A new web accessibility Standard
BS 8878 : Web accessibility. Building accessible experiences for disabled people. Code of practice
Wednesday, 10 November 2010
By the end of November 2010, we should have a new web accessibility standard.
The new document has been developed by the British Standards Institution (BSi) and will be known as BS 8878 : "Web accessibility. Building accessible experiences for disabled people. Code of practice". Several copies of the draft documents can be found here : http://www.bsigroup.com/en/Standards-and-Publications/How-we-can-help-you/Consumers/Accessibilty-day/BS-8878-form/Thank-you/
The new accessibility standard aims to discuss web accessibility without needing specialist IT knowledge, unlike WCAG which was largely a technical document & really designed for web developers. Here is how the BSi explain the new document :
BS 8878 has been designed to introduce accessibility, usability and user experience for disabled people to non-technical professionals, some of whom may be completely new to this subject. It gives guidance on process, rather than on technical and design issues, including recommendations for:
• Involving disabled people in the development process and using automated tools to assist with accessibility testing
• The management of the guidance and process for upholding existing accessibility guidelines and specifications.
Based on PAS 78:2006, Guide to good practice in commissioning accessible websites, BS 8878 will inform organizations of their legal responsibilities in relation to web accessibility, calling on them to appoint a specific person or department to oversee activity. Responsibility could fall within the Marketing, PR or External Relations departments that typically look after the organization’s website, or it could be Operations staff, Product Managers, HR Managers or others who are responsible for internal web applications.
I will keep you posted as more information becomes available.
Posted byCharlie M at 03:21 0 comments
Labels: accessibility, standards
iPhone 4 Accessibility features
Saturday, 14 August 2010
As I am sure you are all aware by now, the iPhone 4 launched on 24th June 2010 in the UK. It certainly looks like a great device (despite the initial teething issues…), although I am trying my hardest to resist one. For me, Apple’s world domination is becoming rather unnerving... 
This said, I have been extremely impressed with the accessibility features built into the iPhone 4. Apple’s continued support for accessibility is really commendable, and I hope Apple's rival companies begin to follow suit.
Here is a quick rundown of the iPhone 4 accessibility support :
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- Screen reading with VoiceOver.
VoiceOver is “the world’s first gesture-based screen reader”. This allows the user to hear a verbal description of item they are touching. VoiceOver speaks 21 languages and works with all of the applications built into iPhone 4.
VoiceOver also features a ‘rotor’. Rotating two fingers on the screen changes the way VoiceOver moves through a web page. This allows the user to move through webpages by headers, links, images, etc
- Video calling with FaceTime.
Facetime makes it possible to have iPhone 4 to iPhone 4 videocalls. This is a perfect medium for sign language conversations.
- Support for wireless braille displays
iPhone 4 supports more than 30 Bluetooth wireless Braille devices - no additional software needed. 
- Touch Typing
Touch Typing is a new way for blind or visually impaired people to use the onscreen keyboard. Running your finger across the keyboard, and listening to VoiceOver speak each letter aloud, enables quicker typing than before.
- Zoom and magnify.
Zoom lets you magnify any application up to five times normal size.
- White on black for higher contrast.
Provides higher contrast for certain visual impairments. 
- Optional mono audio.
Enables you to change stereo sound to mono, which is useful if you have limited hearing in one ear.
- Support for closed captioning.
iPhone supports the playback of open captions, closed captions, and subtitling.
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I hope you have found this post interesting. As always, please let me know if you have any questions or comments. Find out more about me and my Accessibility / User Experience work here and don't forget to follow me (@simplicityUX) on Twitter.
Posted byCharlie M at 01:54 0 comments
Labels: accessibility, apple, iphone4
Revised Web Accessibility regulations in the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
Saturday, 31 July 2010
Last week (on July 23rd 2010), the United States Department of Justice issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) regarding (amongst other things) new regulations of how the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) should be applied to the Internet. Please see the full ANPRM here : http://www.ada.gov/anprm2010.htm
Here is a passage from the 'Department of Justice' press release:
“We are working hard to ensure that the ADA keeps up with technological advances that were unimaginable 20 years ago,” said Attorney General Holder. “Just as these quantum leaps can help all of us, they can also set us back – if regulations are not updated or compliance codes become too confusing to implement. To avoid this, the Department will soon publish four advanced notices of proposed rulemaking regarding accessibility requirements for websites, movies, equipment and furniture, and 9-1-1 call-taking technologies.”
