Making the web accessible

A presentation I delivered at PKN Barnsely about web accessibility.

Transcript

1. Matt Watson http://makedo.in @mwtsn Making the web accessible
2. Visual impairment • Can use tools such as screen readers • May just use built in accessibility tools (e.g. zoom) <img src=“/admin.png” alt=“Cartoon of Matt Watson sat working at a computer surrounded by paperwork”/>
3. The curse of “click here” Screen readers let you navigate quickly through headings, and then through links. For more about that click here. Make they can be read ‘out of context’
4. The importance of accessibility and images If you are promoting something only for people without accessibility needs, this is discrimination
5. Google is blind • The upshot of having good accessibility is good Google rankings • Don’t trust people that charge you to get good Google rankings • Only buying ad words will do that
6. Foundation of the web Content (or more specifically text)
7. Progressive enhancement • You cannot polish a turd* • Fancy animations / dropdowns / rotators – they are all just text underneath • Videos need transcripts to be accessible. They are essentially just text • Images need “Alt” text so people can understand what they mean. These are just text • Flash websites, they have NO text underneath, very bad accessibility wise (which is why there are very few people using it). * You can, they did it on Myth Busters - but that’s not the point!
8. Its not what you said… …its how you said it! • Not just about semantics • Consider your audience – Elderly – Young – Learning difficulties
9. Local Authority Nursery Units
10. Its also how you present it
11. Audience
12. Clickable area
13. Color Blindness Poor Contrast Good Contrast
14. Documents are evil!
15. Arrgghhh Tables In the olden days of the web nearly all websites were designed with <table>s
16. What and how… …what about where?
17. Responsive design
18. Why should I? Because you are a decent person OR http://www.rnib.org.uk/professiona ls/webaccessibility/lawsandstandar ds/Pages/uk_law.aspx
19. The law