Website accessibility refers to the ease in which people with disability are able to view and navigate the website content. A website auditor or consultant is able to provide specialist advice to website designers on how to improve or maximise the accessibility of a website.
When developing a website, the designer needs to ensure that the website is accessible to all without compromising aesthetics or functionality. Providing information in alternative formats and/or following alternative design principles ensures that the information published on the world wide web can be accessed by all people.
Workplace solutions and adjustments
In addition to a legal requirement, website access is important to enable all people to access all sites and information with ease and comfort. Examples of website accessibility features that can be improved to enable access for people with disability include:
- navigation (general site layout—site map or table of contents; navigating without a mouse/keyboard use)
- viewing the site (size of the text, colour of text and layout, providing text equivalent for every non-text equivalent, use of captions)
- site organisation, language, sound and speech (using clear, simple and appropriate language for a site's content, ability to translate language).
Ideally, the website should be accessible by removing obstacles or barriers that prevent people with disability accessing information online.
Policies have been developed regarding website accessibility for all people, including government, state, commonwealth and international policies. It is a legal requirement for many government and community organisations to provide appropriate access on their websites for people with disability or people with difficulties when it comes to accessing information. The standard for web coMicrosoft Accessibility Vision Australia—AIS Resources ntent accessibility is the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, which were devised by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). A link to the W3C guidelines is provided below:
The W3C guidelines provide a series of checkpoints that can be used to ensure websites are accessible. The checkpoints are listed based on priority. The priorities have been ordered based on the impact on accessibility. All websites are required to follow these guidelines and need to pass recognised tests of accessibility.
References
Australian Government 2011, Better Practice Checklists & Guides, Australian Government Department of Finance and Deregulation, Canberra, viewed 28 February 2011, http://www.finance.gov.au/e-government/better-practice-and-collaboration/better-practice-checklists/index.html
Vision Australia 2010, Web Accessibility, Vision Australia, Sydney, viewed 28 February 2011, http://www.visionaustralia.org.au/info.aspx?page=544