Transcript Is School Really Open? Strategies to Evaluate Web

American with Disabilities Act
(ADA) Web Site Compliance:
Are Pharmacy Web Sites
Accessible?
Ellen R. Cohn
Gary Stoehr
Ashli Molinero
University of Pittsburgh
1
What is WWW Accessibility?
• WWW pages can be accessed by a
wide variety of users with
disabilities, especially users of
unconventional programs, such as
screen readers.
• WWW pages allow for “low end,” to
“high end,” technology access
2
Our interest in the topic:
• Our University has adopted
CourseInfo, a web-based class
management package
• Our Schools are highly committed
to ensuring accessibility to people
with disabilities
3
The Problem
• A person with a visual and/or
learning disability cannot navigate a
web page without text browsers and
screen readers.
–these audibly read web site text
• Without special coding, text browsers
only display the word “image” when it
reads a graphic image.
4
The Frustration
“When blind people use the internet and
come across unfriendly sites, we aren’t
surfing, we are crawling….Imagine
hearing pages that say:
‘Welcome to …(image). This is the home
of ….(image).’ ‘link, link, link.’ It is like trying
to use Netscape with your monitor off and
the mouse unplugged. See how far you will
get.”
5
(New York Times CyberTimes, 2/1/96)
“Wake-up Calls” for Universities
• Justice Department opinion
– American with Disabilities Act (ADA) applies to
sites for businesses
• Sections 504 and 508 of Rehabilitation Act
– Implies government funded sites must be
accessible
• US Dept.of Education-Office of Civil Rights
Settlement Letter
– 1996 student complaint: lack of Internet access
6
– Set forth 7 minimal requirements for web accessibility
Educational Institutions:
Increasingly Web Dependent
• Electronic applications and registration
• Faculty e - mail to students
• Library reference systems
– search engines and internet access
• Distance learning
• Web-augmented classes
– group work
– posted lecture notes, assignments
• Web based advising and grades
• Web based bookstores of the future
7
Accessibility Validation: Bobby
3.1 CAST Analysis
• http://www.cast.org/
bobby/
• simple to use
• provides a
complete report
details remediation
strategies
8
Pharmacy Related Sites
• 16 websites appearing on the HealthTech
Solutions Clients list were analyzed via CAST
Bobby Analysis (6/21/99)
• 1 was Bobby Approved: National Pharmacy
Cholesterol Council
• 15 were not accessible
– e.g.: AACP, APA, Board of Pharmaceutical
Specialties, National Association of Pharmacy
Regulatory Authorities, Pharmacist’s Letter,
• The 2 most common errors:
– missing alternate text for images
– requires frames titles
9
Medical/Disability Sites
• American Medical Association, www.ama-assn.org, 3
accessibility error types; 38 errors
• Cerebral Palsy Association, www.ucpa.org. 0 errors;
Bobby Approved
• Multiple Sclerosis Foundation, www.msfactors.org, 1
accessibility error type, 33 errors
• National Multiple Sclerosis Society, www.nmss.org, 0
errors; Bobby Approved
• National Spinal Cord Injury Association,
www.spinalcord.org, 1 accessibility error type; 1
error
• WebMD, www.webMD.com, 2 accessibility error types;
15 errors
10
(analysis: 5/15/99)
Are Pharmacy Schools
“Open?”
• 76 pharmacy school web sites were
tested 6/21/99
• 22 were Bobby Approved
54 were not accessible by Bobby
standards
11
Accessible Design Myths
• An accessible WWW page is a boring page
• Accessible authoring is expensive and time
consuming
• Accessible design is too difficult for the
common web designer
• People with disabilities don’t use the WWW
• Assistive technology will solve the problems
• Accessibility only helps people with
disabilities
from aware.hwg.org 12
WAI Quick Tips
for Page Authoring
• Images & animations. Use the alt attribute to
describe the function of all visuals.
– <IMG SRC= “./coolgraphics/graphicfish.gif”ALT =
“Graphic of a fish”>
• Image maps. Use client-side MAP and text for
hotspots.
• Multimedia. Provide captioning and transcripts
of audio, descriptions of video, and accessible
versions in case inaccessible formats are used.
from www.w3c.org/wai/ 13
• Hypertext links. Use text that makes sense
when read out of context. For instance, do
not use "click here."
• Page organization. Use headings, lists, and
consistent structure. Use CSS for layout and
style where possible.
• Graphs & charts. Summarize or use the
longdesc attribute.
• Scripts, applets, & plug-ins. Provide
alternative content in case active features
are inaccessible or unsupported.
from www.w3c.org/wai/ 14
• Frames. Label with the title or
name attribute.
• Tables. Make line by line reading
sensible. Summarize. Avoid using
tables for column layout.
• Check your work. Validate the
HTML. Use evaluation tools and
text-only browsers to verify
accessibility.
from www.w3c.org/wai/
15
How can I insure my course
documents are accessible?
• Use Standards
– WAI Page Authoring Codes
• Test your site/ validate your code:
Bobby
– W3C-WAI HTML Validating Service
–
• Author your documents in HTML
4.0
16
“The power of the Web is in its
universality. Access by
everyone regardless of a
disability is an essential
aspect.”
-Tim Berners- Lee, W3C Director
and inventor of the World Wide
Web
17
For more information on WWW
Accessibility:
Ashli Molinero, Webmaster
University of Pittsburgh
School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences (SHRS)
[email protected]
Ellen Cohn, Ph.D.
Director of Instructional Development, (SHRS)
Assistant Professor, School of Pharmacy
[email protected]
Gary Stoehr PharmD, Associate Dean
University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy
[email protected]
18
References
• W3C HTML Validation Service
• Bobby v. 3.1 (Center for Applied Special
Technology)
• Universal Design / Disability Access for
Advanced Computational Infrastructure
(Trace Research Center)
19