Web accessibility matters May18 '04

Appearance is tricky

The web is much more than what it appears to be.

Although creative techniques and flashy substance are used to make web sites visually appealing – appearance plays a very minimal role in what the web is, and what the web will become.

The web’s primary focus is accessibility.

That’s kind of a bold statement. I should probably re–phrase that. I will try again:

The web’s primary focus SHOULD be accessibility. And most web authors, development agencies, and corporate high–towers are beginning to realize this – the hard way. Although a web site may look good – the picture is no longer pretty.

The key terms

So, what is accessibility, anyway? It’s best to take a step back and consider exactly who looks at web sites.

The answer to that is people. People need to get at the information that they need. People need things absolutely explained for them, so there is no choice which direction to go, and no shred of doubt. And most importantly – people have disabilities!

This is a critical fact to understanding what accessibility is, and how it ties into the web. Unfortunately, this fact is almost always overlooked. Disabilities are the single most important thing that all web site developers should never, ever, ever forget. Heck – they may even have disabilities of their own!

So what exactly do I mean by "disability?"

Disability is anything that inhibits a user from conducting a common task. Therefore, accessibility is the fundamental principle which allows users with disabilities to perform common tasks – flawlessly and without pain, as if they were not even disabled.

Disablility comes in so many different forms. Below are just a few common disablities, that affect millions of internet users:

• Poor vision, to no vision at all
• Color blindness
• Deafness, or hard of hearing
• Motor disabilities, such as limitations of muscular control
• Cognitive disabilities, such as difficulty processing written language
• Intelligence impairments, such as individuals who learn more slowly
• Memory impairments, such as problems with short–term memory
• Seizure disorders, which are more common than you think
• Psychiatric disabilities, such as mental or emotional struggles

But you, who are relatively healthy and well–kept, wouldn’t ever be concerned about accessibility issues, now would you? People without major disabilities are oblivious as to how something that seems so simple to them – is not worth the effort to someone else.

Recognizing the problem

Accessibility is a major problem on the web. Unfortunately, the web was not really set up to be accessible. This is no one’s fault in particular – it’s just the way it happened. Web developers must do the best they can to ensure most aspects of their site are accessible.

This is a start. And the truth is, the tides are turning. The web is becoming more accessible, but it will take much time, and much effort.

A "real world" example

To make these issues more clear and distinct, I want to present a common example of an accessibility issue that appears often on the web.

Tables are one of the most common HTML elements on the web. A table is very powerful. It can be used to present tabular data, and, although it is not recommended, tables can be used to control the entire layout of a web site.

Below is a typical table that presents tabular data:

To viewers without a disability – this table is clear, concise, and easy to follow. Viewers can easily see the columns that each table cell applies to, as well as quickly compare separate rows, to see the difference from one project to the next.

But, let’s bring along Carl, who is blind. Carl wants to know the contents of this table. Of course, Carl is already equipped with an excellent screen reader, which reads the contents of web pages to viewers with disabilities.

Except, when the screen reader reads the contents of this table, the information is hard for Carl to follow. Below is an example of how a screen reader would read this table:

• "Title, Launch Date, Launch Time, Primary Appointee, Days Running"
• "Accessible table conversion, 2004–05–04, 09:30:33, Matt Thommes, 2"
• "CSS page conversion, 2004–04–11, 08:11:19, Matt Thommes, 1"
• ...etc etc.

You see how easy it is to get lost in midst of it all? And just imagine a table that is 20 or 40 rows long. The information being read would become non–sensical.

Clearly, for those of us who can see this table, it is easy to follow. All we have to do is glance up at the column header to see which column each piece of information is in. But if you can’t see it, then how can you possibly look up to the column headers? You can’t.

For the web author, the answer lies in somehow relating each column row to each column header, so the screen reader starts to make sense. The techniques to do this are out there, but are beyond the scope of this entry.

The time is now

Accessiblity matters today. This is not an issue that we have to consider for the future. The time to make adjustments is now.

Web developers, content architects, usability experts, and anyone at all involved in the web community should take heed. If you don’t prepare now, you will be out of a job in the very near future.

Categories: Accessibility , Internet

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