Is Your Website Accessible?
The DDA (Disability Discrimination Act) requires websites to be made accessible to disabled people. So how can you check that your website is meeting the requirements?
Accessibiliity Checlist
Use the guidelines below to check whether your site is accessible to disabled people:
Check images for alternative text
In Internet Explorer place the cursor over an image or logo. Does a box appear with a brief, accurate description of the image? For users whose browsers don't support images, this alternative text is what they'll see in place of the image.
Check video or audio content for alternative text
If you use audio or video presentations on your website you need to provide written transcripts so that deaf people can understand the message that your website is conveying.
Check that forms are accessible
Usually there's prompt text next to each item in a form. For example, a contact form might have the prompt text 'name', 'e-mail', and 'comments', each one next to a box where site users will enter their details. When you click on the prompt text, does a flashing cursor appear in the box next to that text? If not, your forms are inaccessible.
Ensure that text can be resized
Does the text on your website increase in size? If not, then your website is inaccessible to web users with poor visibility. To check your site follow the instructions below:
- If you use Internet Explorer as your internet browser select 'View' on the menu bar then select 'Text size' - this allows you to increase or decrease the text size on the website
- If you use Firefox as your internet browser select 'View' on the menu bar then select 'Zoom' - this allows you to zoom in (increase text size) or zoom out (decrease text size) on the website. There is also an option to select 'zoom text only' so that when you zoom in or out it only affects the text on the website not the images.
- Alternatively, scroll with the wheel of your mouse whilst holding down the control key.
Check your website in the Lynx browser
The Lynx browser is a text-only browser and doesn't support many of the features that other browsers such as Internet Explorer or Firefox have. You can check how your site looks in this browser with the Lynx Viewer. If your website makes sense and can be navigated through the Lynx browser, then it will be fulfilling many of the web accessibility guidelines.
To do this, you need to create a file called delorie.htm or delorie.gif on your web server to prove that you are the website owner or webmaster. The files created can be empty.
Check you can access all areas of your website without the use of a mouse
Can you navigate through your website using just tab, shift-tab and return? If not, then neither can keyboard and voice only users.
Check there's a site map
Can you find a site map? If not, then neither can people who are lost on your website.
Ensure link text makes sense out of context
Blind Internet users often browse websites by tabbing from one link to the next. Does all the link text on your website make sense out of context? 'Click here' and 'more' are two common examples of non-descriptive link text.
Check your web pages with an automated program
Two programs available for free on the Internet are Bobby and Wave. They're unable to provide you with all the information that you need, as some checks must be done by humans, but they can tell you some of the areas where your site might be going wrong.
