web accessibility & important

What is web accessibility & why is it important?

Web accessibility is about making your website accessible to all Internet users (both disabled and non-disabled), regardless of what browsing technology they're using. In addition to complying with the law, an accessible website can reap huge benefits on to your website and your business.

Please read the articles, Benefits of an accessible website - part 1 and Benefits of an accessible website - part 2 for more about the importance of web accessibility.
Your website must be able to function with all different browsing technologies



The first and perhaps the most important rule of web accessibility. Not everyone is using the latest version of Internet Explorer, with all the plug-ins and programs that you may require them to have for your website. Different browsing technologies, each with their own accessibility requirements, can include:

* Lynx browser - Text-only browser with no support for tables, CSS, images, JavaScript, Flash or audio and video content
* WebTV - 560px in width with horizontal scrolling not available
* Screen reader - Page content read aloud in the order it appears in the HTML document
* Handheld device - Very small screen with limited support for JavaScript and large images
* Screen magnifier - As few as three to four words may be able to appear on the screen at any one time
* Slow connection (below 56kb) - Users may turn off images to enable a faster download time
* 1600px screen width - Very wide screen

This basically means that to ensure your website is accessible to everyone you must provide alternatives to:

* Images - in the form of ALT text
* JavaScript - through the < noscript > tag
* Flash - with HTML equivalents
* Audio & video - by using subtitles or written transcripts

For enhanced website accessibility you must also be careful how your pages look when support for CSS and/or tables has been removed.