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Re: Validation equals Accessibility?

for

From: Elizabeth J. Pyatt
Date: Apr 16, 2007 2:40PM

I'm glad you figured out that this could be a pitfall.

Most problems with valid code still not being accessible deal with
color contrast (black-on-black is valid code, but poor contrast). You
can also not use your headers well, specify small font sizes, over
use layout tables and mislabel your alt tags (only humans can catch
this error).

Because accessibility testing is about meeting different audience
needs, accessibility testing is actually a multipronged strategy
including

* Color checks
* Text browser/screen reader checks
* Disabling CSS check (low vision users implement their own CSS)
* Checking for captions/transcripts on audio and video.
* Automated Accessibility Report (optional)
http://tlt.its.psu.edu/suggestions/accessibility/verify.html

Actually, I find the automated 508 checers the least useful and find
more problems if I use a browser accessibility plugin like the CITA
tools which disable images so I can see what alt tags are or disable
CSS to see if the page is legible.
http://cita.rehab.uiuc.edu/software/

Speaking of CSS, it is possible to have inaccessile styles. For
instance, you can have a fixed font size set too small or a strange
positioning which makes the flow of your text incomprehensible in a
screen reader. Finally, inline CSS styles (<span style='" tags>)
are often inaccessible because users can't override them (bad for
many low vision users).

I mention this because there's also a mantra that "CSS =
accessibility" out there....
http://tlt.its.psu.edu/suggestions/accessibility/css.html#badcss

Elizabeth

--
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-Elizabeth J. Pyatt, Ph.D.
Instructional Designer
Education Technology Services, TLT/ITS
Penn State University
<EMAIL REMOVED> , (814) 865-0805 or (814) 865-2030 (Main Office)

210 Rider Building II
227 W. Beaver Avenue
State College, PA 16801-4819
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