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Re: Intro and digest question

for

From: Mark Newhouse
Date: Aug 15, 2001 10:46AM

on 8/15/01 9:00 AM, Cohen, Lisa A. at <EMAIL REMOVED> wrote:
> I am also trying to develop standards and procedures for web developers, to
> meet or exceed the Section 508 requirements for accessibility.
> One of the things I am doing is breaking out the 508 requirements by each
> impairment or disability, in order to allow those with identifiable disabled
> communities to prioritize the accessibility work.
> Is this something that you did as well, or did you work with the set of
> accessibility requirements as a whole?
I think breaking the requirements down by disability is a useful thing to do
- realizing, of course, that some requirements span more than one
accessibility issue. It helps to reinforce that blindness is not that only
disability we have to design for. But I don't think I would use it to
prioritize accessibility work. Here's why:
1. You need to comply with *all* of the requirements in order
to be compliant. Focusing on one or two disabilities first
may make more work later when you have to go back and fix
an issue for another disability later. Better to put all of
the requirements into your design flow from the beginning.
Of course this is my opinion, things may work differently
for your situation.
2. It is possible, and desirable, to build sites that are
aesthetically pleasing as well as accessible for everyone.
It takes some planning and forethought - which you are
clearly doing - but it can, and should, be done. There are
IMO, few cases where a site's design would require more than
one version of the site. It is a myth that an accessible
site is a bland, text-only site! (I'd be happy to provide
some examples if you'd like).
3. As a result of 1. and 2. above, you will probably want to
develop accessible templates for your designers to start
with, along with a checklist of specific things to keep in
mind when they are creating new content (whether that content
is text, images, audio, video, flash, java, javascript, etc.).
Glad you are thinking about these things!

> Any info or lists of standards beyond the Access Board's and the W3C's would
> be MOST welcome. The task of identifying coding standards with so many
> variables (different disabilities, browsers, OSs, assistive technology
> tools) seems daunting, at best.
It is daunting. Paul already pointed out WebAIM's Section 508 checklist. The
W3C has one as well: http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10/full-checklist.html
These tools can help asses where a site is, and what can be done to improve
its accessibility.
WebAIM also provides a "Prototype Standard for Web Accessibility and
Universality" that may be helpful as you develop your own standards
document.
Best,
--Mark Newhouse
Web Designer
National Optical Astronomy Observatory
http://www.noao.edu/
<EMAIL REMOVED>