jonra01
05-05-2005, 02:28 AM
JWJ posted a link to silktide.com (very nice site, btw) that lead me to the w3c accessibility guidelines. I've been aware of these for a long time and usually try to make a site that will be somewhat usable for most users. The only thing wrong with that is that some people still can't use certain aspects of a site other than straight text. This may seem like it doesn't apply to most of us, but if JWJ starts selling his paintings online he would have a commercial site and be subject to The British Disability Discrimination Act.
After reading (skimming) the guidelines I've come to the conclusion that they've gone too far this time. They even tell you how to write in these "guidelines".
14.1 Use the clearest and simplest language appropriate for a site's content.
1. Strive for clear and accurate headings and link descriptions. This includes using link phrases that are terse and that make sense when read out of context or as part of a series of links (Some users browse by jumping from link to link and listening only to link text.) Use informative headings so that users can scan a page quickly for information rather than reading it in detail.
2. State the topic of the sentence or paragraph at the beginning of the sentence or paragraph (this is called "front-loading"). This will help both people who are skimming visually, but also people who use speech synthesizers. "Skimming" with speech currently means that the user jumps from heading to heading, or paragraph to paragraph and listens to just enough words to determine whether the current chunk of information (heading, paragraph, link, etc.) interests them. If the main idea of the paragraph is in the middle or at the end, speech users may have to listen to most of the document before finding what they want. Depending on what the user is looking for and how much they know about the topic, search features may also help users locate content more quickly.
3. Limit each paragraph to one main idea.
4. Avoid slang, jargon, and specialized meanings of familiar words, unless defined within your document.
5. Favor words that are commonly used. For example, use "begin" rather than "commence" or use "try" rather than "endeavor."
6. Use active rather than passive verbs.
7. Avoid complex sentence structures.
In item 4 of 14.1 they tell you to avoid slang and in item 5 they tell you to favor words that are commonly used. What is slang if it's not common usage?
Then there is this section 1.1 Provide a text equivalent for every non-text element (e.g., via "alt", "longdesc", or in element content). This includes: images, graphical representations of text (including symbols), image map regions, animations (e.g., animated GIFs), applets and programmatic objects, ascii art, frames, scripts, images used as list bullets, spacers, graphical buttons, sounds (played with or without user interaction), stand-alone audio files, audio tracks of video, and video.
Does this mean that I need to provide a detailed description of every photo on my, primarily, graphical site?
I ran my site through the silktide test and then checked the errors that it showed for w3c accessibility. The main complaint was for a lack of a home link on the pages. I don't use a home link, because there are no links on the home page that aren't available on every other page.
I'm not too impressed with the silktide test. It only found 5 pages on my site. It also complained about no forms when I have a form on my contact page.
Enough ranting, for now.
John
After reading (skimming) the guidelines I've come to the conclusion that they've gone too far this time. They even tell you how to write in these "guidelines".
14.1 Use the clearest and simplest language appropriate for a site's content.
1. Strive for clear and accurate headings and link descriptions. This includes using link phrases that are terse and that make sense when read out of context or as part of a series of links (Some users browse by jumping from link to link and listening only to link text.) Use informative headings so that users can scan a page quickly for information rather than reading it in detail.
2. State the topic of the sentence or paragraph at the beginning of the sentence or paragraph (this is called "front-loading"). This will help both people who are skimming visually, but also people who use speech synthesizers. "Skimming" with speech currently means that the user jumps from heading to heading, or paragraph to paragraph and listens to just enough words to determine whether the current chunk of information (heading, paragraph, link, etc.) interests them. If the main idea of the paragraph is in the middle or at the end, speech users may have to listen to most of the document before finding what they want. Depending on what the user is looking for and how much they know about the topic, search features may also help users locate content more quickly.
3. Limit each paragraph to one main idea.
4. Avoid slang, jargon, and specialized meanings of familiar words, unless defined within your document.
5. Favor words that are commonly used. For example, use "begin" rather than "commence" or use "try" rather than "endeavor."
6. Use active rather than passive verbs.
7. Avoid complex sentence structures.
In item 4 of 14.1 they tell you to avoid slang and in item 5 they tell you to favor words that are commonly used. What is slang if it's not common usage?
Then there is this section 1.1 Provide a text equivalent for every non-text element (e.g., via "alt", "longdesc", or in element content). This includes: images, graphical representations of text (including symbols), image map regions, animations (e.g., animated GIFs), applets and programmatic objects, ascii art, frames, scripts, images used as list bullets, spacers, graphical buttons, sounds (played with or without user interaction), stand-alone audio files, audio tracks of video, and video.
Does this mean that I need to provide a detailed description of every photo on my, primarily, graphical site?
I ran my site through the silktide test and then checked the errors that it showed for w3c accessibility. The main complaint was for a lack of a home link on the pages. I don't use a home link, because there are no links on the home page that aren't available on every other page.
I'm not too impressed with the silktide test. It only found 5 pages on my site. It also complained about no forms when I have a form on my contact page.
Enough ranting, for now.
John