The press release continues to discuss Web Accessibility specifically :
"State and local governments, businesses, educators, and other organizations covered by the ADA are increasingly using the web to provide information, goods, and services to the public. In the web accessibility ANPRM, the department presents for public comment a series of questions seeking input regarding how the department can develop a workable framework for website access that provides individuals with disabilities access to the critical information, programs, and services provided on the web, while respecting the unique characteristics of the internet and its transformative impact on everyday life."
This could be a great step forward for Accessibility in America, and I'm certainly interested to see how Web Accessibility will be addressed in the updated ADA. I will keep you posted of any further developments.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Posted byCharlie M at 03:07 0 comments
Labels: accessibility, ADA, America, Web Accessibility
The Accessibility of Javascript hyperlinks
Saturday, 8 May 2010
Statement : Using Javascript for hyperlinks will cause accessibility issues.
Approximately 5% of Internet uses will not use, or will not have JavaScript functionality enabled in their web browsers. This basically means that these people will be excluded from using your webpage to its full potential if it is coded using non-accessible JavaScript hyperlink techniques.
Simple solution : Use real hyperlinks instead.
The constant use of Javascript hyperlinks in webpages (even when not strictly required) is something causes major frustration to users and accessibility experts alike. Whereas some accessibility guidelines are not strictly necessary, but are encouraged to make users browsing experience easier or more rewarding (such as skip links), the use of non accessible JavaScript links actually prevents users from viewing content, or being able to navigate through your webpage at all.
In addition, search engines cannot successfully follow JavaScript hyperlinks. This means that your internal webpage links will not be spidered if they are implemented using JavaScript alone.
This was only intended to be a short post / rant, so I am not going to include any examples at this juncture, but I encourage you to see some excellent examples of accessible javascript links here :
Accessible Javascript Links : http://cross-browser.com/talk/accessible_js_links.php
Creating Accessible JavaScript : http://www.webaim.org/techniques/javascript/eventhandlers.php
Using real links : http://diveintoaccessibility.org/day_13_using_real_links.html
Please don’t hesitate to let me know if you have any comments on this topic.
Posted byCharlie M at 04:43 0 comments
Labels: accessibility, hyperlinks, javascript
Relative font sizes Vs. Browser zoom functionality
Saturday, 13 February 2010
I was recently asked a question about whether we can rely solely on the browsers inbuilt zoom functionality instead of using relative fonts in our web design. This is an issue which seems to have two strongly conflicting schools of thought… here was my response, please let me know your views on the subject :
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To be honest, I don't think there is a straight answer. However on the whole, I would say that relative font sizes are *still* important in accessible webdesign, particularly as you can never be sure who, or indeed, how the user will access your site.
Most of the modern browsers do have great "zoom" functionality. They use what is called "page zooming" which quite literally zooms in on the entire page (text, imagery, formatting, etc). However, some older browsers (IE6 springs to mind…) only gave the option to "text zoom". This scaled the text size up (or down) while maintaining the layout of the page. Since several old browsers are still used by some users, we should strive to support these older browsers as much as possible.
My opinion is that we should still code webpages using relative text sizes. This really gives the user (and the web designer to some extent) the ability to make their own choice as to whether they increase the size of the text alone (using text scaling) or zooming in on the page using "page zoom".
Relative font sizes can be fiddly to get right, but I usually find it pays off in the end. Some websites can display better if the text has been scaled, rather than zooming. One of the main reasons is that page zooming often results in horizontal scrolling, which I believe to be a usability no-no, particularly as it reduces page scannability. Admittedly, text scaling can make webpages look terrible (if the layout was not designed to be liquid) but it usually maintains the page dimensions and retains normal (vertical) scrolling.
