http://accessites.org/site The Art of Accessibility Tue, 06 May 2008 13:17:31 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en As seen on our Resources page, there are a number of web accessibility evaluation tools available to developers. Most accessible web developers fall into three groups as it pertains to the value of these tools. Either they love them, hate them, or don't really understand how to use them. The purpose of this article is to encourage those who love them to not overly depend on them, those who hate them to stop being haters, and those who don't understand them to come away with an open mind.]]> http://accessites.org/site/2008/05/accessibility-evaluators-arent-worthless/ The CoffeeNet site is a vast site offering a wealth of content that may be of interest to anyone going to or living in the Seattle, Washington area. It covers restaurants, coffee shops, entertainment, and a lot more. Everything and anything anyone might want or need, and, as it concerns this web site, "everyone" would include most disabled users because the site was designed with accessibility in mind. It shows.]]> http://accessites.org/site/2008/04/coffeenet/ The Pacifica Training site is smart looking, has a nice logo and oozes neatness. Use of graphics is minimal with only two background images used on the whole site! The site had a nice liquid layout which performs well across desktop browsers and text resizes without too many issues. We felt that a couple of more images to support content wouldn't have hurt. The code generated by this custom WordPress theme is for the most part, clean, lean and semantic.]]> http://accessites.org/site/2008/04/pacifica-training/ volunteer yourself to be paired with a company that signs up for an evaluation of their site. You do have to commit to getting it done within ten days, and it will be a generous contribution of your time, but it is a good cause. And if you are a company with a web site, this is worth your while. It's an ideal opportunity for companies that wonder about the accessibility of their site.]]> http://accessites.org/site/2008/04/the-john-slatin-fund-accessibility-project/ validate page markup against the Extensible HyperText Markup Language (XHTML) and HyperText Markup Language (HTML) specification documents. We can check style sheets against the Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) specifications. Then there are guidelines...]]> http://accessites.org/site/2008/03/specifications-standards-guidelines-and-recommendations/ The Webdesign UK site, a resubmission of a previous grading, has improved from having the look of a typical corporate, fixed width, boxy looking site to a more modern, stylish and focused site. Its use of canonic icons as well as the general layout of information makes for a more pleasant and effective user experience. We were also pleased with the use of mostly clean and semantic markup.]]> http://accessites.org/site/2008/03/webdesign-uk-2/ Guide to good practice in commissioning accessible websites" -- was released in the UK in March 2006. Aimed at non-technical site owners and managers, the document describes the role of standards and user testing within web site development. But, although PAS78 was developed by the British Standards Institute (BSi), it is not a UK standard -- although it was seen as the first step in in the creation of a formalised standard.]]> http://accessites.org/site/2008/02/new-british-standard-for-web-accessibility-announced/ I command thee, headings. Do not defy me as I am the all-powerful web developer. I am your master for I wield a style sheet with which I can make you mine... Wow! Where did that come from? It sounds so dramatic. And, yet, it so well defines our relationship with heading elements. Of course not everyone will feel this way. I, for one, recall a time when headings where something I avoided using. I mean, really, they're so big and black and ugly. That was early-on in my foray into the craft, though, when paragraphs -- or pseudographs as I like to call them now -- were made by placing two break elements between two blocks of text. I didn't know better. I didn't realize the power I had at hand via my style sheet. I learned.]]> http://accessites.org/site/2008/02/a-command-of-headings-usage-and-styling/ The Creative Access site has a lot to offer visitors as a solid, easily navigable web site. The site is equally effective in all browsers tested, so it looks like a lot of thought went into the testing process. The site looks almost exactly normal with images disabled, since regions with images have been provided with sensible and equivalent background colors.]]> http://accessites.org/site/2008/02/creative-access/ If you've been following the news, you know IBM bought Watchfire for their web security software. This stuff happens all the time and rarely are we directly affected. This time, though, we will feel the loss. Rather, anyone who used to use the Bobby "WebXact" accessibility evaluation tool will feel the loss. It's a temporary condition, though, at least according to IBM. ]]> http://accessites.org/site/2008/02/bobby-is-gone/ The Optimalworks site immediately impressed us with its crisp visual image and sense of purpose. The visuals were big, bold and clear with a large readable font size and good use of supporting images/icons -- all of which contributed to a strong design that was both bright and cheerful. Then we switched images off and, to our surprise and delight, the site still looked good! We also noted the extensive meta text -- another demonstration of good attention to detail on this site from the ground up. With the odd exception, keyboard navigation was an absolute breeze, thanks to the very clear onfocus link highlighting. No messing about with subtle changes here or unintuitive tab ordering either. The link highlighting hit us right in the eye (even on graphical links) and the tab order was exactly as expected given the visual display. All of which made navigating this site by keyboard a real no-brainer. All in all, the kind of keyboard friendly site that should be the norm -- not the exception.]]> http://accessites.org/site/2008/02/optimalworks/ AbilityNet's latest State of the eNation Report focuses on social networking websites which, the report claims, are locking out disabled users. Sites such as Bebo, Facebook, and MySpace have revolutionised online communication but millions of disabled people may not even be able to register - let alone participate - in the online communities that these sites offer. Yet disabled users may have the most to gain from social networking as, currently, they include some of the most socially excluded members of our communities.]]> http://accessites.org/site/2008/01/social-networking-not-for-everyone/