Top 5 Accessibility Checks for Web Sites
Category: Web Standards
The following list is based on an article in this month’s .Net Magazine. I am a subscriber and highly recommend it to anyone involved in Web Design or Development. Really, it’s the best web related magazine out here in the UK.
To follow this checklist, you’ll need to use the Firefox browser with the Web Developer’s Toolbar installed.
1) Alternative Text and Structure
Under the Images Tab, disable all images. This is an easy way to see if you’ve remembered to add alternative text. Next, under CSS, disable all styles. This lets you see if CSS has been used properly to display layout.
2) JavaScript
Under Disable, click on Disable JavaScript. Refresh the page. Now, following Accessibility, you should be able to use the site as normal even though you have turned off JavaScript. Buttons, menus, etc should all continue to work.
3) Flexibility
For this one, you’ll need to switch to Internet Explorer. Under the View menu, change the Font Size. Visitors should be allowed to change font size on your site anywhere from “smallest” to “largest”. BTW, you can also do this under Firefox by holding down the CTRL key and using the scroll bar on your mouse.
4) Validation
Check that your HTML and CSS both validate at validator.w3.org
5) Tables
To make sure your data Tables are valid, you can use Gez Lemon’s extension. Note, this is only for DATA tables - as we all know you should not use Tables for layout in accessible web sites : )
Follow this list and your off to a great start for an accessible web site. Good luck!