Web accessibility for Content Authors
The impact on disabled users...
Penny Everett
Accessibility Consultant
Introduction

Brief background

Auditing websites

Fix the web
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What do we mean by disability?
The hidden disabilities…
Sight
Mobility
Seizures
Hearing
Understanding
1 in 7 people in the UK have some form of disability
Organisations are required to be anticipatory
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Imagine your ‘good’ arm is in plaster.
Using your non-dominant hand only - open the package.
DO NOT USE YOUR MOUTH
Describe your experience when following these instructions...
4
The Law

Equality Act 2010 including the
Public Service Equality Duty (PSED)

Eliminate discrimination

Advance equality of opportunity

Carry out positive action measures

Procure suitable design for all users.
Note. It is not against the law to treat a
disabled person more favourably.
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BS: 8878 Web Accessibility — Code of Practice

A new standard for organisations that
provide a web service

16 Steps to help organisations to comply
with the Equality Act 2010




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Work towards inclusivity
Nominate an Accessibility Champion
Create relevant documentation
Conduct AT and user testing
Document any deviation.
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The Content Author/Editor’s role
You are expected to make
reasonable adjustments.

Internet
)

Intranet
)

Extranet )

eLearning )
Web Products
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Direct and Indirect Discrimination

Direct discrimination would be a
statement such as blind or deaf
students will not be able to benefit
from the video.

Indirect discrimination would be not
supplying a transcript, or caption, for
the video.
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12 W3C Guidelines (WCAG 2.0)
Future proofed



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P = Perceivable
Content available to the senses
sight, hearing (and/or touch)

O = Operable
Interface: navigation, forms, controls

U = Understandable
Content and interface

R = Robust
Reliable: AT and common browsers
Level 1 - Single (A)
25 Success Criteria
Level 2 - Double (AA)
13 Success Criteria
Level 3 - Triple (AAA)
23 Success Criteria
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Anticipate disabled users

Use “personas”

A user may have
multiple
disabilities.
Photographs of personas by courtesy of Graur Razvan Ionut, Yarm Jeroen van Oostrom, Maggie Smith, and Tina
Phillips http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/
Linda
Barbara
Dawn
Hannah
Bernard
James
Simon
Paulo
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Meaningful links
Bernard – aged 28

Avoid Click here... More...
Registered blind
and uses a screen
reader to read out
the text to him.

Make sense out of context book list

Warn users before they open a PDF/file
add size Course Outline (pdf) 618 Kb

Same links go to same place

Should not open in new window without
notice* Reith lecture (new window)
* Setting a link to open in a new window will disorientate blind users.
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Images
Book Sale
7-10 July
Don’t forget
the amazing
book sale.
Don’t forget the
amazing book
sale 7-10 July.

No images of text (unless logo etc)

Background v foreground contrast good

Decorative given null alt=“” or from CSS

Resolution no more than 72 dpi

Big files reduced before uploading.
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Image links

Alternative text states destination
Alt = “library zone details”
James aged 20
Needs a
magnifier to
view the screen.
Library

Study spaces are available
throughout the Library, some of
which are available on a 'first
come, first served' basis and
others are bookable via
Zones by LSE students.
LSEforYou
Title text informs sighted users of link
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Alternative text for images
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Brief descriptive alternative text
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Words like “image/picture” not used

Complex images (charts etc) explained
in text or additional web page/file.
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Target audience
Dawn – aged 23

She is dyslexic
and finds it

easier if text has
images and

prefers a purple
background when
she uses her PC. 
Reading level aimed at target audience
Ew evah tliub pu a thgis
yralubacov fo ytfif dnasuoht
Plain English, no jargon/idioms
sdrow – ton yb enoemos gnillet
su ytfif
dnasouht
tahw a
Tone
appropriate
– NOsemit
SHOUTING!
drow si, tub yb gnizisehtopyh
eht ytitnedi
fo wen sdrow taht
Consider
culture/religion/gender/age
ew teem ni tnirp dna gnitset
taht ruo sesehtopyh ekam
esnes ni eht txetnoc.
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EasyRead documents
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Pasting from Word Processor
The following important details:

WP formatting and code removed

Web formatting applied to headings,
bullets and numbers

Embedded images in WP saved as files.
 Title of the book
 Name of the author
 ISBN (if known)
The following important details:

Title of the book

Name of the author

ISBN (if known)
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Tables

Table given title within HTML ‘caption’

Make sense read cell x cell, left to right

Column row/headings are defined

Summary is for blind - brief explanation
of data but add navigation details if
complex.
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Headings
This article is all about the
different birds that can be
found in the average urban
garden.
Robins are the most easily recognisable of the
birds to visit us.
Garden Birds

Use HTML formatting (h1) through to (h6)

Only one main heading (h1) per page

Not chosen for ‘look’ but in order

Help to create bite-sized chunks of text.
We can still expect to see quite a variety in
the average urban garden.
Robins
These delightful little birds are the most easily
recognisable to visit us.
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Colour


Colour
Colour not
not used
used to
to emphasise
emphasise text


Stylesheet
Stylesheet only
only used
used to
to colour text.
text.
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Colour
Paulo – aged 24

Good contrast foreground/background
He is colour-blind.

Avoid colour dependency (colour-blind).
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Video/Audio
Hanna – aged 20

Foreground sound easily discernible

Video/Audio have verbatim transcript

Transcript includes relevant sound/cues
Barb – aged 21

Video includes captioning for deaf
Born deaf and uses
British sign
language which is
very different from
written sentences.

Scenario explained to blind.
hard of hearing
but can hear if low
background noise.
Seated mental health nurse looking
sympathetic and holding hands of
elderly gentleman. He says “I’m
worried about the cost of care”.
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Keyboard only users
Linda – aged 26

Has “Upper Limb
Disorder” (aka RSI)
and cannot use a
mouse.
Make sure that nothing you upload
creates a problem for keyboard only
users
Navigation using:
[Tab] arrow keys [Alt] [Enter]

Flash animations can be accessible but
often are not

Content that is timed can be a problem
for many users and is best avoided.
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Epileptics, Motor Impaired
Simon – aged 31
Prone to seizures
since he was 3
and has problems
with fine
movement.
No flashes
or lined
patterns!
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The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien
Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling
To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis
Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë
Catch-22, Joseph Heller
Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë
Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks
Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier
The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger
The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame
Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres
War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy
Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell
Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone, JK Rowling
Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, JK Rowling
Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, JK Rowling
The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien
Seizures
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End of session

Any questions?
The Little
Content
Book
by Penny Everett
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