5. Good Practice (How to Design Accessible Web 2.0 Pages)

As a result of unprecedented surge of Web technologies, intricate page layout and increased desire to use digital media in design process, today’s web pages look smarter and more attractive than before. The rise of Web 2.0 and the birth of AJAX added to this complexity. The result is that most designers and developers ignore one of the crucial ethics of the Web that it should represent everyone in spite of their mental or physical circumstances.

The most important purpose of Web accessibility is to jog the memories of website developers of the methods for making the Web clearer, readable and writable for the disabled and for all other users.

The Web is full of diverse technologies and applications to deferent degree of accessibility and millions of totally or partially inaccessible websites. The problem is not as WebAim (2006) puts it that the web designers deliberately don’t want to produce accessible websites but it is more to do with ignorance. Large numbers of web designers do not understand the concept of web accessibility. Understanding of the issue will help developers of web technologies and the designers of web pages to produce accessible web pages.

5.1. Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0

W3C introduced the working draft of Web Content Accessibility Guideline 2 (WCAG 2.0) in June 2006. The deference between WCAG 1 and 2 as stated by W3C (2006) “applies more broadly to different Web technologies and is designed to apply as technologies develop in the future. The WCAG 2.0 requirements are more testable. In WCAG 1.0, brief descriptions are included in the main WCAG 1.0 document under each guideline. With WCAG 2.0, extensive guidance is provided for each guideline and success criteria in Understanding WCAG 2.0. The WCAG 2.0 techniques are also more comprehensive and include tests”.

The number requirement is to provide an alternative equivalent text for all none text content. This is essential to Web accessibility for disabled people. The for the most part a universal type of equivalent alternative is ALT text. ALT should be coupled with images and clickable part of image maps. ALT text is a phrase that briefly explains the image and makes its task clear to a person who cannot see the image.

Principle 1: Content must be perceivable.

Guideline 1.1 Provide text alternatives for all non-text content

• “If non-text content presents information or responds to user input, text alternatives serve the same purpose and present the same information as the non-text content. If text alternatives cannot serve the same purpose, then text alternatives at least identify the purpose of the non-text content.
• If non-text content is multimedia; live audio-only or live video-only content; a test or exercise that must use a particular sense; or primarily intended to create a specific sensory experience; then text alternatives at least identify the non-text content with a descriptive text label
• If the purpose of non-text content is to confirm that content is being operated by a person rather than a computer, different forms are provided to accommodate multiple disabilities.
• If non-text content is pure decoration, or used only for visual formatting, or if it is not presented to users, it is implemented such that it can be ignored by assistive technology.”

Guideline 1.2: Provide synchronized alternatives for multimedia

Audio, video and animation are essential assets for many Web designers, particularly to those who are working on news, amusement, and distance learning website. These essentials, however, can cause frightening problems for people who are blind, visually impaired, deaf or hard of hearing, cognitive impairments and learning disabilities if they are not incorporated into the site by accessible ways.

· “Captions (subtitle) are provided for pre-recorded multimedia.

· Audio descriptions of video, or a full multimedia text alternative including any interaction, are provided for pre-recorded multimedia.

• Audio descriptions of video are provided for pre-recorded multimedia
• Captions (subtitle) are provided for live multimedia.
• Sign language interpretation is provided for multimedia.
• Extended audio descriptions of video are provided for pre-recorded multimedia.
• For pre-recorded multimedia, a full multimedia text alternative including any interaction is provided.”

Guideline 1.3 Ensure that information and structure can be separated from presentation

Make sure that Web pages that make use of scripts, applets, and plug-ins can convey the content in an accessible way to everyone. Web designers and programmers ought to be responsive of accessibility values and fully incorporate those principles into programming and enlargement.

· “Information and relationships conveyed through presentation can be programmatically determined, and notification of changes to these is available to user agents, including assistive technologies.

· Any information that is conveyed by colour is also visually evident without colour.

· When the sequence of the content affects its meaning, that sequence can be programmatically determined.”

Guideline 1.4 Make it easy to distinguish foreground information from its background.

· “Text or diagrams, and their background, have a luminosity contrast ratio of at least 5:1

· A mechanism is available to turn off background audio that plays automatically, without requiring the user to turn off all audio.

· Text or diagrams, and their background, have a luminosity contrast ratio of at least 10:1.

· Audio content does not contain background sounds, background sounds can be turned off, or background sounds are at least 20 decibels lower than the foreground audio content, with the exception of occasional sound effects.”

Principle 2: Interface components in the content must be operable.

Guideline 2.1 Make all functionality operable via a keyboard interface

• “All functionality of the content is operable in a non-time-dependent manner through a keyboard interface, except where the task requires analogue, time-dependent input.
• All functionality of the content is operable in a non-time-dependent manner through a keyboard interface.”

Guideline 2.2 Allow users to control time limits on their reading or interaction

• “For each time-out that is a function of the content, at least one of the following is true:
1. The user is allowed to deactivate the time-out; or
2. the user is allowed to adjust the time-out over a wide range that is at least ten times the length of the default setting; or
3. the user is warned before time expires and given at least 20 seconds to extend the time-out with a simple action (for example, "hit any key"), and the user is allowed to extend the timeout at least ten times; or
4. The time-out is an important part of a real-time event (for example, an auction), and no alternative to the time-out is possible; or
5. The time-out is part of an activity where timing is essential (for example, competitive gaming or time-based testing) and time limits can not be extended further without invalidating the activity.

