Accessibility Best Practice
Articles and resources about best practice examples of how to make your website accessible.
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Accessibility Best Practice - Archive
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Articles and resources about best practice examples of how to make your website accessible.
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Audio and podcasts - Accessibility Toolkit - Version 3 - 2009
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There will be people who won't be able to access the audio file or podcast because: they are deaf; they are in a noisy environment; they cannot play sound. Audio files and podcasts cannot be made fully accessible, but they can be made accessible to some people with disabilities – for example people who are hearing impaired or deaf – by providing a transcript of the content in text or HTML.
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Audio describing videos - Accessibility Toolkit - Version 3 - 2009
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How to use Magpie 2.0 to create audio descriptions of all the visual content in online videos to make them more accessibility to people with disabilities.
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Blogging and Accessibility - Accessibility Toolkit - Version 3 - 2009
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Blogging is often just text or a combination of text, images and links. Therefore it is easy to make a blog accessible. However a blog has all the same potential accessibility issues as a web site does. Consequently blogs should always be tested against the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, Version 1.0, Level AA.
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Captioning downloadable videos - Accessibility Toolkit - Version 3 - 2009
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How to use Magpie 2.0 to create captions for online videos to make them more accessibility to people with disabilities.
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Captioning Vodcasts - Accessibility Toolkit - Version 3 - 2009
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Vodcasts cannot be made fully accessible, but they can be made accessible to some people with disabilities; for example people who are hearing impaired or deaf. A vodcast is made accessible by: providing a transcript of the video in text or HTML; and providing captions of all the audio content in the video.
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Captioning YouTube videos - Accessibility Toolkit - Version 3 - 2009
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How to use Magpie 2.0 to create captions for YouTube videos to make them more accessibility to people with disabilities.
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Facebook and Accessibility - Accessibility Toolkit - Version 3 - 2009
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Facebook is a social networking site where users can keep in touch with their friends, post photos and videos and play games. Facebook uses a combination of technologies which make it inaccessible; however there is an HTML version of Facebook which can be used by screen reader users. However, Facebook is not accessible to other groups of people with disabilities
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Making maps and Google maps accessible - Accessibility Toolkit - Version 3 - 2009
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Online maps are inaccessible to vision impaired people so a textual alternative (long description) must always be provided. It is also important to include accessibility features within the map so it is accessible to people with other disabilities e.g. by making the map non-reliant on JavaScript and keyboard accessible.
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Making Slideshare Accessible - Accessibility Toolkit - Version 3 - 2009
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Slideshare is a presentation sharing website where users can upload, view and share presentations. Presentations can be tagged and commented. It is also possible to embed presentations into a web site or download the presentation. Presentations can be shared publicly or privately. Slideshare uses a combination of technologies which make it inaccessible; however there is an accessible version of Slideshare that can be used instead. Slideshare can be made accessible by: Providing an alternative of the presentation in HTML, text or Word; and Providing a link to Easy Slideshare (accessible Slideshare).
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Mashups and Accessibility - Accessibility Toolkit - Version 3 - 2009
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It is difficult to categorically state that mashups are inaccessible; it really depends on the primary applications and how they have been put together. The best way to ensure that mashups do not exclude people with disabilities is to provide a transcript of the mashup in text or HTML.
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Twitter and Accessibility - Accessibility Toolkit - Version 3 - 2009
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It is important to provide a transcript of the Twitter content on your site, for people who cannot use the Twitter interface or do not have a Twitter account.
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Victorian Government Accessibility Toolkit - Version 2 June 2007
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Version 3 of the toolkit has been published in pdf and word formats. An accessible HTML version of the toolkit is currently being developed and will be published shortly. Until this occurs Version 2 of the toolkit is made available in HTML. This is Section 1 of the Victorian Government's Accessiblity Toolkit providing an overview of the contents of the toolkit.
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Videos and accessibility - Accessibility Toolkit - Version 3 - 2009
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Videos cannot be made fully accessible, but they can be made accessible to some people with disabilities; for example people using screen readers.
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Web Accessibility for Writers
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This seminar: Introduced web writers (and editors, approvers and content managers) to web accessibility; Provided an overview of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0, focusing on the guidelines that writers need to be aware of; and Showed how to make content more accessible using 'before and after' examples from a range of Victorian public sector websites.
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Melbourne Accessibility Week - February 2012
- The Victorian Government has set a December 2012 deadline for all Government websites to be Level A WCAG2 compliant. AccessibilityOz is launching Melbourne Accessibility Week. Register now! Dates - 6- 10 February, 2012 - Full Day Seminar; Microsoft Word Training (1/2 day); Adobe PDF Training (1 day); Writing Accessible Content (1 day); Developer Training (1 day).
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Quick Reference - Web Accessibility Principles
- Web Accessibility In Mind (WebAIM), Expanded and improved version - 2008. "Article Contents: Principles of Accessibility; Provide appropriate alternative text; Content is well structured and clearly written; Help users navigate to relevant content; Provide headers for data tables; Do not rely on color alone to convey meaning; Ensure users can complete and submit all forms; Ensure links make sense out of context; Caption and/or provide transcripts for media; Ensure accessibility of non-HTML content; Miscellaneous.
