Category: articles

I gave feedback in the form of a comment for the article 15+ Tips to Improve Web Accessibility of a Website. But, yet again, my blog comment was not published. The article is not bad, just needed some clarifications. So since my comment wasn’t approved (after several days), here it is:

Great points, although 4 have to do with forms. Some clarifications:

• For alternative text on images, decorative images should have empty value (alt=””) and linked images must have alt text describing target of link.
• Relative sizing in CSS not as important as it used to be. [Most browser do page zoom by default and all browsers but IE can zoom text set in pixels.]
• CSS vs table layout doesn’t have any direct impact to accessibility.
• Use ABBR tag for acronyms as well as abbreviations (acronym tag is deprecated).
• For skip links, see end of this article for JS fix for functionality on some browsers: http://terrillthompson.com/blog/161

And now that I think about it, the article overlooks pretty basic techniques such as data tables, captioning, and ARIA. For a more complete list of tips, see my 25 Ways To Make Your Website Accessible.

Here is my feedback on a recent article A Complete Beginner’s Guide to Web Accessibility on 1stWebDesigner.com. Some good points, but I’d like to clarify a few things:

• Item 1 is good, I think the main point is “follow conventions”, to continue established design patterns. This may be beneficial for those with cognitive disabilities, but it’s somewhat more of a usability issue rather than accessibility.
• For Item 2, remember that a text-alternative is now frowned upon; it’s almost always not equal content, nor a comparable experience. Also, many Flash websites can now be done with accessible HTML/JS/CSS.
• Don’t agree with your point on Pagination. Not directly related to accessibility, but again, more of an opinion on usability.
• For item 4, I think the point is to use semantic markup. A great place to start!
• On item 7, the point is that you should use relative sizing and layout (EM, %) instead of absolute (PX, PT).
• For 8, you’re pointing to WCAG1, which is now outdated. You want WCAG2. Also, for testing, auto tools are handy, but it’s always best to have real users test. And many items MUST be checked by a human, such as proper alternative text.