Website Accessibility Guide

Website accessibility guide

Part 2: How could my website be accessed?

This article aims to give a brief outline of issues that people may have in using your site, the common features that may help site users overcome these problems, and the assistive technologies that could be used to access sites.

If you are responsible for, or are involved in the creation of, websites you need to have an understanding of:

 how a website can exclude disabled people  the technologies people may be using to access your website  the types and presentation of content that people may have difficulties with.

Typical impairments that may have an impact on people being able to access sites effectively are listed in the table below.

Table 1: Impairments and technical solutions

Impairment Solution Other advantages to solution

Impaired sight or Images described, audio Supports non-graphical access (some people disable blindness description for video images in their pages to allow pages to load more quickly), and quicker access to information when page is downloading slowly

Partial sight Flexible design that allows Supports people browsing with other devices with small the user to control the size screens and monochrome displays, such as some and colour of text on screen personal digital assistants (PDAs) and mobile phones

Impaired hearing or Text transcripts for audio Supports slow access, and English as a second deafness language (the visitor will have more time to review and understand the text)

Impaired dexterity (such Keyboard access Also supports no-mouse technologies (mobile phones as arthritis, tremor, lack and PDAs, for example) of limbs)

Impaired cognition (such Logical navigation, plain Also supports English as a second language, internet as memory, English novices and everyday users (everyone appreciates clear concentration) content and navigation) Table 1 is adapted from information provided by Julie Howell, Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB) Web Access Centre [http://www.rnib.org.uk/xpedio/groups/public/documents/code/public_rnib008789.hcsp].

If you have an existing site or are developing one quickly consider whether it might be easy for people with the above impairments to use, and gain a partial understanding of the issues that some people may face. Try navigating your site using the keyboard, as some visitors will be unable to use a mouse; to simulate certain visual impairments try aDesigner [http://www.alphaworks.ibm.com/tech/adesigner] or the Web Accessibility Toolbar [http://www.nils.org.au/ais/web/resources/toolbar].

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Some visitors to your site will be using assistive technologies to access content. Assistive technologies are ones that help users with certain needs to view and understand content.

To gain a flavour of how people may be using your site read about the types of assistive technologies, and try some of the free downloads.

Screen magnifiers

Screen magnifiers are often used by people with poor or low vision. At its most basic, a software screen magnifier simulates a traditional magnifying glass, enlarging whatever it is pointed at. Virtual Magnifying Glass [http://magnifier.sourceforge.net] is available for free download.

Specialist and commercial products are significantly more powerful and can give additional functionality, including split screen views, reverse colour schemes, the ability of a user to set their own colour preferences, an outline view to aid navigation, and the ability of enlarging whatever is under the cursor.

Screen readers

Screen readers are primarily useful for people who are blind or have severe vision impairments. These aids convert on-screen information from the operating system and software applications to an alternate output format, usually audio (via speakers or headphones) and/or Braille (via a hardware Braille display). They can translate only text-based information. Graphics and images or other non- text objects cannot be described. However, any text equivalents for non-text objects can be read. For information about text equivalents, see Part 7, section 1 of this guide.

Narrator for Windows XP is a basic screen reader built into the Windows XP operating system that can be used to gain a basic idea of this type of assistive device [http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/accessibility/narratorturnon.mspx].

Some screen reader users may opt to use a text-only browser such as Lynx [http://lynx.browser.org] or a dedicated self-voicing browser (one that will read the page aloud to the user) such as the IBM Home Page Reader [http://www-306.ibm.com/able/solution_offerings/hpr.html], as these readers display only text and text-equivalent objects, filtering out graphical content and JavaScript and simplifying the experience.

To experience what a site will look like in a text-only browser try the Lynx Viewer [http://www.delorie.com/web/lynxview.html].

Screen-reading technologies can also be of value to dyslexic people, those not reading in their first language, or those with poor literacy. These technologies can aid comprehension by reading text aloud, either as the sole mode of reading or in conjunction with visual reading. Products for the vision impairment market incorporate powerful, and often complex, user interface support. Those with a literacy-enhancing focus tend to be more dependent on mouse use, for example requiring the user to highlight text that they would like to be read out loud. Such solutions might more accurately be described as screen voicing. Examples include Browsealoud [http://www.browsealoud.com/home.asp], ReadSpeaker [http://readspeaker.episerverhotell.net/default.aspx?id=219] and ReadPlease [http://www.readplease.com].

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On-screen keyboards

These may be used by people who have difficulties using a standard keyboard. An on-screen keyboard lets people select keys using a pointing method such as pointing devices, switches or Morse-code input systems. For example, Click-n-Type [http://www.lakefolks.org/cnt], provided by Lake Software, is available to download for free; or try Dasher [http://www.inference.phy.cam.ac.uk/dasher].

Keyboard enhancement utilities

These utilities are used by people who have difficulty typing and controlling a mouse. They enhance the functionality of a standard keyboard, by translating one keystroke into a series of keystrokes (for example, the Control-Alt-C combination could be simplified as the Esc key), so reducing keystroke repetition. These enhancements are often built into the base platform and are known as AccessPac [http://www.microsoft.com/enable] on Microsoft Windows, AccessX [http://www.sun.com/access/general/accessx.html] on Solaris/CDE and EasyAccess [http://www.apple.com/accessibility] on Mac OS.

Speech recognition programs

Speech recognition programs primarily benefit people with dexterity impairments such as Parkinson's disease and repetitive strain injury. These utilities let people control computers with their voice instead of a mouse or keyboard.

Alternative input devices

Alternative input devices allow individuals to control their computers through means other than a standard keyboard or pointing device. Examples include smaller or larger keyboards, eye-gaze pointing devices, and sip-and-puff systems controlled by breathing.

You can find a list of assistive software and hardware technologies with associated vendors on the VisionConnection website [http://www.visionconnection.org]. Also remember that many software packages often have accessibility tools included (for example, the latest version of Microsoft Windows XP has an on-screen keyboard and screen magnifiers included as standard).

Alternative browsers

As mentioned above there are two main types of alternative browsers - the text browser and the self- voicing browser. Both of these browsers display only text and text equivalents, and filter out graphical content, JavaScript and other programmed objects to simplify the pages for the user.

The use of such browsers is becoming increasingly uncommon, as the trend is towards mainstream browsers used in conjunction with various forms of assistive technologies (screen readers, for example).

The most popular text-only browser is Lynx [http://lynx.browser.org] and the IBM Home Page Reader, a self-voicing browser, can be found on the IBM website [http://www-306.ibm.com/able/solution_offerings/hpr.html].