Accessibility
In broad terms, web accessibility is concerned with making websites equally accessible to all users, regardless of their circumstances and the equipment being used. More specifically, the term refers to efforts to render pages accessible to users with disabilities.
Some examples:
- Alternative text descriptions are provided for visual elements such as photos and videos to assist visually impaired users working with text-to-speech software.
- Sites should be 'device independent' so users who have difficulty manipulating a mouse can effectively navigate their way through pages with only a keyboard.
- Information should not be conveyed by colour alone - e.g. links that have not been otherwise distinguished might look like regular text to a colour-blind user.
Not only are such measures good practice, but in many countries there is a legal requirement for websites to be accessible. In the UK this is covered by the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.
To help website owners and web designers ensure that their sites are compliant the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has drawn up a set of guidelines, which are now widely accepted throughout the industry as being the definitive standard for web accessibility.
More information on the W3C's Web Accessibility Guidelines:
