Transcript Web accessibility is easy

‘Web accessibility is easy’
Approaches to creating accessible
web pages
Problem 1: Which level?
• Reaching a basic level of A compliance
• Aiming higher?
Problem 2: web authors don’t
understand what they’re doing
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Provide good web authoring tools
Provide validation tools
Provide training
Provide templates or develop/test them with web
authors
• Prioritise key areas
• Inform HoDs about legal liability issues and make
them aware it is a priority
• Any improvement is better than none
Usability vs Accessibility
• No guarantees that an accessible page will
be easy to use.
• However, forcing designers/developers to
think about their audience’s needs can never
be a bad thing surely?
Garbage in, garbage out?
• If we rely on the goodwill of part time web
authors with varying skills and time, is it any
surprise that the standard is inconsistent?
• Long term issues: professionalisation of web
authors, higher status for web-based information
• But in the meantime, we have to make the best of
what we have…
• In the real world, we will always have to make
some compromises.