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Posted byCharlie M at 03:32 0 comments
Labels: accessibility, browsers, discussion, fonts, relative, zoom
Is Accessibility becoming more mainstream?
Thursday, 3 December 2009
Over the past few months I have seen a change in the accessibility world. Several large companies I’ve been involved with have adopted accessibility regimes, and I‘ve had an much easier job convincing clients that accessibility is an important requirement of web projects. The latter in particular has knocked me for six… it used to be such a struggle! My technophobe mother even understands how important accessible design is now!
So, what has happened to change the mindset of big companies and designers about the importance of accessibility?
One mainstream global, commercial reference to the benefits of accessibility that I can think of was during the release of the Apple iPhone and Snow Leopard operating systems. The accessibility benefits / improvements of these products were clearly documented and advertised alongside the other product features. I have written about the accessibility improvements in both of these products in previous blog posts:
Apple iPhone Accessibility
Snow Leopard Accessibility improvements
To a lesser extent, Microsoft also highlighted the importance of accessibility in there release of the Windows 7 Operating System : http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/products/features/accessibility
Without a shadow of a doubt, social networking, blogging and especially twitter have all had their part to play in the ‘education of accessibility’ too. Accessibility literature seems to be everywhere!
Although the mainstream knowledge of accessibility is a great step forward, there is still a long way to go. In my experience, accessibility features may be implemented more frequently in web design projects, but often with little understanding of the reasons why such features are important. This can create a difficult (dangerous?) position where designers believe that they have fulfilled the accessibility requirements of the project without truly producing accessible, usable products. Sometimes, poorly implemented 'accessibility features' can be more difficult to use than none at all.
Can you think of any other mainstream advertisements / mentions of the importance of accessibility?
Have you also noticed a change in the acceptance of accessible design?
I would be very interested to hear your thoughts and comments.
Also, please don’t forget to contribute to my recent online poll to find the most accessible, and most usable websites…
Online Poll : Examples of websites with good 'accessibility' and good 'usability'
Thanks!
Posted byCharlie M at 00:59 0 comments
Labels: accessibility, benefits, mainstream
Online Poll : Examples of websites with good 'accessibility' and good 'usability'
Monday, 30 November 2009
On a regular basis, I am asked for examples of websites that provide good accessibility, good usability, or a combination of both. I certainly have a few personal favourites, but I would like to throw this question out to the Internet…
There are two main polls :
1) Which website do you think is an example of good ‘usability’?
2) Which website do you think is an example of good ‘accessibility’?
For each question, please either email me or add a comment to this blog post providing the website URL, and an optional explanation of why you are nominating this particular site. Please note that you do not need to answer both questions.
I will collate the results and report back by the end of the year. The results should be interesting!
Please pass this blog post on to your friends and colleagues… The more examples of ‘usable’ and ‘accessible’ sites we receive, the more conclusive our results will be!
Posted byCharlie M at 05:43 6 comments
Labels: accessibility, online poll, usability
Title text on text links
Sunday, 29 November 2009
Following a discussion I had with a colleague on Friday, I have decided to post a few paragraphs on the topic of using 'title text' on textual hyperlinks in HTML.
In one of the corporate websites I am working on, title text (the title attribute of the HTML anchor tag) is everywhere. You can't move your cursor without title text popping up left, right and center. What makes this worse, is that the title text is the same as the hyperlink text- this is unnecessary duplication, and just adds 'noise' to the website.
My colleague said that this "aids accessibility for blind user's", but it clearly doesn't. In fact, screen readers such as JAWS do not read title text as a default setting. This functionality has to be configured manually (through the JAWS verbosity options window).
The basic rule of thumb is : Title text should only be used to provide more information about the link destination. Use with caution, and certainly don't just duplicate the link text in the title attribute.
Title text is misused in many websites… don't let yours be one of them!
Please let me know if you have and thoughts or comments on this topic.
