Web Design Podcast (10) – Web Accessibility
Posted in Podcast on: Monday, October 24, 2005 by Paul Boag
On this life-changing episode of boagworld (Okay, so I have delusions of grandeur), we look at the subject of web accessibility. What is it? Why it is important? And how to decide just how accessible your site needs to be.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (14.7MB)
Below are some brief notes that might give you a vague idea of what was covered in this episode. There are also some links on accessibility you might find useful.
What is web accessibility?
Web accessibility is about making your site available to the widest possible audience no matter what disability, device, or browser they are using.
For more on the different definitions of web accessibility read "Accessibility debates, more harm than good!"
Why should I make my site accessible?
We have a legal and morale obligation to make our sites accessible. However, it also makes good commercial sense. Why turn people away from your site just because they have a disability or do not have the latest browser.
- Read more about our morale obligation to build accessible sites
- Learn about how accessibility can benefit your business
- Build a business case for making your site accessible
How is accessibility measured?
Although many countries have different web accessibility legislation the W3C guidelines are considered the basis for good accessibility. However, these are indeed guidelines and should be treated as such. The WCAG are the start of good web accessibility not the end.
The same is true for automated checkers like Bobby. Although a valuable starting point for web accessibility they have many limitations.
Learn more about the role of automated accessibility checkers.
So how accessible do I need to be?
Deciding how accessible to make your site should, like so much in web design, be based around your target audience. You should consider their needs and examine these against design, technical and commercial constraints.
Other great stuff to read
Accessible sites don’t have to be ugly
Accessibility for low vision users
Accessibility and the new Headscape website
An inclusive and pragmatic approach to accessibility
7 Comments
Comments are for the discussion of this post. If you have other questions / comments then post them to the forum or send me an email
Great show, Paul. To those of you who don’t know, I do a podcast specifically on accessibility called Web Axe (http://webaxe.blogspot.com/). Check it out…
There is so much to say about this topic. I agree that accessibility is an ethical issue.
People might like to try the accessibar Firefox extension, which claims to help with accessibility issues.
There’s also a good web accessibility toolbar for IE.
An interesting video about accessibility (mostly aimed at universities, it seems), has been produced. It starts with a funny cartoon too!
Do you know any good resources on the web that talk about designing in an accessible way for mobile devices, PDA’s, mobile phones etc..?
Its not a subject I know a lot about James. I do remember reading this article on the mobile devices a while back but to be honest I cant remember the details.
Hope that helps.
Here’s an accessibility mapper on Frappr: http://www.frappr.com/webaccessibilityenthusiasts