National Center for Accessible Transportation Proposed Guidelines for Web Accessibility in the Travel Industry R.J. Zaworski, and K.M. Hunter-Zaworski, NCAT TRANSED 2007, Montreal, Canada

National Center for Accessible Transportation OUTLINE 1. Description of Problem 2. Purpose of Guideline 3. Guideline Structure

National Center for Accessible Transportation Background Demographics: over 25% of people over 65 by 2030 Demographics: over 25% of people over 65 by 2030 Agility and sensory capabilities decrease Agility and sensory capabilities decrease Travel demand will increase Travel demand will increase Access to websites essential Access to websites essential Travel industry needs guidelines Travel industry needs guidelines

National Center for Accessible Transportation 1. Description of Problem Travel websites: Travel websites: –Large –Content driven –Two way Existing Tools Existing Tools –W3C Guideline, Section 508

National Center for Accessible Transportation 2. Purpose of Guideline Tool for the web support staff Tool for the web support staff Increase level of accessibility of travel websites Increase level of accessibility of travel websites Implement flexible websites Implement flexible websites

National Center for Accessible Transportation 3. Guideline Structure Addresses idiosyncrasies of Travel Websites Addresses idiosyncrasies of Travel Websites Content Driven Content Driven –Page generation –Client Server Interactions Process for Producing Accessible Websites Process for Producing Accessible Websites

National Center for Accessible Transportation What is Content Driven Content Drive Website Content Drive Website –Focused on Content Eg. BLOGS Eg. BLOGS Travel Sites Travel Sites –Advertising, Marketing –Real time schedule information –Reservations

National Center for Accessible Transportation Page Generation Apply Styles and Formatting to content Apply Styles and Formatting to content Travel websites Travel websites –Menus, Headers and Footers around content: flights, hotels, car rentals

National Center for Accessible Transportation Interactions in Accessible Design User User Agent Client-side interactions Server Content Database Server-side interactions

National Center for Accessible Transportation Client Side Interactions User ( Person with Disabilities) User ( Person with Disabilities) User Agent: Software that retrieves and renders Web content for users and includes assistive technologies [W3C] User Agent: Software that retrieves and renders Web content for users and includes assistive technologies [W3C]

National Center for Accessible Transportation Web Browser (User Agent) More Public Friendly More Public Friendly Sites cater to human users Sites cater to human users –Browsers, Text Readers Robots Robots –Webcrawlers, Spiders and Aggregators

National Center for Accessible Transportation User Agents and Accessibility Web browsers : Firefox, Explorer etc Web browsers : Firefox, Explorer etc Different interpretations of W3C Different interpretations of W3C User Agent must conform to set standards ( W3C or 508) and deliver content to specialized agents User Agent must conform to set standards ( W3C or 508) and deliver content to specialized agents –Screen readers, text to speech etc

National Center for Accessible Transportation Standards Conformation to Section 508 Standard – central focus of accessible web design-most important step! Conformation to Section 508 Standard – central focus of accessible web design-most important step!

National Center for Accessible Transportation Interactions in Accessible Design User User Agent Client-side interactions Server Content Database Server-side interactions

National Center for Accessible Transportation Server Side Interactions Servers take content from the Content Database and deliver in W3C compatible webpage Servers take content from the Content Database and deliver in W3C compatible webpage Server Responds Server Responds –Finding appropriate template, –Filling it with appropriate content –Return to user agent as complete document

National Center for Accessible Transportation Accessible Templates Website templates-visual appeal Website templates-visual appeal Accessible websites- content reaches all audiences Accessible websites- content reaches all audiences OPTION: provide server with two or more templates the best meet needs of audience OPTION: provide server with two or more templates the best meet needs of audience

National Center for Accessible Transportation NOTE In conventional web design: In conventional web design: –the appropriate template is the ONLY template. The new approach: The new approach: –preparation of multiple templates, –server chooses the most appropriate one

National Center for Accessible Transportation Server –User Agent Interactions User Agent is server’s best friend User Agent is server’s best friend User Agent identified to Server knows what kind of agent it is interacting with e.g. User Agent identified to Server knows what kind of agent it is interacting with e.g. –Visual Bowser, Screen reader or indexing spider

National Center for Accessible Transportation Content Database “Database” may not always be a database, but may also refer to repositories of text or HTML files for content generation “Database” may not always be a database, but may also refer to repositories of text or HTML files for content generation OSU: each file contains content of a single page OSU: each file contains content of a single page –Server places: headers, footers and navigation menus around page

National Center for Accessible Transportation Accessible Content Driven Website Accessibility issues in concept phase Accessibility issues in concept phase –Improves content, layout and navigation Graphical Content- alternative text Graphical Content- alternative text Interactive Content ( Flash, Java) use HTML Interactive Content ( Flash, Java) use HTML Provide text-only alternative: formatting is not universal Provide text-only alternative: formatting is not universal