Posted byCharlie M at 03:16 0 comments
Labels: accessibility, html, TITLE attributes
Microsoft Accessibility Roundtable – Sharepoint 2010
Monday, 9 November 2009
Today I visited the Microsoft offices in London to participate in a meeting concentrating on the accessibility improvements included in the upcoming release of Sharepoint 2010.
Sharepoint 2007 was plagued with issues and as a result, producing accessible web content was and still is very difficult. Consequently, HiSoftware have produced an ‘Accessibility Kit for Sharepoint’ that aims to repair some of these accessibility shortcomings.
In the following post, I will summarize my key takeaways from the meeting. The write-up is based on my experience and scribbles taken throughout the session. If you believe that I have misinterpreted events, please let me know and I will amend accordingly.
WCAG 2 & ARIA Overview
Nick Wilson (Managing Director of HiSoftware EMEA) introduced Thomas Logan (HiSoftware VP of Prodect Management) who started the proceedings with a quick overview of WCAG and also WAI-ARIA. This set the scene nicely for the subsequent presentations as Sharepoint 2010 (when used in conjunction with the HiSoftware’s Accessibility Kit for Sharepoint(AKS)?) aims to be WCAG 2.0 as well as WAI-ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) ‘compliant’ straight ‘out of the box’.
SharePoint 2010
Next up was Tara Hellier (SharePoint Partner Technology Advisor) from Microsoft, UK who presented an ‘Introduction to Sharepoint 2010’, and particularly the improvements the updated software will bring.
Tara admitted that Microsoft is fully aware that Sharepoint 2007 had several severe accessibility shortfalls. Therefore, Sharepoint 2010 has a key focus on meeting accessibility standards such as WCAG 2. 0 (to AA standard), Section 508 and also VPAT’s- Voluntary Product Accessibility Template. (If anyone has any further information on VPAT’s I would be most interested).
In addition, Sharepoint 2010 has been developed to incorporate best practises in the modern webdesign. As Tara stated “Usability + Standards = Accessibility”.
Tara discussed some of the key updates in Sharepoint 2010 in terms of functionality, some of which I will list below:
- Use of Cascading Style Sheets to format pages rather than tables (as was the case in Sharepoint 2007)
- Ability to include shortcut keys for keyboard access
- Incorporation of skip links
- Incorporation of WAI-ARIA into UI elements
- XHTML 1.0 definition compliant code to a ‘well formed’ standard.
- The ‘More Accessible Mode’ in Sharepoint 2007 is still to be available in 2010. The reasoning behind this is that even though the generated code and UI should be accessible to Assistive Technologies, Microsoft want to ensure that they have a product which is future proof… who knows what is round the corner in the accessibility world? I think this is commendable foresight by Microsoft.
Tara demonstrated some of the new accessible functionality in Sharepoint 2010, during which there was a comment from the audience. The audience member enquired whether Jaw’s was available on the presenters PC to test the functionality… as screenshots are not a very accessible presentation method! Perhaps not surprisingly, the answer was no, but the audience member was encouraged to test out the BETA version of Sharepoint 2010 (due for release soon), and Nick Wilson suggested that there may be an opportunity to test the software within the Microsoft labs at a later date. Looking back, this was really an unfair and inappropriate question- today’s meeting was never meant to be a testing session.
‘Compliance Sheriff’
After a quick coffee and networking break the session recommenced with a further presentation from Thomas, this time about the ‘Compliance Sheriff’ in Sharepoint 2010. I found this an interesting concept, and one which I think is often overlooked in CMS tools. How can you ‘ensure’ that the content uploaded to the Internet/Intranets is compliant to both internal (to the organisation) and external web standards (WCAG, Section508, etc)? The ‘Compliance Sheriff’ aims to ‘vet’ uploads by allowing scans on predetermined ‘checkpoints’. The ‘Sheriff’ can run checks at a set interval, and also has the ability to create new checkpoints.
