CFUNITED – The premier ColdFusion conference Making Government Websites Accessible Everything you need to know about Section 508 in less than 45 minutes

June 28 th – July 1 st 2006 Adam Wayne Lehman  U.S. Department of State Adobe User Group Manager  Senior Developer with the U.S. Department of State / IRM Business Center  Certified Advanced ColdFusion MX 7 Developer  10 years of web development experience  Adrocknaphobia.com

June 28 th – July 1 st 2006  * * Only available in Scorpio using AOP to dynamically inject accessibility

June 28 th – July 1 st 2006 Overview  Accessibility  Assistive Technology  Guidelines  Section 508 Text & Images Tables Navigation Forms

June 28 th – July 1 st 2006 Accessibility Accessibility is all about enabling people to get to (or access) the content of a Website and ensuring that they can navigate (get around) the site to find the information or perform the task they want. John Duckett Accessible XHTML and CSS Web Sites

June 28 th – July 1 st 2006 Did You Know?  1 out of 10 people are considered disabled  There are over thirty million people in the U S with disabilities or functional limitations (of which a major cause is aging), and this number is increasing.

June 28 th – July 1 st 2006 Benefits of Accessibility  Support for more devices and more situations save future re-writes.  Larger audience  Accessible sites are often a lot easier to use for many people (not just those with disabilities)  Separate design from content.

June 28 th – July 1 st 2006 Beyond the US Government  Private sector websites are liable to accessibility laws Sydney Olympics  Several countries outside the US have their own accessibility laws

June 28 th – July 1 st 2006 Assistive Technologies Technologies that make it easier for users with disabilities to access and navigate the internet.  Screen Readers  Braille Readers  Screen Magnifiers  Custom CSS style sheets  Alternative input devices

June 28 th – July 1 st 2006 Screen Readers Read elements aloud in an order that will make sense to the user. Users rely on hot keys and voice commands to navigate a document.  JAWS for Windows (JFW) The most popular screen reader software.  Home Page Reader (HPR) Easy to use  Windows-Eyes

June 28 th – July 1 st 2006 Braille Readers Creates a Braille equivalent of what a screen reader might read out on an electronic Braille pad. Pins moving up and down on a rotating wheel convert text on a screen to Braille. Braille readers are commonly used in conjunction screen reader software.

June 28 th – July 1 st 2006 Screen Magnifiers & Custom CSS Increase the magnification of content on a screen to help those have trouble reading a screen with text at normal sizes.  Hardware which attaches to a monitor and acts much like a common magnifying glass.  Software enlarges text and image directly on the screen.  Custom CSS style sheets, defined by the user, to enlarge text sizes.

June 28 th – July 1 st 2006 Alternative Input Devices  Touch Screens  Foot control mice  Eye or head movement tracking systems  Joysticks  Puff/Suck tubes

June 28 th – July 1 st 2006 Guidelines for Developing Accessible Content  Section 508 The Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1998 § Web-based intranet and internet information and applications.  Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) W3C Standard

June 28 th – July 1 st 2006 Section 508 Section 508 requires that individuals with disabilities, who are seeking information or services from a Federal agency, have access to and use of information and data that is comparable to that provided to the public who are not individuals with disabilities.  16 guidelines that pertain to Web-based intranet and internet information and applications.  All government operated Web sites must adhere to all 16 guidelines

June 28 th – July 1 st 2006 WCAG Guidelines  Published by the W3C  Contains 14 guidelines covering 65 checkpoints  Accessibility is measured on 3 priority levels Priority 1 A Web content developer must satisfy these checkpoints. Otherwise, one or more groups will find it impossible to access information. Priority 2 A Web content developer should satisfy these checkpoints. Otherwise, one or more groups will find it difficult to access information. Priority 3 A Web content developer may address these checkpoints. Otherwise, one or more groups will find it somewhat difficult to access information in the document.