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Victorian Government Accessibility Toolkit - Version 3 - September 2009 - in pdf format (2898kb)
(This document requires the use of Adobe Acrobat Reader). Department of Business and Innovation, Information Victoria, September 2009 - Version 3.1.1 - March 2011 (minor edits). "The Victorian Government’s Accessibility Standard requires that: All websites must be Level AA compliant (W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, Version 1.0); Where audience needs are specific, websites should become Level AAA as appropriate. This toolkit shows departments and agencies how to conform to this policy and the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, Version 1.0. The toolkit is designed for Victorian Government business managers and web site owners to enable them to effectively present the business case for accessibility and manage the processes involved..."
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Document Accessibility Guide - Microsoft Word
- New Zealand Government Web Toolkit, October 8, 2012. "This guide is directed at people who use Microsoft Word. It provides a list of best practice techniques designed to increase the accessibility of Microsoft Word documents. Some of the accessibility suggestions in this guide are also designed to assist with the conversion of Word documents to PDF..."
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Access IQ
- Media Access Australia. Offers content, contacts and education that equip individuals and organisations with the information they need to ensure their websites, web applications and digital experiences are accessible.
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Access iQ aims to improve web sites' disability access
- By Stuart Corner. ITWire, 19 July 2012. "Media Access Australia, an independent not-for-profit organisation devoted to increasing access to media for people with disabilities, has launched Access iQ an initiative that will provide advice and services to web developers to help ensure that their web sites meet national accessibility standards.
The move comes in the run-up to the December 2012 deadline of the Federal Government's Web Accessibility National Transition Strategy (NTS) that requires all Federal Government agencies and third-party providers to government to make their online content accessible to people who have a disability by complying with international accessibility guidelines..."
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Creating Accessible PDFs
- HowTo.gov, Page Reviewed/Updated: September 25, 2011. "... Making your PDF documents accessible is important so that all users are able to access your agency's information—no matter its format. Not only is making your content accessible a best practice, agencies are also required by OMB to maintain accessibility and follow standards from Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act as amended in 1998..."
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The Hidden Nuggets of WCAG2: When Not to Use ALT Attributes
- By Gian Wild. SitePoint, December 7, 2011. "So, just when should you not use an ALT attribute?
Short answer: never.
You must always have an ALT attribute if you have an IMG element. Always. No ifs, no buts, no maybes..."
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Info and Relationships: Understanding SC 1.3.1
- Understanding WCAG 2.0 - W3C. "The intent of this Success Criterion is to ensure that information and relationships that are implied by visual or auditory formatting are preserved when the presentation format changes. For example, the presentation format changes when the content is read by a screen reader or when a user style sheet is substituted for the style sheet provided by the author..."
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The Hidden Nuggets of WCAG2: Information Relationships
- By Gian Wild. SitePoint, November 2, 2011. "The Information and Relationships Success Criterion is a very complex requirement. Unlike other success criterion, it is not sufficient to comply with only one or two of the listed techniques – it is important to comply with all the relevant techniques. This means that this success criterion covers a wide range of requirements – in fact it covers many WCAG1 checkpoints, such as table headers, headings, coding lists etc..."
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The Hidden Nuggets of WCAG2: An Introduction
- By Gian Wild. SitePoint, October 25, 2011. "WCAG2 – it's complicated. But just like climate change, that doesn't mean we can ignore it and hope it goes away. Just like climate change, there are proponents on both sides of the issue, and just like climate change, people are vehement about the subject.
But WCAG2 doesn't need to be that complicated. Yes – it is a long series of documents. Yes – sometimes it isn't clear exactly what is required. But I'm here to demystify the set of guidelines, and tell you the hidden bits and pieces that you really need to know about.
In this series of articles, I'll be talking about all the big issues in accessibility: images and alt attributes, video, keyboard accessibility, forms, tables, skip links and many more. I'll be including concrete examples, and actual code that you can implement as well as linking to useful how-to guides. I hope this series of articles serves to simplify some of the more confusing areas of WCAG2..."
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e-Publication accessibility
- By Andrew Arch - AGIMO Blog, 29 September 2011. "Recently the Australian Security Research Centre hosted an information sharing session on “i-documents & other e-publications”. It included information on a range of e-publishing trends including the use of EPUB and various other formats and their application in the government context. I spoke about accessibility and e-publications, and how the principles of accessible information apply to all e-publications..."
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Communicating data with colour
- Department of Planning and Community Development, April 2011. "... A guideline document, Communicating Data with Colour, highlights the issues confronting people who are colour blind when accessing information, and outlines practical methods and tools for achieving colour accessibility in publications and online..."
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Images of text: accessibility for web writers, part 7
- Written by Dey Alexander, 4 Syllables, June 27, 2011. "Avoid using images of text on the web because some people will find them hard, if not impossible, to read. For instance, people with reading problems such as dyslexia may struggle to read certain fonts, line spacing or text alignment. If these are ‘hard-coded’ into an image, they cannot reformat the text into a more readable style..."
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Contrast: accessibility for web writers, part 6
- by Dey Alexander. 4 Syllables, May 31, 2011. "People with low vision, age-related vision impairment or colour blindness can have problems reading text when there is not enough contrast between the text and background colours.
If you publish content using templates that control text and background colours, you won’t have to worry about the contrast of your text. Your web designer or developer should have taken care of it. However, if you use images you should check that the contrast is adequate for any text or important information contained within them..."
This category last updated: 8 October 2012