The Top 20 Things You Can Do to Make Your Website Accessible

{ August 19, 2008 @ 6:27 am } · { Cebu Web Design }
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In 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed by Congress. The law was designed to protect people with disabilities from being discriminated against, because of a physical or mental disability. The act was put into place to help guarantee equal opportunity for people with disabilities in any public area – and it covers regulations for employment, transportation, state and local government services, telecommunications, etc.

But what about your Website? Have you done all you can, to assure that your Website is accessible?

Here is a checklist you can use, to determine if your Website is as accessible as it could be. (Note: These actions vary from fairly simple to complex, and this list is not meant to be considered the only options or actions you can take to make your site more accessible).

1. Have you provided a text equivalent for every non-text element on your site? Non-text elements include: images, graphical representations of text (including symbols), animations (including animated GIFs), image map areas, programmatic objects and applets, ASCII art, scripts, spacers, frames, images used for list bullets, buttons, sounds (whether automatic or by user interaction), video, audio tracks of video and stand alone audio files.

2. Have you ensured that any information conveyed with color is also available without it?

3. Are changes in the natural language of all pages on your Website and any text equivalents (such as captions) clearly identified?

4. Are all documents on your Website organized so that they can be read without style sheets?

5. Do you update all equivalents for dynamic content every time you update the dynamic content itself?

6. Have you eliminated any special effects from your Website that cause the screen to flicker?

7. Are you using clear and simple language in all content placed on your Website?

8. If you use images and image maps, are you providing redundant text links for each active region of your server-side image map?

9. If you use images and image maps, are you providing client-side image maps (instead of server-side) whenever possible?

10. When using data tables, have you identified the row and column headers?

11. If you use frames, have you titled each frame to make it easier for users to navigate your site and identify the frames?

12. When using applets and scripts, have you made sure that the pages are useable when all programmatic objects are not supported, or turned off? (If that isn’t possible, have you provided the information on an alternative accessible page?)

13. When using multimedia, have you provided an auditory description of the most important visual information on a multimedia presentation?

14. When using any time-based multimedia presentation (such as a movie or animation), have you synchronized the equivalent alternatives such as captions or auditory descriptions of the visual track to the presentation?

15. Have you made sure that the background and foreground colors on your Website have enough contrast so that when someone with a color deficit looks at it (or your Website is viewed with a black and white screen) they can still read it clearly?

16. Have you clearly identified the target of each link?

17. Have you provided a place to get information about your site, either through the use of a site map, or table of contents?

18. Have you clearly identified the primary language of your Website?

19. Have you provided information so that users can choose how they want to receive documents – by content type, language, etc.)?

20. Have you provided summaries for all the tables on your site?

Here are some simple steps you can take that don’t require much work or technical ability:

Graphs and Charts:
When working with graphs and charts, make sure you’ve provided enough information that any graphs or charts aren’t needed to understand the article, but are just supplements to it. You can also use the “alt” tag to provide information about them.

Image Maps:
Provide alternative text anywhere that the user must click on your Website, so that if they’ve turned off the graphics, or can’t view them, they can still understand what your site is about and can navigate around it. (Note: This method still doesn’t work with all browsers, but at least you’re trying!)

Tables:

When working with headers, use the “th” attribute so that users with a visual impairment can hear the table headers from their screen reader.

Hypertext Links:

When using hypertext links, use text that will make sense when a screen reader reads allowed to a visually impaired user.

Bold Face

When writing your sales copy, use the “em” instead of the “b” tag. By using the emphasis tag, a screen reader’s tone will change, adding emphasis to what is on the screen. If you use a bold tag, the screen reader can’t recognize the change, and all of the copy will be read in the same tone.

Multimedia (Video, applets, and Plug-ins):

Try and provide alternatives when using multimedia. If you’re using streaming video for example, which has sounds or dialog, your two best options would be to either provide closed-captioning for the video or provide a text version for the dialogue. (This actually helps non-visually impaired viewers who have dial up instead of DSL, or for the times when the amateur video sound quality is poor.

When you use applets or plug-ins, look for alternative methods of presenting information such as text links, without relying on the applet or plug-in for navigating around your Webpages.