June 28 th – July 1 st 2006 XHTML and CSS  The combination of XHTML and CSS separates the content and the design  XHTML uses a stricter structure, which makes it easier for accessibility tools to process, and makes it easier to display the same content on different devices  CSS can control the layout of a document, rather than using tables to create a layout grids (which can cause problems for assistive technologies)

June 28 th – July 1 st 2006 Foundations of an Accessible Site  Use W3C standards where possible  Control presentation with CSS  Structure content with correct markup  Provide alternatives to non-text content (images, audio, video, etc..)  Color and contrast consideration  Accessible navigation methods

June 28 th – July 1 st 2006 Section 508 Guidelines

June 28 th – July 1 st 2006 Text Equivalents Section A (WCAG 1.1) A text equivalent for every non text element shall be provided (e.g., Via “alt”, “longdesc”, or in element content).  All graphical images must include alt text which textually describes the image.  For charts, graphs or images with display data the longDesc attributes should be used

June 28 th – July 1 st 2006 Text Equivalents Section A (WCAG 1.1)  Alt text should be short and simple When you want a longer description onMouseOver, use the title attribute.  Capitalize and space letters on a abbreviation or acronym  Use descriptive names when naming your images  Apply alt text whenever possible

June 28 th – July 1 st 2006 Synchronized Multimedia Section B (WCAG 1.4) Equivalent alternatives for any Multimedia presentation shall be synchronized with the presentation. -Video must be closed-captioned -Flash Player 7+ supports captioning with the Hi- Caption SE component. Streams synchronized XML- based captions to the player.

June 28 th – July 1 st 2006 Use of Color Section C (WCAG 2.1) Web pages shall be designed so that all information conveyed with color is also available without color, for example from context or markup.

June 28 th – July 1 st 2006 Content Structure Section D (WCAG 6.1) Documents shall be organized so they are readable without requiring an associated style sheet.

June 28 th – July 1 st 2006 Image Maps Section E-F (WCAG 1.2, 9.1) (E) Redundant text links shall be provided For each active region of a server-side Image map. (F) Client-side image maps shall be provided instead of server-side image maps except where the regions cannot be defined with an available geometric shape.

June 28 th – July 1 st 2006 Tables Section G-H (WCAG 5.1, 5.2) (G) Row and column headers shall be identified for data tables. (F) Markup shall be used to associate data cells and header cells for data tables that have two or more logical levels of row or column headers.

June 28 th – July 1 st 2006 Frames Section I (WCAG 12.1) Frames shall be titled with text that facilitates frame identification and navigation.

June 28 th – July 1 st 2006 The Spinning Logo Section J (WCAG 7.1) Pages shall be designed to avoid causing the screen to flicker with a frequency greater than 2 Hz and lower than 55 Hz.

June 28 th – July 1 st 2006 When All Else Fails… Section K (WCAG 11.4) A text-only page, with equivalent information or functionality, shall be provided to make a web site comply with the provisions of this part, when compliance cannot be accomplished in any other way. The content of the text-only page shall be updated whenever the primary page changes.

June 28 th – July 1 st 2006 Scripting Section L When pages utilize scripting languages to display content, or to create interface elements, the information provided by the script shall be identified with functional text that can be read by assistive technology.

June 28 th – July 1 st 2006 Plug-Ins Section M When a web page requires that an applet, plug-in or other application be present on the client system to interpret page content, the page must provide a link to a plug-in or applet that complies with § (a) through (l).

June 28 th – July 1 st 2006 Navigation Section O A method shall be provided that permits users to skip repetitive navigation links.

June 28 th – July 1 st 2006 Extended Session Section P When a timed response is required, the user shall be alerted and given sufficient time to indicate more time is required.

June 28 th – July 1 st 2006 Forms Section N When electronic forms are designed to be completed on-line, the form shall allow people using assistive technology to Access the information, field elements, and functionality required for completion and submission of the form, including all directions and cues.

June 28 th – July 1 st 2006 Forms Section N Input Name

June 28 th – July 1 st 2006 Forms Section N TextArea Send A Message:

June 28 th – July 1 st 2006 Forms Section N Checkbox Choose a color: Blue Green Yellow

June 28 th – July 1 st 2006 Forms Section N Radio Buttons Choose a car: Chrysler PT Cruiser Dodge Stratus Ford Pinto

June 28 th – July 1 st 2006 Forms Section N Select Boxes Which is your favorite city? Amsterdam Interlaken Moscow Dresden New York

June 28 th – July 1 st 2006 Forms Using Dreamweaver 8 to Create Accessible Forms  Accessibility prompts (if enabled)  Accessibility reporting  Accessibility reference  Validate standard compliant XHTML  Dreamweaver itself is accessible!

June 28 th – July 1 st 2006 Reference  Section D=12  WCAG  Constructing Accessible Web Sites Bob Regan, Senior Product Manager for Accessibility, Adobe