Make your site accessible to disabled users30 December 2004

Can you count the times you've been frustrated with the Internet and badly designed sites? Imagine if, every time you tried to read a particular page it jumped to another one, or if every web page was just one big block of text without headings or format? These are common experiences for disabled users who probably witness the worst of the web - simply because we do not consider their needs when designing sites.

Disabled web users may be blind, deaf, short sighted, suffer from dyslexia, have short term memory, be colour blind or have mobility problems.

They often use what is known as 'Assistive technology' to help them browse the web. This technology includes magnifiers, screen readers, closed captioning, keyboard enhancements, and highlighting software and they use the code and content on your web site to make it accessible.

The 1995 Disability Discrimination Act made it unlawful for a service provider to discriminate against any disabled person solely on the grounds of their disability by offering a lower standard of service, a service on worse terms or by refusing to supply a service.

From October 1999, service providers were expected to make "reasonable adjustments" to make services accessible or more easily accessible to disabled people. And on October 1st, 2004, the final stage of Part III of the Act came into force. This means that by law we should provide accessible web sites.

Having an accessible web site has its advantages:

The disabled community is a potential online market that remains largely untouched. Providing an accessible site means that you are increasing your potential to sell.
Having an accessible web site also means you are compliant with the law and reduces the risk of being sued.
If coded properly, your web site will work on various technologies like PDAs, mobile phones etc, therefore saving you the cost of developing several sites to be compatible with these devices.

Our top tips will give you a head start in this direction and make sure your web site is moving towards accessibility compliance.

Ensure accessibility is a contractual requirement

Creating a web site that is accessible is relatively easy as long as the developers and authors follow basic guidelines. But not every one takes this seriously and often short cuts and compromises are made when they shouldn't be. Making accessibility a contractual requirement is one way of pushing people to develop sites that are usable.

Provide 'alt tags' for images

Some text browsers and screen readers cannot present images to visually impaired users therefore to communicate the information, it is important to associate alternative text with all images.

Make sure your web site works when applets, scripts and plug ins are switched off

Your pages should be usable when any in built device like javascript etc, is switched off.

Stay away from moving content

Fancy designs may sound appealing but flickering images or text and flashing images can cause photosensitive epileptic seizures in susceptible individuals so stay away from them.

Do not rely on colour alone

Make sure you web page still conveys the importance of messages and format without colour and contrast as some individuals will not be able to distinguish between these.

Use appropriate table tags and labels for forms

Screen readers read content from left to right and so presenting tables in a meaningful way can be difficult. Identifying column and row headers within your code will give your tabular content meaning. Similary, forms that require text inputs or radio buttons need to be coded with 'label tags'.

Stay away from frames

Splitting your web pages in to two or more frames causes problems to all users as pages become difficult to bookmark, URLs stop working and printing is difficult, so try not to use these where possible.

Make your pages viewable with different font sizes

Some users will want to view web pages in different font sizes depending on their needs, so make sure your site is designed to accommodate variable font sizes and doesn't specify an absolute font size.

Clearly state the target of links

The common mistake when highlighting a link is using the phrase 'click here' - but these words make no sense when using a screen reader. Identifying the target of a link is a more usable way to linking to other pages or documents.

Downloads and pop ups

Links to PDF files and other documents can cause problems and be confusing for all users so wherever possible inform the user of what the link is and how it will react when they click on it. So if the link opens in a pop up window tell them so.

Flash

Because Flash software is still in the early stages of being made accessible, it is best not to use it on your website unless absolutely necessary.