http://accessites.org/site The Art of Accessibility Tue, 30 Jun 2009 15:28:45 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en When guest author Roger Hudson presents accessibility seminars or workshops, he usually asks those attending to indicate if they have seen a screen reader being used. Several years ago, it was not uncommon for only about 10 percent of the audience to indicate that they had. Recently, often more than three quarters of the people attending say they have seen a screen reader in use. However, nearly all assume a screen reader is an audio output device and when asked if they have seen a Braille device, the answer is usually no. So Roger and Braille user, Bruce Maguire, decided to create a video demonstrating a refreshable Braille device in use. They hope that this will provide viewers with both a basic understanding of how the device is operated and a feeling for what it might be like to access the web without relying on the senses of sight and hearing.]]> http://accessites.org/site/2009/06/refreshable-braille/ Compared to many other bed and breakfast (B&B) websites that we've seen, the Orion House Bed and Breakfast site is outstanding. We're convinced that evveryone's online search for B&B accomodation would be far easier and pleasanter if all such sites were of this standard.]]> http://accessites.org/site/2009/05/orion-house-bed-and-breakfast/ Late in 2005 I had the notion that most people felt accessible web sites are boring and basically without merit offering only the most simplistic functionality and style. As long as that notion persisted, I thought, it would effectively hold back the masses from embracing the needs of all users, not just those they felt were important. I thought that I could perhaps alter that notion, dispelling the myth, by showcasing sites that are accessible yet still look and work great.]]> http://accessites.org/site/2009/05/under-new-management/ Accessibility and web accessibility are often highlighted as issues for people with disabilities. This is no surprise, all things considered, given the common definition of accessibility. "Disability" is, however, an almost meaninglessly broad term. Many of those who could be considered disabled would not choose to self-identify as disabled. "Disability" is a label, and like any label, the members of the labeled group are diverse and may exhibit the label in unexpected ways.]]> http://accessites.org/site/2009/03/leveling-the-playing-field-were-all-differently-abled/ The Keith W. Bell site, at first glance, appeared clean and professional, albeit perhaps fittingly plain. Once we started exploring more deeply, kicking the site's tires and looking under the hood, so to speak, we quickly came to the conclusion that this is one top-notch piece of work. If you derive pleasure from looking at well-structured code and thoughtful features not overdone, you're going to love it. And if you need the Keith W. Bell site to be accessible: it's access granted.]]> http://accessites.org/site/2009/02/keith-w-bell/ WordPress' handling of empty site search inputs is far from satisfactory. Because the search form references the overall site address, submission of an empty search causes the site's home page to be displayed. No error report. Nothing to indicate what has happened. Nada. Zilch. Nothing! The solution, however, is blindingly simple and merely involves a few, fairly simple, changes to three WordPress theme files.]]> http://accessites.org/site/2009/01/wordpress-empty-searches/ The Raspberry Frog site has a very contemporary, well structured design that compliments both the branding direction as well as the favorable user experience. The brand of the site focuses on the "raspberry" theme quite effectively with the consistent use of the color in it's imagery, graphics, and text throughout. As well, the overall visual structure of the site makes it simple for the user to absorb the content effectively. This is done by the choice of the graphics used to create the content's containers, mainly with the secondary content on the left side. As an added bonus, not many sites have their secondary content to the left of the main content. With the visual structure, it works quite well.]]> http://accessites.org/site/2008/12/raspberry-frog/ Many sites are built using WordPress (WP) as the content management system (CMS). Not just blogs but full-blown ecommerce sites and others. The power and flexibility of WP is evident by these implementations. And speaking of implementations, it was used as the CMS for a site recently built as a Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 implementation, to the level of AAA (one of two in the world with the other being Vision Australia). To learn more about that, here's a short summary of the experience. This article is about WordPress's end of things.]]> http://accessites.org/site/2008/11/wordpress-and-accessibility/ Sooner or later, you're bound to come across an article, or blog entry, that talks about text size widgets. What exactly are these widgets and are they of any real use? A text-size widget is a link, input or user control that allows users to view the site via an alternative style sheet with a larger, or smaller, relative font. The widget itself may be a short piece of text such as "Large Text" or it could be a small icon. Some sites offer a whole range of small, medium and large 'A' icons that change the text size. But, at the end of the day, it has to be said that this kind of accessibility option does replicate functionality that is probably best accomplished through the user's own browser. So do these widgets offer any practical user support?]]> http://accessites.org/site/2008/08/wrangling-widgets/ The Accessibility NZ site, (NZ for New Zealand,) is a well-constructed, simple approach to accessible design. The site clearly demonstrates a firm grasp of the fundamentals of accessibility. Looking under the hood shows a very clean, efficient use of markup with a bare minimum of necessary tags. No extra fluff here! The simple design offers a few graphic touches which help make the site interesting without adding distraction to the layout.]]> http://accessites.org/site/2008/06/accessibility-nz/ The role of the User-Centered Design (UCD) process is vital to the success of site and/or application development yet it remains something of a foreign concept. It is also frequently bundled in with "Usability" and tacked on to the end of a project instead of taking its proper place as the underlying foundation. So, what is User-Centered Design and how should it be applied?]]> http://accessites.org/site/2008/06/user-centered-design-and-usability-its-role-in-a-project/ The Woking Borough Council site is one of the best UK council sites that we've seen in a long time. Good looking, highly usable and mostly accessible. Given that councils, faced with huge amounts of information to publish, often struggle with the design elements of their site, our immediate impression was just how coherent this design is.]]> http://accessites.org/site/2008/05/woking-borough-council/