Accessibility
Internet sites should be available to everyone regardless of their abilities; your site should work equally well for a sighted person using a standard mouse and screen, as it should for a blind person using a Braille output or screen reader.
There are other issue too; audio cues won't work for deaf people, features that rely on a mouse won't work for users who can't use a mouse etc.
Here are some guidelines to help you on your way to a more accessible website.
HTML
Your HTML should be as clean and simple as possible. The closer you can get to having nothing but actual content in your HTML the better.
The first step you can take toward clean HTML is to remove as much JavaScript and CSS as you can to external files called in from the HEAD section of your HTML document. This should dramatically reduce the amount of code in your page.
Tables
Tables should never be used for general layout. Tables are for tabular data only. Page layouts should be composed using a combination of DIVs and CSS.
Images
The only images that should appear in your HTML document should be a direct part of the content – these could include informative illustrations and diagrams but not background patterns.
Backgrounds and graphical titles should be set using CSS and therefore kept OUT of your HTML.
Inline HTML images should never be used to maintain the structure of a layout – there is no conceivable use for a spacer gif!
When an image does appear in the HTML, make sure it has a properly descriptive and relevant alt attribute – make sure that, if you can't see the picture, the alt attribute tells you enough for the image to make sense in the flow of the page.
Lists
There are several types of list available in HTML; ordered, unordered and definition – make sure you use the right one for the right situation.
A top-ten list would require an ordered list whereas an arbitrary list of items would require an unordered list.
Definition lists are trickier. They display a double list with one side being a definition title and the other being the definition data. Before you use a definition list, think about whether the information actually needs to be in a definition list or if it would make more sense as an ordered or unordered list, or even as a table.
Interactivity
Interactive pages are obviously more attractive to all users but that doesn't mean you can ignore accessibility - Make sure all users can still make full use of your page no matter how much interaction is added using alternative technologies.
Flash
Documentation on making Flash accessible is available from http://www.adobe.com/accessibility/
JavaScript
When developing a page you should be aware that not all users can make use of JavaScript – screen readers and Braille outputs will not be able to handle any process that is solely reliant on JavaScript. Always make sure that you include "noscript" alternatives that make the content and functionality available to browsers that do not support JavaScript.
Graphic Interfaces
Make sure that graphic interfaces are still useable without the actual graphics. Create you interface using HTML only and then use CSS to add the images and remove the text – this way, when someone views the page in a non-graphical browser the interface will still be usable.
More Information
More information about accessible coding and web production can be found through the following links.
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