1. WEBSITE ACCESSIBILITY AND USABILITY

2.  The Web is an increasingly important resource in many aspects of life: education, employment, government, commerce, health care, recreation, and more.  It is essential that the Web be accessible in order to provide equal access and equal opportunity to people with disabilities.

3.  Web accessibility means that people with disabilities can use the Web.  More specifically, Web accessibility means that people with disabilities can perceive, understand, navigate, and interact with the Web, and that they can contribute to the Web.  Web accessibility also benefits others, including older people with changing abilities due to aging and people with "temporary disabilities" such as a broken arm.

4.  Web accessibility encompasses all disabilities that affect access to the Web, including visual, auditory, physical, speech, cognitive, and neurological disabilities.  Primary web accessibility issues  cannot see graphics because of visual impairments,  cannot hear audio because of hearing impairments,  use slow Internet connections and modems or equipment that cannot easily download large files,

5.  Primary web accessibility issues (cont…)  difficulty navigating sites that are poorly organized with unclear directions because the view has learning disabilities,  site language is not primary language of the viewer,  the viewer is younger than the average user to comprehend the content.

6.  The W3C's Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) has developed guidelines for web authors [www.w3.org/WAI]  There is also a variety of Web Accessibility Evaluation Tools that designers may use to evaluate accessibility features on their site.

7.  Website designers are urged to follow universal design process.  This guides on creating resources that can be used by the widest spectrum of potential website visitors rather than an idealized average.  This requires that they consider the needs of individuals with disabilities, older persons, and those using outdated hardware and software.

8.  Website designers are urged to follow universal design process. (cont…)  They should routinely think of the broad range of characteristics their site visitors might have and design it to make their resources accessible to everyone.

9.  Examples of accessible web page design strategies/features:  Maintain a simple, consistent page layout throughout your site.  Keep backgrounds simple.  Make sure there is enough contrast.  Use the most current HTML.  Include text descriptions for graphical elements and links on your page.

10.  Examples of accessible web page design strategies/features: (cont…)  Make link text descriptive so that it is understood.  Use resizable fonts.  Provide a skip navigation link at the top of each page.  Design uncluttered pages.  Provide audio description or transcripts of video content.

11.  Turn off the graphics-loading feature of your web browser and access your website.  The content you see is similar to that which will be read to a person who is blind by their text-to- speech software. Can you access the content of your website without the graphics images? On an accessible site, you can.  Check to see that all content presented in color can be understood if you could not distinguish one color from another.

12.  Turn the sound off on your computer  Can you access all of the content? On an accessible site, you can.  Re-size font size (for example, in Internet Explorer, under the "View" menu, select “Zoom" and zoom in or out).  Do the font sizes on your website change? On an accessible site, they will.  Unplug your mouse and test to see if you can access all critical content on your website with the keyboard alone.  On an accessible site, you can.

13.  Pages with accessibility features should also support/behave correctly on  different computer platforms,  a variety of web browsers,  a variety of monitor sizes and screen resolutions including a handheld display unit,  etc. [http://www.w3.org/WAI/eval/preliminary.html]

14.  Websites implement accessibility features for a variety of reasons:  A corporation might emphasize: financial gains and cost savings from increased web use due to increased potential market share, search engine optimization (SEO), and increased usability reducing risk of legal action, high legal expenses, and negative image public relations benefits of demonstrating corporate social responsibility (CSR)

15.  A government ministry or agency might emphasize: laws and policies that require public services are available to all, such as anti-discrimination legislation or information and communications technology (ICT) policy demonstration of social responsibility and provision of information and services that are accessible to all citizens

16.  An educational institution might emphasize: number of students, faculty, or staff with disabilities in educational settings as a social responsibility consideration benefits of Web accessibility to students with different learning styles, older computer equipment, or low bandwidth Internet connections legal or policy requirements

17.  A non-governmental (non-profit) organization (NGO) might emphasize: social responsibility factors, such as the organization's commitment to human rights, including the right to information supporting older people with age-related impairments who may be donors

18.  A web design business might emphasize: competitive advantage and financial benefits of being able to meet increasing requests for accessible web design and development technical benefits and long term financial benefits to clients of providing sites according to web standards public relations benefits of being able to support clients' interests in demonstrating social responsibility

19.  A small to medium-sized enterprise (SME) relying on e-Commerce might emphasize: positive impact on search engine optimization (SEO) from accessibility improvements importance of an increasing market among people with disabilities and older people who may significantly benefit from accessible online shopping increased general usability and trustworthiness of online shopping interfaces from improved accessibility

20. PROOFING AND TESTING A WEBSITE

21.  Little details are often forgotten or ignored, but – if done in time – may sum up to an overall greater user experience and avoid unnecessary costs after the official site release.  Proofing and testing websites involves tasks that are aimed at checking the correctness of the content (wording & grammar), flow of navigation, accessible and working links.  This is done partly before launching of the site and after launching the site.

22.  Proofread (Spelling, Grammar, Punctuation)  Read everything. Even if you’ve already read it, read it again, Check for proper spelling, typos, and grammar site-wide.  Get someone else to read it. There’s always something you’ll pick up on and have to change.  See if you can reduce the amount of text by keeping it specific. Break up large text blocks into shorter paragraphs when deem fit.

23.  Check all links  Don’t just assume all your links work. Click on them. You may often forget to add “http://” to links to external websites.  Also, think about how your links work. Is it obvious to new users that they are links? Does all links works properly after launching the site?  Make sure all pages have titles  Your page title is the most important element for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and is also important so that users know what’s on the page.  Make sure every page has one and relates to that page’s content.

24.  Cross-Browser Checks (compatibility)  Check if your pages loads correctly on all major browsers.  It is important that your website works across browsers  Validate your pages  You should aim for a 100% valid website (HTML compliant).  Common misses include no “alt” tags, no closing tags and using “&” instead of “&” for ampersands.  Use the W3C validator to check your site [http://validator.w3.org/]

25.  Crosscheck your forms  Fill out the forms on the site and go through the following questions: Can the flow be improved? Do you get stuck? Are the instructions accurate? Does the completed form get sent to the right people or person?  Check the context of a page content  When giving a critical eye to the pages within the site, ask: Why would I visit this page? Is the content ready for visitor? Does the page address the audience?

26.  The proofing and testing of a website should not stop after launching.  Content is expected to change  Pages are added or removed  Viewer reviews are incorporated  Audience may change/expand  Its important to periodically test the site to see if everything is still in order.