Out of the box, the compliance sheriff has 233 checkpoints, many of which are based on WCAG 2.0 guidelines. Thomas demonstrated how to create and test custom checkpoints. This process was more complicated than I would have expected, and involved setting various test parameters (in the format of an If-Else statement) and using Firebug to find classnames from within the webpage code. Surely there must be an easier way?
Q and A session
The session was rounded off with a Q and A session which both Tara Hellier, Thomas Logan participated in alongside Robin Christopherson (Abilitynet), Nikki Ashington (Trinity Systems) and Peter Abraham.
There were several questions that raised some interesting points:
Migration of Sharepoint 2007 to Sharepoint 2010
Tara stated that there were 2 ways to achieve this:
- Migrate intact which would update the system to 2010, but would keep the 2007 look and feel.
- Migrate to 2010 look and feel.
Tara said that their partners are investigating the migration process further. This makes me a little nervous… If anyone has any further information about the Migration process between Sharepoint 2007 and 2010, please contact me!
Will the ‘Compliance Sheriff’ be able to scan content such as graphics (for example logos)?
Thomas stated that although this is not possible now, HiSoftware are looking into OCR technologies for graphics processing.
To me, this sounds like it could be a huge step forward to automated testing.
Are a lot of people holding back on implementing Sharepoint because of the compliance issues?
Nikki said that compliance is one of the biggest requests for the new version of Sharepoint, however, ‘compliance’ cannot be guaranteed. Even when using the new version user testing and re-engineering will be the key.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Sharepoint 2010 looks like a promising product with a key focus on producing ‘accessible’ and ‘well-coded’ web content. However, I think it is important to wait until we are able to test the BETA product ourselves before we reach any conclusions.
One comment that I would like to stress is that even if Sharepoint 2010 content does meet web standards, and comes out well in automated testing, this ‘rating’ should not be an alternative to user testing. User testing with as many different users as possible is the key to usable, accessible content.
If you have any comments about Sharepoint or this post, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
Posted byCharlie M at 06:54 0 comments
Labels: accessibility, microsoft, sharepoint
Web Accessibility discussed on 'Click On' show (BBC Radio 4)
Tuesday, 27 October 2009
Here is an interesting radio article about the importance of Web Accessibility & the new Web Accessibility standard "BS 8878 British Standard For Accessible Websites".
The show is hosted by Simon Cox and is joined by Léonie Watson (Nomensa) and Bim Egan (RNIB).
The show can heard by clicking here : http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00ndzw4
This is the show writeup from the BBC website:
"While ramps and lifts are now an everyday sight, enabling disabled access to public buildings, the vast majority of websites aren’t anything like as disabled friendly. Simon speaks to those behind a new British standard (BS 8878) for web accessibility hoping that with the right advice and encouragement websites will finally make themselves accessible to all. Or should we see the same use of the disability discrimination legislation to compel websites to comply?"
Enjoy!
Posted byCharlie M at 14:04 0 comments
Labels: accessibility, bbc, radio
Jaws 11 - what's new?
Thursday, 22 October 2009
So, Jaws 11 has now been released bringing additional exciting and innovative functionality for screenreader users. The full new version is now shipping to coincide with the release of Windows 7 : Jaws 11 Download link (http://www.freedomscientific.com/downloads/jaws/JAWS-whats-new.asp#download)
The new features are thoroughly documented at : http://www.freedomscientific.com/downloads/jaws/JAWS-whats-new.asp
You can also download the 'What’s New in JAWS 11 DAISY book' from http://www.freedomscientific.com/downloads/training/training-downloads.asp
The FSCast podcast (FSCast Episode 33, August 2009) which discusses the new features of Jaws 11 can be found here : http://www.freedomscientific.com/FSCast/episodes/fscast033-august2009.asp
The September FSCast podcast (Episode 34, September 2009) presents a demonstration of the new "Research It" : http://www.freedomscientific.com/FSCast/episodes/fscast034-september2009.asp
I have yet to try out the new functionality within Jaws 11 thoroughly for myself, so would be very interested to hear what everyone thinks of the new version. Does it live up to expectations? Please leave me a blog comment or email me at : http://www.simplicityuserexperience.co.uk/contact.html
Posted byCharlie M at 14:49 0 comments
Labels: accessibility, jaws 11
Google Accessibility
Saturday, 17 October 2009
This week Google have launched "Google Accessibility"- a new website which will be a central resource for all their existing accessibility documentation & information. "Google Accessibility" enables us to follow all their updates from one place (RSS feed is available), and perhaps most importantly will allow us provide our feedback on all their services.
