‘Web accessibility is easy’ Approaches to creating accessible web pages

Problem 1: Which level? Reaching a basic level of A compliance Aiming higher?

Problem 2: web authors don’t understand what they’re doing Provide good web authoring tools Provide validation tools Provide training Provide templates or develop/test them with web authors Prioritise key areas Inform HoDs about legal liability issues and make them aware it is a priority Any improvement is better than none

Usability vs Accessibility No guarantees that an accessible page will be easy to use. However, forcing designers/developers to think about their audience’s needs can never be a bad thing surely?

Garbage in, garbage out? If we rely on the goodwill of part time web authors with varying skills and time, is it any surprise that the standard is inconsistent? Long term issues: professionalisation of web authors, higher status for web-based information But in the meantime, we have to make the best of what we have… In the real world, we will always have to make some compromises.