Accessible web design tip: Use absolute size keywords to set the text size on your pages.- (Found June 24, 2008 ) Although I am on record as advocating the use of em units as the best way of setting text sizes on web pages, an alternative unit of measurement has recently been working it's way into my consiousness; namely, absolute size keywords. Despite the name, absolute size keywords are actually a relative measurement; text size is calculated relative to the default font size set in the user's browser. The idea is that they replace the sizes previously provided by the font tag, e.g. . The following...http://www.mcu.org.uk/showlog.php?weblogid=40 MCU: Accessible Web Design Tip: How to make printable characters between adjacent links invisible.- (Found June 24, 2008 ) Some older screen readers are unable to distinguish between adjacent links if there is no printable character between them. The W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 provides a priority 3 checkpoint to deal with this unfortunate behaviour of older screen readers: 10.5 Until user agents (including assistive technologies) render adjacent links distinctly, include non-link, printable characters (surrounded by spaces) between adjacent links. The obvious place on a page where you can...http://www.mcu.org.uk/showlog.php?weblogid=39 Sane CSS Typography- (Found June 24, 2008 ) Owen Briggs has spent a lot of time wrestling with the problem of accessible, controllable text sizes on the web - and this is what he has come up with : sane CSS Typography I've spent time thinking about accessible web typography myself, and generally try to avoid advocating 'workarounds' , when a more straightforward, standards based (and usually easier to remember) solution will suffice. For this reason I prefer to use em units for setting text size; ems are a relative unit that give...http://www.mcu.org.uk/showlog.php?weblogid=26 An introduction to standard HTML and accessibility- (Found June 24, 2008 ) I have added a short introductory article about the importance of using standard markup when creating accessible web pages. PDF: Unfit for Human Consumption Jakob Nielsen explains why PDF files should not be used for online presentation. Building Accessible Websites by Joe Clark on the web Joe Clark's Building Accessible Websites is now available on the web. This is recommended reading if you are building websites; lots of well-thought-out advice, packed with insightful comments, and - of...http://www.mcu.org.uk/showlog.php?weblogid=25 ADA applies to commercial and private Web sites- (Found June 24, 2008 ) Anitra Pavka reports the news that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) applies to commercial and other private Web sites.http://www.mcu.org.uk/showlog.php?weblogid=24 Weblog accessibility problems- (Found June 24, 2008 ) It hadn't occurred to me, until I started to implement my own weblog system that there could be accessibility problems specific to weblogs - but there are. Here are a couple that I've come across: The text for each link on a pages should be unique; using the terms 'comment' and 'permalink' (or equivilents) to allow visitors to add comment or link to a permanent URL for the entry - means that the page will be peppered with links that use the same link text. Many, but not all weblogs are...http://www.mcu.org.uk/showlog.php?weblogid=10 UK government web sites investigated for accessibility- (Found June 24, 2008 ) Ian Lloyd from Accessify.com is looking for accessible websites that 'don't look like a dogs dinner' Also on Accessify.com: "The UKs first e-Minister, Patricia Hewitt, gave a commitment in February 2001 that all new government websites should be accessible. Two years later, UK government sites are a long way from being accessible"http://www.mcu.org.uk/showlog.php?weblogid=9 Kynn Bartlett says no to CSS pull down menus- (Found June 24, 2008 ) Pure CSS Pulldowns and Accessibility, a response to the recent discussion about this technique from Kynn Bartlett.http://www.mcu.org.uk/showlog.php?weblogid=8 This weeks accessible web design tip- (Found June 24, 2008 ) Does your website use a table to place the navigation bar on the left hand side, and the main content on the right If that is how your site is designed, it is no bad thing; visitors will instantly understand this design 'convention' and won't have to waste time trying to figure out how to get around your site. There is however a problem with this 'standard layout' for people using screen readers. Accessing a website using a screen reader is a 'linear process'; the text that comes first,...http://www.mcu.org.uk/showlog.php?weblogid=7 WebAIM: How to use Dreamweaver to create accessible web content- (Found June 24, 2008 ) Here are a couple of very useful tutorials from WebAIM: Accessible Web Content Using Dreamweaver 3.0 and 4.0 How to Make Accessible Web Content Using Frontpage 2000http://www.mcu.org.uk/showlog.php?weblogid=6 |