This is a another great step forward for the exposure of accessibility to the masses & reiterates the importance of creating accessible products and services.
See for yourselves : http://www.google.com/accessibility/
Here is some additional information about "Google Accessibility" : http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/10/new-home-for-accessibility-at-google.html
Posted byCharlie M at 02:05 0 comments
Labels: accessibility, google
Web Accessibility / Web User Experience for Old Users
Sunday, 20 September 2009
Web Accessibility for Old Users is something which is often overlooked. Unfortunately, when we get older we often begin to loose some of our senses and mobility... vision declines, hearing becomes more difficult, movement can be reduced and cognition is often negatively effected. Therefore, Web Accessibility is likely to be important for most of us at some point! I will be writing about this topic at length in the near future.
Over the past few weeks I have been working with some older users, and have viewed them making use of the world wide web. I thought it would be interesting to share some very basic observations of how they interacted with popular websites. The observations are certainly not scientific, but I think they are useful to add weight to some of the important usability / accessibility / user experience guidelines that I promote.
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Generally, I saw once again that simplicity really made the whole user experience more usable and understandable. The websites that were cluttered and poorly arranged caused issues almost immediately. Hence the name of my business! I really see no reason or excuse for cluttered, untidy and unfriendly websites.
Unlike the younger generation, the older users i observed were reluctant to 'click to see what it does'. If the destination of the hyperlink or button was not apparent, they would be hesitant to click. It is very rare that a user who has grown up with computers and the Internet would get stuck and unable to continue on an website... however, I saw that the older generation would actually give up within seconds if the website was not sufficiently obvious to operate.
The older users were very concerned about hackers and malicious behavior on the internet. They have read about internet fraud and crime, and are very cautious as a result. Over cautious in my opinion!
In a similar vein, the credibility of each website was scrutinized. When we were looking for local services (plumbers, etc) the unprofessional websites were discarded very quickly, particularly if they did not provide full and easy to find contact details.
Pop-up windows and dialogue boxes caused a lot of issues. Surprisingly, the Firefox download dialogue box caused frustration and confusion. When are pop ups really essential?
Some websites use very small fonts for their body text. The users did not know that they could zoom or increase text size, so they simply left the website. Silly design decisions such as very small fonts will turn visitors away as quickly as they came!
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Anyway readers, I hope this quick post has been of interest. If you have had any similar experiences of working with the older generation I would be interested in hearing from you.
Posted byCharlie M at 04:43 0 comments
Labels: accessibility, old, user experience
Snow Leopard- Accessibility Improvements
Thursday, 17 September 2009
I have been trying to decide whether to update my Mac to Snow Leopard. To be honest, there does not seem to be many major improvements which I will benefit from, and I am a little concerned about losing my settings and preferences... can anyone reassure me?
While researching the new Snow Leopard features I have seen several accessibility improvements, particularly for those with Physical Disabilities.
Here is a very quick rundown:
- Trackpad Commander
Enables new trackpad gestures.
"you can hear what’s on screen by touching the corresponding part of the trackpad; touch the upper left corner of the trackpad, and VoiceOver will tell what’s in the upper left of the screen. Drag your finger, and VoiceOver will tell you what's in the frontmost window your finger touches"
- Quick Nav
Allows screen navigation and clicks using keyboard arrow keys.
- VoiceOver
Improvements make VoiceOver more configurable than before.
- Mono audio for hearing impaired
Users who hear better through one ear rather than in 'in stereo' can set the audio to play in Mono.
For more detailed information, please see : http://www.macworld.com/article/142456/2009/08/snowleopardaccessibility.html
It is great to see that Accessibility is getting more focus in new software and operating systems... may the current trend continue!
