The justification that a web site is accessible because it “follows standards” contains a serious fallacy. Specifically, the assumption that standards support accessibility. One root of current standard accessibility practice is conformance to the HTML (HyperText Markup Language) or XHTML (eXtensible HyperText Markup Language – HTML reformulated as XML (eXtensible Markup Language)) standards set by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C (World Wide Web Consortium)). This is a fine practice, and certainly should be maintained. Using correct syntax and following […]
Continue reading “Supporting Standards that Support Accessibility” »Category: Web standards
CSS3: On Grid Positioning and Layout
Following up on tables and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets), the grid model of layout execution is part of the CSS level 3 working draft. The specifications for the grid layout module being discussed were released on September 5, 2007. This module describes integration of grid-based layout (similar to the grids traditionally used in books and newspapers) with CSS sizing and positioning. Document Abstract Semantically, the grid layout system is a nice development — it is a system explicitly and exclusively […]
Continue reading “CSS3: On Grid Positioning and Layout” »Care about standards? No, not exactly…
Recently, it seems like I’m writing a lot about web standards from an unusual perspective (for me). Rather than evangelizing techniques such as CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) and Web Standards, I’m trying to give every argument a fair discussion. I want to evangelize thinking. This is the result of a notable shift in thought: I’ve been moving in a slightly different direction in my way of approaching web development principles. I believe it’s a more sophisticated way of thinking, but […]
Continue reading “Care about standards? No, not exactly…” »Pseudo-Accessibility: Reinventing the Wheel
In my last post, Accessibility and Client Expectations, a major point was on the practice of implementing accessibility as a site “add-on,” rather than developing a web site from the ground up with accessibility in mind. Some of the features which are implemented in this manner fall into a gross category I’m inclined to describe as “pseudo-accessibility.” In general, pseudo-accessible features are those which: Solve the symptom, not the problem. Create additional accessibility problems in their implementation Reinvent the wheel […]
Continue reading “Pseudo-Accessibility: Reinventing the Wheel” »Discussion of WCAG 2.0 at WebAxe
Last night, I participated in a group discussion on the current working draft of WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) 2.0 with Jared Smith of WebAIM and the hosts of the WebAxe podcast, Dennis Lembree and Ross Johnson. Mike Cherim was also supposed to be involved, but technological difficulties prevented it, unfortunately. The new podcast from WebAxe is now posted, so give it a listen to hear what we think about the latest changes to WCAG 2.0.
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