1. Use the Keyboard instead of the Mouse

2. Internet Explorer ALT+Keys

3. Quicklist of Easy Things

4. Why the fuss?

5. Windows Accessibility Options

6. High Contrast

7. Text to Speech devices

8. Graphic Design

9. Text font and size

10. Audio, Video, Applets, etc

11. Page and Website Layout

12. Image Maps

13. Tables

14. Other Problems

15. Additional information

more detail on Acronyms, AccessKey, TabIndex
go to siteMap
Go to homepage

In most browsers the keyboard can be used for navigation:

TAB key to go to the next link statement,

PageUp, PageDown, Up, and Down
   to move up and down the page.

Backspace (IE only) or Shift/Backspace
   to go Back to the previous or Forward to next page.

Ctrl+Home - Top of page
Ctrl+End - Bottom of page

Ctrl+O - Open a page
Ctrl+P - Print the page
Ctrl+R - Refresh the page

2. Internet Explorer ALT+Keys

Using Internet Explorer, you can program the Alt keys to go to other pages;

In Internet Explorer v4 use the keys to execute the link
In Internet Explorer v5" the keys take the cursor to a link that applies -
   - press ENTER to execute the link

For example you could use: (In Netscape this feature is not available)

Alt+h	go to Homepage
Alt+s	go to Sitemap

• Use the ALT= clause in all image statements
• Use ALT="*" in button and line images
• Use the Clientside technique for Image Maps
• Provide display captions and optionally transcripts of audio and video
• Do not change the default colours for links
• With all links, describe what you will see when you get there
• Lists of Links should be seperated with a printable character or NBSP character.
• Use the TITLE= clause wherever possible
• The structure of pages, and of the whole website should be logical
• Summarise charts and graphs using LONGDESC attribute
• Provide alternative text for Scripts, Applets and Plug-ins
• Provide proper NOFRAMES content
• Avoid parallel table columns of any text which may word-wrap
• Check your work: validate, linkcheck, test on other browsers, screen widths and font sizes

There are people who have some disabilities, or happen to be using unusual computer hardware, or are trying to get the job done in trying circumstances who find it difficult to look at the Internet using the traditional tools.

These users can be of all trades, professions, and vocations, blind, deaf, paraplegic, many of whom have good reasons or employment to use your website. The disability can be temporary, through injury, illness, or ageing, or have RSI (Repetitive Strain Injury) through using the mouse too much.

Even fit people may have problems. They may be working in the rain, in a noisy machine shop, or having to keep silent in a library or hospital. They may have a text only display, of small size, monochrome. They may not speak your language, or may not read very well. Or using a screen reader to listen in the car.

Most of this goes against the grain for all website authors. We spend hours putting in sexy features, providing eye-candy and now we have to take it all out for a small percentage of visitors. But if your audience could include these people, and if the website is one which health, education, welfare or the community is the subject, then this is what you have to do.

And even then users of Netscape will not be able to see some of the useful aids. Is not life difficult.

Browsers have a number of options to control font size, font face, background colour, text colour, colours of links and to insist that these options are imposed. But in addition in the Windows Control Panel there are more:

Windows provides a range of accessibility options in the Windows Control Panel Accessibility Options section. These are:

• Sticky Keys - for multi-key functions like Ctrl/Alt/Del you can press the keys one at a time.
• Filter Keys - to ignore multiple presses of the same key
• Toggle Keys - an audible tone if you press Caps Lock, Num Lock, Scroll Lock
• Sound Sentry - a visual display if the computer produces a sound
• Show Sounds - display captions for speech or sounds
• High Contrast - large print and high contrast display of your choice
• Mouse Keys - use the keyboard arrow keys to control the mouse
• Automatic Reset - turn off these features if not used in set period
• Notification - audible or display warning when turning feature on or off
• Serial Key Device - specify device to be used.