So, how do you know if your Website meets the accessibility guidelines?

You can use the Bobby Program. “Bobby” is a free Java-based program that searches through your Website to check its accessibility. Although it can’t analyze page content, it can analyze coding and the readability of your Website.

If you’re interested in finding out how accessible your Website is already considered to be, you can go to: http://webxact.watchfire.com/

WebXACT is a free online service that lets you test single pages of web content for quality, accessibility, and privacy issues.

If you’re interested in learning more about web accessibility, or you know someone who needs information or access to resources for a disability, you can get more information from the following links:

http://www.gatech.edu/accessibility/
AWARE: Accessible Web Authoring Resources & Education

http://www.awarecenter.org/
Bobby Version 3.2

http://www.cast.org/bobby/
CSS2 Tutorial

http://www.dynamicdeezign.com/css/introduction.html
IBM Accessibility Center

http://www-3.ibm.com/able/
IBM: Java Accessibility

http://www-3.ibm.com/able/accessjava.html

Is YOUR Website Accessible?
http://www.janejarrow.com/tv_station/webaccess/

WAI (Website Accessibility Initiative)
http://www.w3.org/WAI/

Cebu Web Designer is all you need for your business!

{ July 12, 2008 @ 5:39 am } · { Cebu Web Design }
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If you have a business then you must a website and that is why cebu web design comes in. Even how small your business are in todays business competition, if you don’t have a website you are considered to loss. Powerful-web-designs has so simple designs, but most of our clients has an edge over their competitor due to their presence in the web.

According to new study from the most popular business experts, during years of 2004 down below, making websites is just an option for business owners if they want to have it or not but, in year 2005 up to present having a website is mandatory for all business owners otherwise they will loose, so web design portfolio, is the company that offers a web design not only in Cebu, Philippines but also in other countries worlwide.

In Asia, philippine web design has gained an edge from their counterparts in europe due to low cost of living, and not only that it can cater also not only local clients but also international clients as matter of fact philippine web designer become more lucrative job now in the Philippines than before 2 years ago because, you can earn dollars even you just work at home.

Is Your Website Designed to Sell?

{ July 6, 2008 @ 3:32 am } · { Related Sites }
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Why do some websites sell better than others? Do you need a marketing degree to create a website? Does design have much impact on sales?

You may not realize this but many of the successful internet marketing businesses realize that design, or layout of the website should be as much of a marketing decision as the ad copy. Why is that?

Web designers can do some amazing things with graphics and colors. You will also have a much more professional looking site when an expert applies his handiwork. However, it is very important to understand some of the key elements that smart marketers will make certain to appear (or NOT appear) on their highly profitable sites. If you are aware of these you may be able to select a designer who is knowledgeable in marketing as well as design.

COLOR:

Designs with a dramatic color can make compelling choices for setting a mood. But reading on a computer screen demands as much contrast as possible, otherwise the reader will develop vision fatigue. You do not want to irritate or tire your visitors in any way or they may leave, so be certain that the main body of your website copy is black writing on a white background – or as close to that ideal as possible.

Colors also change appearance on different monitors, so what looks cool and calm on one monitor may be bright and glaring on another. Simple works.

GRAPHICS:

Striking, bold graphics can be a real eye-catcher for visitors. Still, successful internet marketers are pretty much unanimous in stating that you should avoid flash graphics as much as possible. Again, they tend to tire visitors eyes or create a distraction from the written copy. Even if they are initially impressed by the work it may subconsciously annoy them. Simplicity is again the best way to go.

LAYOUT:

The first ‘fold’ of your site is similar to opening a tractional paper letter. If you remove a letter from an envelope that is folded in three, you will obviously view the top ‘fold’ first.

This fold is what individuals will see without scrolling down the page. It is CRUCIAL that important elements like descriptive headlines, your contact number, newsletter subscription form etc. all show in the first fold. Do NOT place banners here unless they are the main element of your business as you will be giving prime space to other websites and your customer (which you fought hard to get in the first place) will be gone just as quickly.

These are just some of the important elements you should be aware of when designing your site.