I was recently invited to write a guest post at Yuri Filimonov’s search marketing blog, Improve the Web. The title of the blog says it all: improving the web is what Yuri is dedicated to doing, and he was hoping I’d provide some useful and simple accessibility tips. I tried to stay away from the usual “code with CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) and standards” rigamarole, instead focusing on the features which you can relatively easily employ without a complete redesign […]
Continue reading “Guest Post Available at Improve the Web” »Category: Accessibility
The Accessibility Silver Bullet
Is a myth. Like the werewolf it purportedly slays, it doesn’t exist. “It’s the silver bullet,” IMRG’s Chief Executive James Roper told Reuters. “Put this little button on your site and suddenly you are legal.” ITpro.co.uk, Websites must be accessible to disabled, firms told IMRG (Interactive Media in Retail Group) supports a little piece of software that transforms text into speech. Basically, it’s a screen reader plugin. And it is not, in any way, a “silver bullet” for accessibility. Give […]
Continue reading “The Accessibility Silver Bullet” »Beyond Validation
For any qualified web developer, code validation is a step. Usually a step which is repeated frequently through the development process – and an important step, certainly, but just one small step in the process to create a standards-based, accessible web design. Validation, by itself, should never be considered as a primary signifier concerning the quality or accessibility of a website: not all validations are equal, after all. There are a number of important questions to be asked when looking […]
Continue reading “Beyond Validation” »What CSS means for Accessibility
Loren Baker recently published an article by Mikhail Tuknov entitled Benefits of CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) in Search Engine Optimization. It’s a basic article describing the potential benefits of cascading style sheets in regards to SEO, maintenance, etc. General purpose CSS advocacy. In general, if you aren’t convinced that CSS is worth using, it’s probably worth reading – however, it does emphasize one fallacy which is, personally, a pet peeve. CSS makes your website more accessible. […] By separating style […]
Continue reading “What CSS means for Accessibility” »WebmasterRadio.com to become Available to the Deaf
When you’re at a major industry conference, there’s always the possibility you’ll find out some piece of information you didn’t already know. (Actually, that’s the whole point of a conference, as I understand it.) One thing I picked up on Monday is the news that Webmaster Radio, one of the top locations for web industry news and interviews, is in the process of launching their second generation website – which will include complete text transcriptions of their two years of […]
Continue reading “WebmasterRadio.com to become Available to the Deaf” »