Thank you for taking part in this experiment. Andy and Dave Design Accessible Web Sites Thirty-Six Keys to Creating Content for All Audiences and Platforms
Jeremy J. Sydik
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Quotation from “The Hobbit” by J. R. R. Tolkien. Copyright © 1937, 1966 by The J. R. R. Tolkien Copyright Trust. Reprinted by permission of The J. R. R. Tolkien Copyright Trust.
Quotation from “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.” Copyright © 1975 by Python (Monty) Pictures Ltd. Reprinted by permission of Python (Monty) Pictures Ltd.
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 (Recommendation) http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10/ Copyright © 1999 World Wide Web Consortium (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, European Research Consortium for Informatics and Mathematics, Keio University). All Rights Reserved
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 (Public Working Draft) http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20/ Copyright © 2007 World Wide Web Consortium (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, European Research Consortium for Informatics and Mathemat- ics, Keio University). All Rights Reserved
Cover image courtesy of Katherine A.W. Sydik
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Copyright © 2007 Jeremy J. Sydik.
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ISBN-10: 1-934356-02-6 ISBN-13: 978-1-934356-02-9
Contents
Acknowledgments 10
Preface 12 Getting to Know Each Other ...... 13 Finding Your Way Through This Book ...... 14 Principles Before Guidelines ...... 15
Part I—Laying the Foundation 18
Why Be Accessible? 19 1.1 It’s the Right Thing to Do ...... 19 1.2 Accessibility is Good Business ...... 20 1.3 Accessible Sites are More Usable ...... 21 1.4 It’s the Law ...... 21 1.5 Building with Accessibility Can Make You More Capable 24
A Brief Introduction to Disabilities 26 2.1 Visual Impairments ...... 26 2.2 Auditory Impairments ...... 29 2.3 Mobility Impairments ...... 31 2.4 Cognitive Impairments ...... 32 2.5 Multiple Disabilities ...... 33
An Environment for Access 35 1. Making a Team Effort ...... 37 2. Plan for Access ...... 46 3. Multiple Access Paths ...... 53 4. Don’t Get WET! ...... 57 5. Guidelines for Accessibility ...... 61 CONTENTS 7
Testing for Accessibility 64 6. Testing as a Design Decision ...... 65 7. Building a Testing Toolbox ...... 69 8. Getting Your Hands Dirty ...... 76
Part II—Building a Solid Structure 81
The Structured Life 82 9. Say It With Meaning ...... 83 10. Keeping It Simple is Smart ...... 89 11. Minding Your
’s and ’s ...... 94 12. Linking It All Together ...... 98 13. Styled To The Nines ...... 101 14. Welcome To The Future ...... 105
Round Tables 110 15. Setting The Table ...... 111 16. Ah,