Accessibility
Making Web Pages Accessible
At UMass Boston, we strive to insure that the information we publish is equally accessible to everyone. Here are a few tips for creating aesthetically pleasing and accessible pages:
Table of Contents
Images
Bullets
Image Maps
Colors
Tables
Audio Files
Providing a Text-Only Alternative
For More Information
Images
Images cannot be accessed by people using text browsers or by people who are blind. Therefore, one should provide alternative text to describe the image. Alternative text can be provided without changing the appearance of the image by using the ALT tag. For example: <IMG SRC="UMass.gif" ALT="[Image: UMass Boston campus]">
(Note that enclosing alternative text in brackets helps to set it aside from the rest of the document.)
Using the ALT tag enables people who cannot access the image to not miss any information while still making the image available to those who can access it.
It is especially important to provide alternative text for an icon link when there is no other description available. Otherwise, people using text browsers and people who are blind will not be able to tell what the link goes to.
It is not necessary to provide alternative text for horizontal rules.
Bullets
If you use a graphic as a bullet in a list, you should also use an asterisk as alternative text. For example: <IMG SRC="bullet.gif" ALT="*">
Image Maps
If you use an imagemap on your page, you should also insure that all of the links on the image are repeated in text somewhere else on the page.
Colors
When choosing different background and text colors, try to select high-contrast combinations. People with low vision have difficulty reading pages whose text does not contrast with the background.
Tables
Some browsers do not currently support tables. Instead, they often just run all of the text together in paragraph form making the table unreadable. To avoid this problem, insert a line break at the end of each table cell.
Audio Files
When you provide a link to an audio file, be sure to also provide a link to a transcript or, if a transcript can not be made, a description of that file. Doing so enables users of text browsers and people with a hearing impairment to access the information.
Providing a Text-Only Alternative
Another solution to all of the above is to create a text-only version of your graphic/audio-intensive pages. If you choose this option, be sure to provide a link at the top of each page to its alternate form.
For More Information....
If you have any questions about making your web pages accessible, feel free to contact Dann Brown at the UMass Boston Adaptive Computer Lab at 287-5228.
Much of the information on this page was taken from "Design of HTML Pages to Increase Their Accessibility to Users with Disabilities" available at the Trace Research and Development Center.