If you have any thoughts or comments about accessibility, Snow Leopard or this post, please let me know!
Posted byCharlie M at 09:04 1 comments
Labels: accessibility, mac, snow leopard
Promotional Offer
Tuesday, 18 August 2009
For a limited time, 'Simplicity User Experience' are offering upto 75% off selected services including:
- Accessibility Consultancy - expert advice, full website reviews, optimisation and testing.
- Full website 'User Experience' review and optimisation.
- Usability Consultancy - expert advice, full site reviews and usability optimisation.
We are also offering FREE accessibility optimisation services for selected non-profit organisations.
If you would like any further information, please contact us at info@simplicityuserexperience.co.uk or via the Simplicity User Experience website.
We look forward to working with you.
Posted byCharlie M at 05:40 0 comments
Labels: accessibility, promotion, usability, user experience
HTML headings for Accessibility
Sunday, 16 August 2009
One thing which is often overlooked in accessible webpage design is the correct use of HTML headings. The headings (coded as H1-H6 tags) are important for users who navigate webpages using screen readers, keyboard input, refreshable braille displays, voice commands and other assistive technologies. Headings basically enable users to navigate / scan a webpage more easily and quickly, by indicating the beginning of sections / sub-sections.
A screenreader survey by webaim suggests that 76% of screenreader users navigate using headings 'often' or 'all the time'. This just shows the importance of correct use of headings for accessibility design. 
(image source : http://webaim.org/projects/screenreadersurvey/#headings)
There are several 'HTML heading' rules that I follow in my webdesign:
1) Only use one H1. This should be the main page heading. Opinion is divided whether this is required for accessibility, but in my experience, having more than one H1 causes usability issues for blind users.
2) Headings should not be skipped, i.e. H2 should follow H1, H3 should follow H2 etc.
3) Headings should be used to break up long articles.
4) Headings should be informative about the subject matter, yet short and scannable.
5) Headings should be used to structure the webpage, not to format textual elements.
If you have any general rules that you use in your everyday webdesign, I would be interested to hear from you.
Here is a video from youtube about the 'Importance of HTML Headings for Accessibility'. This is a really informative video, and well worth a watch:
(If you can't access the embedded video, please navigate directly to youtube by clicking the link here: Importance of HTML Headings for Accessibility
I hope this post has been informative, if you would like any additional information, please contact me directly via : Simplicity User Experience Optimisation
Posted byCharlie M at 01:34 0 comments
Labels: accessibility, html headings, youtube
Colour Contrast / Color Contrast for Accessibility
Thursday, 13 August 2009
So, Colour Contrast.
Some users with cognitive or visual impairments can have difficulty distinguishing and making sense of foreground text against certain background colours.
I'm sure we have all been on websites where there is a terribly bold background pattern that prevents you from being able to read the text in the foreground. Many MySpace, Bebo and WYSIWYG personal webpages pages have this problem!
Displaying text which is legible is useful for everyone, but especially for those with special requirements.
The most important thing to ensure is that the contrast between the foreground and the background colour is sufficient to enable easy reading. The most extreme examples are black text on white background, or white text on a black background. There are algorithms to ensure that the contrast is sufficient, but I won't go into those just now (feel free to get in contact if you would like an explanation!). The general rule I like to follow as an initial test is to imagine if your page was presented on a black and white screen- would the text and imagery be suitably clear?
Another consideration should be your users with colour blindness. Colour blindness is basically the difficulty distinguishing between different colours. e.g. red and green may appear virtually the same to a colour blind users. Therefore, it is important that colour is not used as the sole differentiator for areas of your webpage. For example a statement such as "click on the red button to stop, and green to start", could be problematic for some.
Here is a useful accessibility tool that I have used in previous accessibility projects. It is called the Accessibility Color Wheel. Move your mouse over the 'wheel' to see different coloured text presented against a background colour of your choice. If it meets the recommended WCAG 2 contrast ratio, the tool displays 'OK!'. The tool can also be used to test for Colour brightness / difference. Give it a go!