National Center for Accessible Transportation Plain-Old Semantic-HTML (POSH) Website uses the simplest HTML markup possible Website uses the simplest HTML markup possible Formatting done later with style sheets, rather than in the code itself. Formatting done later with style sheets, rather than in the code itself. Code will still display in a predictable, hierarchical manner, regardless of formatting applied by server Code will still display in a predictable, hierarchical manner, regardless of formatting applied by server

National Center for Accessible Transportation TEXT ONLY Text only is ultimate fall back Text only is ultimate fall back Content Templates Content Templates –Default – conventional audiences –Accessible template

National Center for Accessible Transportation User Input Forms Forms or specialized elements allows users to communicate with web server Forms or specialized elements allows users to communicate with web server Form Consists of: Text, formatting and “controls”, may collect user inputted information Form Consists of: Text, formatting and “controls”, may collect user inputted information

National Center for Accessible Transportation Accessible Forms Is form navigation organized logically? Is form navigation organized logically? Do all form controls have associated label via a label element? Do all form controls have associated label via a label element? Will the form work regardless of user agent accessing it? Will the form work regardless of user agent accessing it?

National Center for Accessible Transportation Form Design Predictable layout Predictable layout Screen readers rely on HTML Label elements Screen readers rely on HTML Label elements Navigation essential Navigation essential Users must be able to orient and fill out form with keyboard only Users must be able to orient and fill out form with keyboard only

National Center for Accessible Transportation Form Processing Client Side –scripting language Javascript – not all user agents support java script - unstable Client Side –scripting language Javascript – not all user agents support java script - unstable Server Side –carry out important form processing on server side Server Side –carry out important form processing on server side

National Center for Accessible Transportation Accessible Template Design Content and Navigation Content and Navigation Many sites have accessible content that can not be reached! Many sites have accessible content that can not be reached! Important to realize that many internet users navigate only with a keyboard Important to realize that many internet users navigate only with a keyboard

National Center for Accessible Transportation Page Layout Content layout not interpreted the same by a web browser as a screen reader Content layout not interpreted the same by a web browser as a screen reader Screen reader very linear from top of page source code to bottom Screen reader very linear from top of page source code to bottom Source code and visual display are not the same Source code and visual display are not the same

National Center for Accessible Transportation Screen Reader and Source Code Screen reader reads the source code literally Screen reader reads the source code literally Visually, any code element placed anywhere but cannot alter the order in which the code is read. Visually, any code element placed anywhere but cannot alter the order in which the code is read. Important to ensure that your site/ content make sense before undertaking a 'civic beautification' project! Important to ensure that your site/ content make sense before undertaking a 'civic beautification' project! The…

National Center for Accessible Transportation Layout Formatting should not replace HTML elements: Formatting should not replace HTML elements: “paragraph” element replacing “second largest header element” on a page header would not be seen as a header by a screen reader “paragraph” element replacing “second largest header element” on a page header would not be seen as a header by a screen reader

National Center for Accessible Transportation All Content Displayed by default template should be available to Accessible Templates Example of how this might work:

National Center for Accessible Transportation Notes to the Wise Styled HTML for horizontal list rather than a table Styled HTML for horizontal list rather than a table Be careful not to repeat information – extensive navigation material or provide a way to skip it or Be careful not to repeat information – extensive navigation material or provide a way to skip it or Locate menus at bottom of code and use style sheet to move to top Locate menus at bottom of code and use style sheet to move to top

National Center for Accessible Transportation Content Organization Title Title Breadcrumb navigation Breadcrumb navigation Main Content Main Content Previous, Next, Home Links Previous, Next, Home Links Additional navigation Additional navigation Footer information Footer information

National Center for Accessible Transportation Standards Template: W3C for HTML, CSS and Accessibility, and Section 508 Template: W3C for HTML, CSS and Accessibility, and Section 508

National Center for Accessible Transportation Maintaining Parallel Templates Maintenance is a challenge Maintenance is a challenge If more than one version of a website exists then revisions require multiple updates If more than one version of a website exists then revisions require multiple updates Templates need to be updated but not content pages Templates need to be updated but not content pages

National Center for Accessible Transportation Thank you Thank you to Aaron Grey and RJ Zaworski for their leadership with this project. Thank you to Aaron Grey and RJ Zaworski for their leadership with this project. Thank you to RJ for trying to put this in simple terms! Thank you to RJ for trying to put this in simple terms! Thank you to the TRACE Center for their advice! Thank you to the TRACE Center for their advice!

National Center for Accessible Transportation The Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center for Accessible Public Transportation is funded under grant H133E from the National Institute for Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) in the US Department of Education’s Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services. The content of this presentation does not necessarily represent the policy of the US Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.

National Center for Accessible Transportation CONTACT US National Center for Accessible Transportation 220 Owen Hall Oregon State University Corvallis, OR, Tel: