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Web
Development to Increase Accessibility for
Disabled People.
The Disability Discrimination Act says
that
web
development must be done to make websites more
accessible to the disabled. There are a number of factors that
you should make sure are present on your website. To improve the
accessibility for disabled people follow the below guidelines:
1. Alternative text
If a surfer places the pointer over an informational picture on
your
professional
web site, for example,
the club logo, then a yellow box should become visible with a
concise, correct explanation of the image. For users whose
browsers do not support images, this alternative text is what
they will see or hear instead of the image.
2. A decorative image must not have alternative text.
A decorative image has no other purpose but to look attractive.
Its only use is to improve the look and feel of the website.
Web
development should be done so that when the pointer
is placed over such images the above-mentioned yellow box does
not appear. The reason for this is that, these kinds of images
serve no purpose for information. There is no reason for users
whose browsers do not support images to know that they are
there.
However, you should check coding for the confirmation. If a
yellow box doesn’t appear then there are two possibilities:
1. The alternative text of the image is assigned a null value
(alt=’’’). In this case, browsers that do not support the images
will ignore the image.
2. The alternative text hasn’t been set in the first place. If
that is the case, then browsers that do not support images will
know of its existence, but will not be able to find out what
purpose it carries.
If you look at it from the users point of view the first option
is better.
3.If the volume is turned off, can you ‘listen’ to video or
audio content?
You will definitely not be able to hear or follow any audio
content with the speakers turned off. A deaf person on a daily
basis faces this situation. To make your website more accessible
to them, you must make sure that your website provides written
transcripts as an alternative to audio content. If this option
is provided then deaf people will be able to understand the
message placed on your website.
4. Online forms must be made more accessible.
For
web
development there should be prompt text tags next to
each item in the form. A contact form, for example, must provide
the prompt text ‘name’, ‘email’ and ‘comments’. The text tags
should be placed next to a box where the site users will place
their details. If the prompt text is clicked on, a flashing
cursor should appear in the box next to that text. Using this
approach will make your website more accessible.
5. Resizing of text should be allowed
If the text on your website is not flexible, then the
accessibility of your website is restricted, especially to those
users with poor visibility.
6. Check your website in the Lynx browser.
The Lynx browser is a text-only browser and does not support
many of the features that other browsers such as Internet
Explorer have. Using the Lynx Viewer, you can check how your
page looks in this browser. If your website makes sense and can
be navigated through the Lynx browser, then many of the
accessibility guidelines will be fulfilled.
7. The website should be completely accessible with just the use
of the mouse.
If the website is cannot be navigated through with just the use
of tab, shift-tab and return then it will become very difficult
for keyboard and voice only users.
8. Site map
you must remember to place a proper and easy site map on your
website. Web development India in this area will enable people
to navigate easily through your website.
9. Make sure link text makes sense out of context.
Internet users who are blind often surf by tabbing from one link
to another. ‘Click here’ and ‘More’ are two examples of
non-descriptive text links.
10. Regular check ups on your website.
There can be some areas, which need
web
development and improvement. You should check your
web pages for any such errors like dead links, slow loading
images etc.
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