Web tips: Designer offers advice on how to make sites compliant

Using the World Wide Web, we can communicate and share information like never before. Web designers have color, graphics and even sound to help get the word out. But did you know that the very tools that make the Web more exciting for some present barriers to others?

It is New York state policy that persons with disabilities have equal access to Web site information. We, as Web designers, are obligated to build that access into our Web designs — not just because it is required, but because it is the right thing to do. Disabled UUP members have a right to information and we have an obligation to provide it whenever possible.

While not all encompassing, here are a few ways you can improve accessibility on your site:

• Images and animations. Use the alt attribute to describe the function of each visual.
• Image maps. Use the client-side map and text for hotspots.
• Multimedia. Provide captioning and transcripts of audio, and descriptions of video.
• Hypertext links. Use text that makes sense when read out of context. For example, avoid “click here.”
• Page organization. Use headings, lists and consistent structure. Use CSS for layout and style where possible.
• Graphs and charts. Summarize and use the longdesc attribute.
• Scripts, applets and plug-ins. Provide alternative content in case active features are inaccessible or unsupported.
• Frames. Use the noframes element and meaningful titles.
• Tables. Make line-by-line reading sensible. Summarize.
• Check your work. Validate. Use tools, checklist and guidelines at http://www.w3c.org/TR/WCAG.

(Richard Harding, SUNY Buffalo, is a member of the UUP Technology and Intellectual Issues and Web Site Review committees.)