A range of background colours are provided. Brick and Egg-Plant are dark, Desert is a pleasant yellow, or a wide range of sexy colours. The user can opt to have large or extra large fonts in Yellow on Black, Black/Yellow, White/Black, Black/White

Speech or Braille output for use by the blind, or speech for mobile phones, or using a phone link while driving

• Provide meaningful titles
• Use the ALT= clause in image statements
• Provide a logical structure
• Use the TITLE attribute wherever possible
• Annotate any links with meaningful descriptions of what is there
• Consider having an introduction explaining the structure
• Consider adding an audio summary of key points
• Strictly you should avoid tables for formatting because the cell contents may be presented in a wrong or misleading order

• Test using the High Contrast option (above)
• Avoid background images, particularly those that make the text difficult to read
• Provide a good contrast between background and content
• Do not rely solely on colour to provide important information - for example in graphs, any coloured lines may not be seen

• Test with various screen widths, particularly to 640 x 480
• Test using the High Contrast Option (above)
• Fonts should be specified with alternatives for the usual different computer types - >>more
• Do not hard code font sizes; always use relative (scalable) sizes ( example SIZE="-1" )
• When drawing lines use a percentage width rather than a fixed width

• Do not rely on the user hearing sounds, seeing video, seeing applets, scripts, or other dynamic features
• Provide a display indication that sound or movie is being run
• Provide text that will display when the Show Sound option is in use, or summarising the movie segment.

• The structure of the whole site should be logical
• Consider whether you should be using CSS (Style Sheets) both for their consistent layout, ease of creation of pages, and so that users can impose their own style sheets for their preference or needs.
• Provide the options in HTML version4 for ACCESSKEY and ACRONYM - >>more
• Be generous with ALT= in image statements and TITLE in other features

• Separate tables of links should be provided as well as the Image Map.
• Use Clientside techniques for Image Maps; server side maps will not translate

• Using tables for formatting, as most people do, may cause the content to be presented in a sequence which is other than that intended if viewed with a primitive browser
  
• Tables to control text width may not work if a larger (or smaller) font is selected; better to let the user control the window size.
  
• Test the pages using a browser which does not support tables, example a Lynx browser, or using http://ugweb.cs.ualberta.ca/~gerald/lynx-me.cgi
• Be sure to use <TH> tags for headings instead of <TD>
• Be sure to close off each itemised line with <BR>

• State the language (example: English) in the META description and TITLE
• Use the HTML Validator, Link-Checker, Spell-Checker, Grammar Checker
• Auto-Refresh will confuse
• Auto-Redirect will confuse
• Do not use BLINK or MARQUEE, or indeed other moving text
• Animation that causes flicker may trigger photosensitive epilepsy
• Spawned windows and pop-ups will confuse
• In forms, the label must be directly associated with the input area

http://www.microsoft.com/enable/dev/reasons.htm - discussion on why

http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/WAI-WEBCONTENT-19990505/ - the fountainhead for all this

http://www.cast.org/bobby - checks your specified page for accessibility. Note: Most of the policeman's helmet markers are merely warnings and are a prompt for you to do a manual check.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/betsie/inverse/about.html
http://www.rnib.org.uk/digital/how.htm

http://www.vischeck.com/vischeckURL.php3 - check for colour blind people, recomended by the RNIB
http://www.deafblind.com - Deaf Blind assistance A-Z
http://www.lava.net/~dewilson/web/color.html
http://www.lighthouse.org/color_contrast.htm
http://www.helptheaged.org.uk - useful site for 10.8 million older people, plus their relatives and carers.
http://vischeck.com/ simulates a display page as seen by people with colourblindness
http://www.temple.edu/instituteondisabilities/piat/wave/yindex.html - Wave, simulates a text to voice reader.

http://euroaccessibility.org/faq.php is a site I had not met before which promotes accessibity in Europe. It has a deadline of 2005 to produce some results. The rules are in W3C/WAI which are what we know already. In each European country a regional consulting desk will certify Web sites upon request.

In the UK we apparently have Ability Net, Accessinmind Ltd, RNIB, and RNID, but have not checked these out.

In the UK SENDA: Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001 is also important - but this does not have an Internet specific remit.