| When we talk about web accessibility we tend to | | | | accessible for your visitors. This can be true for |
| mean accessibility for people with disabilities. | | | | visitors with disabilities as well as those with limited |
| However, it is beneficial to look at site accessibility in | | | | browser capability. The most common example of |
| broader terms. If your site is inaccessible to any | | | | this is the image Alt tag. The contents of the Alt tag |
| particular group of people then you are losing out on | | | | are displayed in browsers that do not have the |
| potential visitors. For instance, while it's true that the | | | | capability to display the image. |
| majority of surfers use one or another incarnation of | | | | Accessible Without CSS |
| Internet Explorer (IE), there is an increasingly large | | | | CSS, or Cascading Style Sheets, have become |
| percentage of people using Mozilla Firefox and other | | | | popular because of the ease and flexibility they offer |
| alternatives. These browsers deal with HTML and | | | | but they may not always be accessible. Ensure that a |
| other languages in different ways. What may be | | | | page renders and loads legibly without the |
| accessible on IE may not be accessible on Firefox, | | | | accompanying CSS. Providing good, clean HTML has |
| and vice versa. | | | | been used, this should be accomplished. |
| The Spread Of The Internet | | | | Keyboard Navigation |
| The Internet has instilled itself into many of our lives. | | | | It should be possible to navigate around a page using |
| It is the world's largest resource where information is | | | | just a keyboard, as well as using a mouse. Ensure |
| freely passed and distributed between millions of | | | | that there are no traps on your page where the |
| people. Research for individuals and businesses has | | | | cursor or screen may become stuck when doing this. |
| become a streamlined process thanks to search | | | | Some users prefer the use of the keyboard, while |
| engines, directories, and reference websites. Because | | | | others may not have access to a mouse when |
| of this interjection into our daily routine, we have | | | | viewing your page. |
| come to rely more and more heavily on the Internet | | | | Provide An Alternative Page |
| for an increasing number of purposes. As such, | | | | There are many reasons why a page, or page |
| making your website accessible to as many people as | | | | element, may be inaccessible to a person, browser, |
| possible is vital to its overall success. | | | | or system. Providing an alternative for every |
| Ensuring Accessibility Is Available | | | | eventuality is not always possible with more complex |
| Fortunately, most browsers have the capability to | | | | pages. In these cases, and when all else fails, provide |
| change website settings. A simple click of the mouse | | | | an alternative version of the page that can be |
| and an arrow key can change text size, and | | | | accessed by anybody. Typically, this means a text |
| software is available that turns ordinary textual | | | | only version, or an HTML only version at the very |
| content into audio content. But websites need to be | | | | least. |
| optimized so that they are as easily accessible in all | | | | Web Accessibility For All |
| of these settings. Generally, this means following | | | | Web accessibility is taken seriously. No matter how |
| good design principles and meeting accessibility | | | | small a demographic segment you may be missing, |
| guidelines. These are just some of the more common | | | | you are potentially missing out on visitors if your |
| examples: | | | | pages are in any way inaccessible. This will alienate |
| Text Alternatives | | | | possible visitors and also the people they |
| Audio, video, and graphical content is not always | | | | communicate with on a regular basis. |