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ACCESSIBILITY is a commendable Internet project produced by Dave Jarvis, a high school student in Portland, Ore. It is part of the Oregon Public Education Network (OPEN.) As the name implies, this Web site and newsletter is about making the Web more accessible to all people. It's the kind of project that is not only informative, but makes you feel good about the types of things the Internet makes possible.
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), Cast.org and the United States government have all been very much involved in making sure that Web designers and developers do all they can to make the Web available to everyone. Part of this initiative has been to push for accessibility of the Web's data to people with disabilities. "Accessibility" is an e-zine geared to making that easier to accomplish.
Among the tips this e-zine offers to its visitors and subscribers are:
"General Accessibility Requirements
"Requirements for Blind Users
"Requirements for Users with Low Vision
"Requirements for Deaf Users
"Requirements for Physically Handicapped Users
"Requirements for Users with Learning Disabilities
"Software to test and view Web pages"
These are all laudable goals, particularly as the way we access the Web moves from only being on our desktops to other appliances in our homes, from refrigerator doors to telephones and personal digital assistants (PDAs.)
Here's just one entry from this collection:
"General Accessibility Requirements!!!
"The following is a list of things you should have in an accessible Web Page.
"1) The text should be able to be read clearly from left to right. Only use tables if each cell contains one line of text.
"2) Never use frames. Screenreaders don't recognize when an individual frame has changed and needs to be read.
"3) Make sure that pages have correct constrast. An example would be black on white or white on black.
"4) Make sure your buttons are large enough. Small buttons are both hard to read and hard to press for people with motor impairments.
"5) Provide alternate text tags for all images.
"6) Caption all video and audio.
"7) Use a variety of browsers to test it. A good pair to use are Internet Explorer 5 Beta and Lynx 2.8.
"8) Just try to make sure your page has a nice consistent layout..."
(This young man tends to get a little carried away with the exclamation points in his titles, but otherwise does just fine.)
I predict that the young man behind this site is just beginning his future on the cutting-edge of Web development, and commend the state of Oregon for supporting this project. Recommended.
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