Newsletter Archives - February 2006

Featured Articles

This month's feature articles are updated and expanded content that come from the original articles written by Paul Bohman.

Creating Accessible CSS
by WebAIM

This article gives an overview of CSS, tips on how to use CSS to your advantage, and common pitfalls to avoid when using CSS.

Read the full article: Creating Accessible CSS

CSS in Action: Invisible Content Just for Screen Reader Users
by WebAIM

Most of the techniques for making Web content accessible to screen readers are invisible to visual users. This article examines a few circumstances in which hiding text from visual users can be beneficial, and proposes a solution which allows HTML to be hidden without compromising the accessibility or semantic integrity of the document, and which works across browsers and platforms.

Read the full article: CSS in Action: Invisible Content Just for Screen Reader Users

WebAIM wishes Paul Bohman the best as he moves forward in his career

Many of you are aware of the work of a key member of the WebAIM team, Paul Bohman. Over the years Paul has made tremendous contributions to the Web accessibility movement. He has been with WebAIM since its very beginning and helped shape it to what it is today. Always seeking a challenge, Paul has decided to work on his doctorate (and dissertation) full time. We are excited that Paul is pursuing his dream but sad to see him leave WebAIM. Hopefully he will still participate from time to time in our forum, or even as a guest author. Paul, you will always have a home with WebAIM and we wish you the very best. For those who would like to keep in touch with the work of Paul Bohman, please visit his site: paulbohman.com

On Target News

Accessible Content Magazine

The next issue of Accessible Content Magazine will be available February 14. This issue will feature an article by WebAIM's Jared Smith titled: Usable and Accessible Form Validation and Error Recovery. Accessible Content is a magazine devoted to accessibility issues.

NCDAE Webcast: NIMAS in IDEA, What You Need To Know Now

The National Center on Disability & Access to Education (NCDAE) will host another in their series of webcasts with a focus for those in education. A discussion will be held on NIMAS in IDEA, What You Need To Know Now. Join them Tuesday, February 28th, 2006 for the live audio Webcast. The broadcast is free and will begin at 1PM Mountain Daylight Savings Time (12:00PM Pacific; 2:00PM Central; 3:00PM Eastern).

The Internet Public Library

The Internet Public Library (IPL) site has been redesigned to make it accessible to persons with disabilities. Accessibility elements include: cascading stylesheets for content presentation, top of page breadcrumb navigation and search mechanism, content headings and subheadings, meaningful link phrases, alt tags, no-script alternatives to javascript, accesskey-based navigation, and skip links. IPL welcomes feedback regarding accessibility.

On Target Tips

Writing a Good Accessibility Statement
by Gez Lemon, Juicy Studio

Accessibility statements are an ideal place to empower visitors to your website. Most accessibility statements are too technical, and don't necessarily address the needs of the visitor. Those that do address the needs of visitors often have the information lost in a myriad of other information that can be misunderstood by the average visitor to the website. What should and shouldn't be included in an accessibility statement?

Also, an older article on the same topic by the digital media access group: Writing an Accessibility Statement

From the Top: The Title Element
by Karl Dawson, That Standards Guy

Every website must have a title element in the head section. In this, the fifth article in Karl Dawson's series “From the Top” he begins to describe a web document via elements between the head tags. This article is not a discussion on Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) techniques although the guidelines offered may help (and ethically so) in that regard.

On Target Resources

NCDAE Tips and Tools: Microsoft PowerPoint Factsheet
from the National Center on Disability & Access to Education

The National Center on Disability and Access to Education (NCDAE) has recently published a factsheet discussing how to increase the accessibility of Microsoft PowerPoint. WebAIM is a partner in the NCDAE.

Creating Accessible Macromedia Flash Content
from WebAIM

WebAIM often receives questions regarding the accessibility of Macromedia Flash content. Several months ago, WebAIM published this article in a newsletter and on its website. However, the content remains relevant and up-to-date.