Hope this brief description of colour contrast was useful. If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to contact me directly at : Simplicity User Experience Optimisation.
Posted byCharlie M at 09:18 0 comments
Labels: accessibility, color contrast, colour contrast
ALT and TITLE attributes for Accessibility & Web Design
Monday, 10 August 2009
I have been asked several questions about the use of ALT and TITLE attributes in webpage design recently, so thought I would write a brief summary here.
'ALT text' or 'ALT attributes' (nb. not ALT 'tags' as many people call them) should be included on all non textual elements of your webpage, such as images. The ALT attribute should be provided as an alternative textual description for all relevant images. ALT attributes are coded like this:
ALT = "textual description of image".
If the image in question is purely decorative, the best practice is to use an 'empty alt attribute', i.e. with no textual description:
ALT = "".
ALT text should be used to improve the accessibility of your page particularly for those using assistance technology such as screen readers. They also enable search engine crawlers to "see" your non-textual page content- potentially improving your search engine ranking.
The ALT attribute is required.
The 'TITLE attribute', in contrast, should be used to provide additional information about the page element. Most modern browsers show the title attribute as well as the image (or other page element). The title description is shown in a yellow box when the user hovers over the element with their mouse. It is coded using:
title = "title text".
I like to use title text in three main situations:
1) When additional information about a image is required, such as source information or the photographer's name when using a photograph.
2) If a field in a form requires explanation this information can be given via a title attribute. I would also include this information in plain text above the field for completeness.
3) To explain more about a hyperlink- such as a warning if a link opens in a new window.
The ALT attribute is optional.
This is a very basic overview of ALT and TITLE attributes- if you have any questions or queries, please don't hesitate to contact me at via : Simplicity User Experience Optimisation
Posted byCharlie M at 05:29 1 comments
Labels: accessibility, ALT attributes, TITLE attributes
Relative font sizes for accessibility
Sunday, 9 August 2009
I wanted to do a really quick post on the accessibility benefits of using relative font sizes in web design. It is something which is usually easy to implement, yet is still often overlooked by designers.
When presenting text on a webpage, there are various ways to specify the font size. Some argue it is best to leave the font size to the default size as specified by the browser, but for most web users this is likely to be too large.
Although widely supported by browsers, pixel sizes (px) are not accessible. They fix the size of the text. Points (pt) are another font size option, however, they are displayed inconsistently across different screen resolutions.
So, on to Percentages and Ems. These are relative measures rather than absolute. They are configured by the users font size, and can be adjusted using most browsers to suit the users needs. This basically means that if a visually impaired user needs to increase the size of the text in your website to read it comfortably... they can.
It is sometimes difficult however, to know exactly what percentage (%) font size to use to match up to a wireframe design, or pixel value (if you are converting directly). Therefore, this useful table below may help take out the guess work:
pixel
size (px) - percent (%)
10 - 77
11 - 85
12 - 93
13 - 100
14 - 108
15 - 116
16 - 123.1
17 - 131
18 - 138.5
19 - 146.5
20 - 153.9
21 - 161.6
22 - 167
23 - 174
24 - 182
25 - 189
26 - 197
(reproduced from diagram on Yahoo! Developer Network)
In a similar vein, I'm going to make a bold statement. Where possible for accessible design, use plain text rather than text included in imagery. This seems simple, and obvious, but it is still often overlooked... even by superb designers. If 'zooming' in on a page is necessary, then image's often become pixelated, often beyond recognition. I have worked with visually impaired Internet users who have needed to 'zoom in' to a webpage so much that only one or two letters are visible on their monitors- in this case the presentation of the characters is generally much clearer if its is a textual character written as plain text, rather than embedded in an image.
Please comment or drop me a line if you have any questions or thoughts on the topic.
In addition, if you need any help with the accessibility or user experience of your webpage, please get in contact with me directly via : Simplicity User Experience Optimisation.
Posted byCharlie M at 02:55 2 comments
Labels: absolute, accessibility, font, relative