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Re: Best CSS Layout for Accessibility

for

From: LSnider
Date: Dec 13, 2011 3:36PM

Hi Bryan,

Thanks for your email. In the past, I have used two column layouts that put
the main content first and then the navigation...but when I went to do this
three column layout I saw the WebAim article and then wondered whether I
should do that or not...I have always felt that the order I used was
okay-it was banner, content and then navigation (the div order).

I guess what I was musing about was...whether those who use screen readers
prefer a certain order (content first or does it matter?), or whether they
use the shortcuts in their screen readers and that makes the layout less
important. I hope that makes sense, I have a whacking cold today!

Those of you who use screen readers, do you prefer the content first and
then the banner, navigation, etc.? Does it bother you if this order is
different?

Cheers

Lisa

On Tue, Dec 13, 2011 at 1:57 PM, Bryan Garaventa <
<EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:

> CSS has no impact on reading order from an AT standpoint. The best way to
> see how it will be viewed in ATs is to disable CSS and judge whether the
> reading order is sensible. The tab order will follow the same principle.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> >> I need to produce an accessible website and was thinking about which css
> >> layout would be best for people who use screen readers. I want to do a
> >> three column css layout and wondered, where do you put the main content?
> >> Is
> >> it first, third, other? Webaim shows two examples of what I mean:
> >>
> >> http://webaim.org/techniques/css/advantage#layout
> >>
> >> I have been going back and forth on whether navigation or content should
> >> go
> >> first...I usually use skip links to help as well.
> >>
>