Thanks to an off-hand comment from Steve Green while discussing a forthcoming Accessites article, I’ve spent some time today thinking about what it takes to write for accessibility. Most of the time, the primary focus of information about accessibility has to do with making non-text information available as text. Captioning and audio description for video, transcriptions for audio, simple text alternatives for static images. Next in the list tends to be availability of functionality: progressive enhancement for client-side scripting, ability […]
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Developing an effective text-resizing widget
The grand old question concerning techniques and choices in web accessibility which, while common, are not necessarily helpful is a popular subject which is always around in accessibility circles. It’s certainly not a new topic for me to write on, but one which (for whatever reason) I’m going to go ahead and write about again. In this case, I’m going to take a single commonly implemented method: the text-resizing tool, and discuss the advantages and disadvantages in some depth. This […]
Continue reading “Developing an effective text-resizing widget” »Alternative Text for Significant Images
In the comments from my most recent article, “Supporting Standards that Support Accessibility,” a number of interesting thoughts were raised concerning the requirement (or lack thereof) of the alt attribute in HTML (HyperText Markup Language) 5. It’s a difficult issue. I’ve seen numerous articles around the web which discuss the fact that HTML 5 does not require the alt attribute. To some degree, this is true: HTML 5 provides exclusions to the requirement. In situations where an image is significant […]
Continue reading “Alternative Text for Significant Images” »Google Toolbar ties to the Windows Accessibility API
Quietly released on the Saturday before Christmas, (what, are they trying to hide this news?) Google announced that their latest Toolbar release supports the Windows Accessibility API (Application Programming Interface). This is (obviously) a Windows-specific release, and even further, it’s just an Internet Explorer release. However, it’s definitely a step in the right direction! I was particularly glad to see the comment: Version 5 comes as a part of our ongoing efforts to enhance accessibility in our client-side and web […]
Continue reading “Google Toolbar ties to the Windows Accessibility API” »Supporting Standards that Support Accessibility
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 […]
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