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From: Richard R. Hill
Date: Mon, Feb 28 2011 6:18PM
Subject: Central resource page vs instance specific links to doc readers
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All,

I have had some discussions with this group long ago on this topic… And can't find any of it! So…

By standard(s), for any document included in a website, there should be a link to appropriate readers or resources to allow visitors to be able to render/view the document. The most obvious example are PDF documents (others might include Word. Excel or QuickTime files). A strict interpretation of the standards would have links for the appropriate rendering/reading tool(s) appear on each page where the files occur. Perhaps even associated with each file. However, my preference would be to have a general website resources page available from a link on all pages that provides this information. This makes content maintenance easier for random editors using a Web CMS, saves on screen real estate and provides a central location on the site where new document readers can be added (or provide updated links to those already listed).

Examples:

The HUD site http://portal.hud.gov/portal/page/portal/HUD has a resource link in the footer http://www.hud.gov/assist/webpolicies.cfm

Ohlone College http://www.ohlone.edu/ has a link to http://www.ohlone.edu/ in the footer

USDA http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome has a footer link http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome?navtype=FT&;navid=ACCESSIBILITY_STATEM

NIH Office of Extramural Research http://grants.nih.gov/grants/oer.htm has a link to "Help Odwloading Files" http://grants.nih.gov/grants/edocs.htm

So, I'm going to go with "this is an OK solution." Yes?
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Rick Hill, Web CMS Administrator
University Communications, UC Davis
(530) 752-9612
http://cms.ucdavis.edu
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Web CMS assistance at = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = <mailto: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >
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From: Webb, KerryA
Date: Mon, Feb 28 2011 6:30PM
Subject: Re: Central resource page vs instance specific links to doc readers
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Richard wrote:
>
> All,
>
> I have had some discussions with this group long ago on this topic... And
> can't find any of it! So...
>
> By standard(s), for any document included in a website, there should be a
> link to appropriate readers or resources to allow visitors to be able to
> render/view the document. The most obvious example are PDF documents
> (others might include Word. Excel or QuickTime files). A strict
> interpretation of the standards would have links for the appropriate
> rendering/reading tool(s) appear on each page where the files occur.
> Perhaps even associated with each file. However, my preference would be to
> have a general website resources page available from a link on all pages
> that provides this information. This makes content maintenance easier for
> random editors using a Web CMS, saves on screen real estate and provides a
> central location on the site where new document readers can be added (or
> provide updated links to those already listed).
>
> Examples:
>
> The HUD site http://portal.hud.gov/portal/page/portal/HUD has a resource
> link in the footer http://www.hud.gov/assist/webpolicies.cfm
>
> Ohlone College http://www.ohlone.edu/ has a link to
> http://www.ohlone.edu/ in the footer
>
> USDA http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome has a footer link
> http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome?navtype=FT&;navid=ACCESSIBILIT
> Y_STATEM
>
> NIH Office of Extramural Research http://grants.nih.gov/grants/oer.htm has
> a link to "Help Odwloading Files" http://grants.nih.gov/grants/edocs.htm
>
> So, I'm going to go with "this is an OK solution." Yes?
> ---------------------------------------


It's good practice to have such information, but is it a "standard"?

Kerry
--
Kerry Webb
Manager, Policy Office
Shared Services | ACT Government

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From: Jared Smith
Date: Mon, Feb 28 2011 7:42PM
Subject: Re: Central resource page vs instance specific links to doc readers
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On Mon, Feb 28, 2011 at 6:17 PM, Richard R. Hill wrote:

> By standard(s), for any document included in a website, there should be a link to appropriate readers or resources to allow visitors to be able to render/view the document.

This is a requirement of Section 508. It is not a requirement of WCAG
1.0 or 2.0.

> A strict interpretation of the standards would have  links for the appropriate rendering/reading tool(s) appear on each page where the files occur.

Correct, Section 508 wording states, "... the page must provide a link
to a plug-in..."

But it's probably worse for accessibility and usability to provide a
link to commonly-available technologies (such as Acrobat Reader) on
every page than it is to provide one link on a resource page or even
no link at all. Nearly everybody has Acrobat Reader. And if they
don't, it's easy to find or their browser will prompt them to install
it automatically. For more obscure plug-ins, then providing a link
might make sense.

> So, I'm going to go with "this is an OK solution." Yes?

Yes, it's optimal for accessibility for common plug-ins. For strict
Section 508 compliance, it's questionable. I'll take accessibility
over compliance any day.

Jared