• Content does not blink for more than three seconds, or a method is available to stop all blinking content in the Web unit or authored component.

• Content can be paused by the user unless the timing or movement is part of an activity where timing or movement is essential.

• Except for real-time events, timing is not an essential part of the event or activity presented by the content
• Interruptions, such as updated content, can be postponed or suppressed by the user, except interruptions involving an emergency.
• When an authenticated session expires, the user can continue the activity without loss of data after re-authenticating.”

Guideline 2.3 Allow users to avoid content that could cause seizures due to photosensitivity

• “Content does not violate the general flash threshold or the red flash threshold.
• Web units do not contain any components that flash more than three times in any 1-second period.”

Guideline 2.4 Provide mechanisms to help users find content, orient themselves within it, and navigate through it.

• “A mechanism is available to bypass blocks of content that are repeated on multiple Web units.
• More than one way is available to locate content within a set of Web units where content is not the result of, or a step in, a process or task.

• Each link is programmatically associated with text from which its purpose can be determined.

• Titles, headings, and labels are descriptive.

• When a Web unit or authored component is navigated sequentially, components receive focus in an order that follows relationships and sequences in the content.

• Information about the user's location within a set of Web units is available

• The purpose of each link can be programmatically determined from the link.”

Guideline 2.5 Help users avoid mistakes and make it easy to correct mistakes that do occur.

• “If an input error is detected, the error is identified and described to the user in text.

• If an input error is detected and suggestions for correction are known and can be provided without jeopardizing the security or purpose of the content, the suggestions are provided to the user.

• For forms that cause legal or financial transactions to occur, that modify or delete data in data storage systems, or that submit test responses, at least one of the following is true:

1. Actions are reversible.

2. Actions are checked for input errors before going on to the next step in the process.

3. The user is able to review and confirm or correct information before submitting it.

4. Context-sensitive help is available for text input.”

Principle 3: Content and controls must be understandable

Guideline 3.1 Make text content readable and understandable.

• “The primary natural language or languages of the Web unit can be programmatically determined.

• The natural language of each passage or phrase in the Web unit can be programmatically determined.

• A mechanism is available for identifying specific definitions of words or phrases used in an unusual or restricted way, including idioms and jargon.

• A mechanism for finding the expanded form of abbreviations is available.
• When text requires reading ability more advanced than the lower secondary education level, supplemental content is available that does not require reading ability more advanced than the lower secondary education level.

• A mechanism is available for identifying specific pronunciation of words where meaning cannot be determined without pronunciation.”

Guideline 3.2 Make the placement and functionality of content predictable.

• “When any component receives focus, it does not cause a change of context.

• Changing the setting of any form control or field does not automatically cause a change of context (beyond moving to the next field in tab order), unless the authored unit contains instructions before the control that describe the behaviour.

• Navigational mechanisms that are repeated on multiple Web units within a set of Web units or other primary resources occur in the same relative order each time they are repeated, unless a change is initiated by the user.

• Components that have the same functionality within a set of Web units are identified consistently.

• Changes of context are initiated only by user request.”

Principle 4: Content should be robust enough to work with current and future user agents (including assistive technologies).

• “Guideline 4.1 Support compatibility with current and future user agents (including assistive technologies)
• Web units or authored components can be parsed unambiguously, and the relationships in the resulting data structure are also unambiguous.

• For all user interface components, the name and role can be programmatically determined, values that can be set by the user can be programmatically set, and notification of changes to these items is available to user agents, including assistive technologies.”

Guideline 4.2 Ensure that content is accessible or provide an accessible alternative

• “At least one version of the content meets all level 1 success criteria, but alternate version(s) that do not meet all level 1 success criteria may be available from the same URI.

• Content meets the following criteria even if the content uses a technology that is not in the chosen baseline:

If content can be entered using the keyboard, then the content can be exited using the keyboard.

• At least one version of the content meets all level 2 success criteria, but alternate version(s) that do not meet all level 2 success criteria may be available from the same URI.
• Content implemented using technologies outside of the chosen baseline satisfy all Level 1 and Level 2 requirements supported by the technologies.”

5.2. Accessible Rich Internet Applications (WAI-ARIA)

W3C in another move on 26 September 2006 introduced the Road Map to Accessible Rich Internet Applications (WAI-ARIA). See (http://www.w3.org/TR/2006/WD-aria-role-20060926/).

The Roadmap is in essence a set of documents made up of:

• The WAI-ARIA Roadmap which addresses the rich application content such as AJAX live regions, custom controls used for Rich Internet Applications. Moreover it “outlines new navigation techniques to mark common Web structures such as menus, primary content, secondary content, banner information and other types of Web structures”, which can make these applications accessible.
• Roles for Accessible Rich Internet Applications (WAI-ARIA Roles) provides the means to understand and identify Rich Internet Applications and the accessibility issue with them.
• States and Properties Module for Accessible Rich Internet Applications explains the behaviour of an element to be included in XML (eXtensible Mark-up Language), which can then be used in conjunction with assistive technologies or to dynamically render content via different style sheets.

The Road Map is not a stable and workable version yet, but it is a great start to control the flow of inaccessible Rich Internet Content.