What Makes a Site Accessible?

No steadfast definition of what makes content accessible exists because the very definition of Internet content changes on a daily basis.

In short, there are two things a developer can do to make sure that his site is as accessible as possible:

• Verify that his site is W3C compliant.

• Verify that his site is Section 508 compliant.

TIP

Although the accessibility movement loves to use acronyms and complicated standards to make its point, it is important to stress that the most important element of making an accessible Web page is common sense. If you are creating anything on the Web that requires any specific technology, screen size, or plug-in, it simply isn't accessible to those who don't have it. Certainly use the tools provided by FrontPage: Just remember to use your head as well.

W3C Standards

W3C is short for the World Wide Web Consortium. The W3C is an international group of educational institutions and organizations that work with the Internet hoping to contribute in the process of making it a better place for all involved. Its goal is to guide the public into the use of standards ensuring that the Internet grows in a single inclusively beneficial direction rather than being splintered among competing technologies, standards, and companies.

How effective is the W3C? Is it necessary? Is it accomplishing its goals? These questions are hotly debated topics online, and we won't go into them here.

The W3C has provided the world a standard for making Web sites compliant. Because it is the only such standard available, many use it for determining the true accessibility of a Web site.

NOTE

The W3C's Web site can be accessed at http://w3c.frontpagelink.com and contains a lot of additional information on this topic.

Archives of all the W3C-related mailing lists are also available online and can be found at http://w3clists.frontpagelink.com.

Section 508

Section 508 is a federal law requiring that federal agencies' electronic and information technology be accessible to people with disabilities. Under Section 508, all federal agencies are required by law to give the disabled public access to information that is comparable to the access available to all others. Because almost all publicly available information is provided through the Internet and on Web pages, the implication of Section 508 is obvious.

The impact of Section 508 is clear to any federal agency its Web sites and Internet content must be accessible. States and large companies are quickly following suit with similar laws and regulations. It will only be a matter of time before most significant Internet publishers have specific requirements regarding accessible content.

Section 508 specifically covers the U.S. government accessibility standards for a wide range of technologies and informational sources. Section 508 resulted in the development of Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). WCAG outlines specific priorities for making Web sites accessible to people with disabilities so that the process of making a Web site accessible can be prioritized.

WCAG issues are rated on a priority basis: Priority 1 issues must be addressed, Priority 2 issues should be addressed, and Priority 3 issues may be addressed.

NOTE

An article that discusses the prioritization issue in greater detail can be found at the W3C's Web site at http://w3cpriorities.frontpagelink.com.