREF="searches.html" ALT="Search" COORDS="311,2 475,18" TABINDEX="2"> </MAP>
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Cognitive Abilities
Use clear languageSimple NavigationWrite for the webUse non-text examples
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Low Grade Technology
BandwidthOld MachinesOld Browsers
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Legislation
HistoryWhat’s Affected?Responsibilities
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Legislation History
Disability Discrimination Act of 1995Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001
01 September 2002‘Reasonable Adjustments’
Assistive TechnologiesAccessible Services
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What’s Affected - Accessible ICT
Departmental, Faculty, Institutional Web sitesIntranetsVLEs & MLEsInformation GatewaysResource portalsWeb-based applicationsany digital resource
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Responsibilities – in theory
‘Reasonable Adjustments’
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Responsibilities – in practice
Validate using available toolsW3C Guideline compliantAccessibility Policy in place
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Accessibility Tools
Preliminary ReviewConformance EvaluationAutomated Evaluation
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Preliminary Review
Turn off imagesTurn off soundChange font sizeSet screen resolutionChange display colourUse tab keys
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Conformance Evaluation
Images & animations Image mapsMultimedia/Scripts & appletsHypertext linksPage organisationFramesTables
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Validation ToolsW3C Validation Service
HTML and CSS validation servicehttp://validator.w3.org
Bobby CASTAutomated Accessibility service
http://www.cast.org/bobby
Lynx CheckerA tool that simulates a text-based web browser
http://www.delorie.com/web/lynxview.html
VischeckA tool that simulates colour-blindness
http://vischeck.com/vischeckURL.php3
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Break out session
Your HE WebsiteSelect 3 key pages (home, prospectus, other)
Preliminary ReviewConformance EvaluationAutomated Evaluation
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Techniques to keep in mind
Provide text equivalents for all non-text elementsProvide summaries of tablesOrganise content clearlyProvide alternative content for all plug-in elements
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Accessibility Policy
We are committed to ensuring accessibility of our Web sites for people with disabilities. New and updated Web content produced by us organization will conform to W3C/WAI's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0, Conformance Level A…
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Web site help
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Prioritise Compliance
Home page and high-traffic pagesAll new pagesMedium-traffic pages longer-term goal of overall compliance
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Accessibility Toolkit
Resources handoutWeb site evaluation checklist
Preliminary reviewConformance evaluationAutomated evaluation
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Thank youQuestions…?