GOODIES TO GO! ™
May 24, 1999 — Newsletter #29
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Please visit https://www.htmlgoodies.com
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Greetings, Weekend Silicon Warriors…
Did you hear that…
Advertising on the Web was worth $1.92 billion last year?
That was the first time Internet advertising outpaced a
“traditional” form of media advertising, billboards/outdoor
advertising. The results come from the New Media Group at
PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Also…
The U.S. Government is working on legislation that would
limit lawsuits that come about due to the Y2K bug. The bill
would put a 30-90 day “cooling off” period on all Y2K suits.
Good idea… but the bill has been put on hold. Oh, dear….
And now, on to today’s topic…
Can everyone read your Web page?
I don’t just mean that fact that you’re using dark blue text
on a black background, either (lousy color choice). I mean
all people, even those who are using disabled assistant
browsers.
I’ve known for a while that people who are using disabled
assistant browsers need everything on a Web page to have a
text equal. Depending on the person’s disability, the
special browser will read the text to them, or create the
text in Braille, or somehow relate the information to the
user. I had a few tips to tell people, but now it’s been
laid down for all the world to see… and hopefully use.
On May 5th, 1999, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) came
out with their “Checklist of Checkpoints for Web Content
Accessibility Guidelines v1.0” (Guidelines). You can travel
to see the page yourself by going to:
http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/WAI-WEBCONTENT-19990505/
The Guidelines are the consortium’s help page to Web
developers offering tips on how to make your pages more
accessible to a disabled assistant browser. I’ve read the
page a couple of times and it all looks pretty
straightforward and easy to follow. If you write your HTML
in a traditional manner, you’re a big part of the way there.
The W3C breaks the tips down into three priorities: 1, 2,
and 3. Priority 1 items must be done in order for your page
to be read by disabled assistant browsers (the W3C refers to
the browsers as “User Agents”). Priority 2 items should be
done, and Priority 3 items may be done.
Let me hit some of the high points for you, then you can go
and read the page for yourself. It’s a little dry, but it’s
a great source of information.
From my reading of the document, I took away two major rules
of thumb:
1. Absolutely every image, movie, icon, or any other non-text
element on the page must have a text equivalent. The easiest
method is to always offer an ALT command. Like so:
<IMG SRC=”image.src” ALT=”Image of my father”>
(See https://www.htmlgoodies.com/tutors/hw.html for more on
the ALT command.)
Image maps not only require the ALT command, but also require
that you offer text links in addition to the map itself.
Movies should offer audio tracks or the text right on the
page so that the text can be read. The simplest method is to
offer a second page that has the movie’s element. The user
can go to the page to get the information.
2. Write your HTML code in a traditional fashion. That means
flags in capital letters and attributes in lowercase and
double quotes.
Yes, I know that the double quotes aren’t needed and that
HTML is not case sensitive, but remember that I’m talking
about getting your pages to the point where the disabled
assistant browser will have the best shot at reading them
for someone else.
Here are a few other very good Priority 1 tips. Remember,
Priority 1 tips are those that must be done to ensure your
page can be read by a disabled assistant browser.
a) Do not make color such a part of the page that without
the color the page loses meaning.
b) Avoid causing screen flickering or blinking.
c) If style sheets are used, place the style sheet command
right on the page rather than using an external CSS text
document.
(See https://www.htmlgoodies.com/beyond/ie_style.html)
d) Use a client-side image map rather than server side.
(See https://www.htmlgoodies.com/tutors/cs_imap.html)
e) Give all frame and source pages a title.
f) Table rows and columns should be given titles.
(See https://www.htmlgoodies.com/tutors/html4_tables.html)
g) Many disabled assistant browsers will not work with
applets or scripts so make sure that your page is usable
if the scripts and applets do not come into play.
h) Write with the simplest coding possible.
Those are all good tips. In fact, they’re good tips for
whomever you’re writing for, especially that “no blinking”
thing.
Priority 2 tips are those that you should try to include
in your page. Here is a sampling (there are many more than
this):
a) Make sure your background and foreground colors differ
so that people with poor eyesight can make out your text
and are not inhibited by a clash in color.
b) Use the HTML flags to get an effect before you use a
Style Sheet or script equal.
c) Use relative rather than absolute positions for your
page’s elements.
d) Do not use auto-refreshing pages. Most disabled assistant
browsers do not support the scripts that perform the refresh.
e) Avoid pop-up windows, as many disabled assistant browsers
disallow the user to shut the window.
f) Clearly identify, by the text in the link, what each link
points to.
g) Make your navigation consistent. Use all active images or
all text… that kind of thing. (That means across pages,
not just page to page.)
h) Layout should be done with Style Sheets rather than
tables. If you use tables, provide a text version of your
page for the users.
Priority 3 tips are those that you may want to do, although
they are not generally required. Again, there are many more
than this, I just thought these were very good tips across
the board.
a) Identify the natural language of the document in a META
or commented-out line.
b) Use Style Sheets to get links to highlight so that
visually impaired persons can quickly realize the link.
c) Group related links.
The W3C has offered all of their Priority 1, 2, and 3 tips
in a printable checklist at:
http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/WAI-WEBCONTENT-19990505/full-checklist.html
You can use it to roll down through your pages and test your
work against the checklist.
So, there you have it, some basic tips to make your Web page
accessible to everyone who stops by. If you’ve been writing
in good HTML form, you’ve probably already created good,
usable pages.
You know, this is such a good chunk of information… I’m
going to write a full tutorial on it!
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And that’s that. Thanks for reading.
Joe Burns, Ph.D.
And Remember: Why is it bad luck to walk under a ladder?
The theory goes that the ladder leaning against the wall
formed a triangle. That was seen as a three-sided element.
A three-sided element was representative of the holy
Trinity. By walking through the triangle, you were said to
have broken the Trinity and were now susceptible to the
Devil’s misgivings. Of course, there is also the belief
that that story was simply told to children to stop them
from getting splashed with paint, or better yet, not getting
something dropped on their head.