Southwest Educational Development Laboratory
Volume 3, Number 3, 1999
Electronic Accessibility: A Word from the Director
Who Needs Web Site Accessibility?
Interactive Elements of the Internet
NIDRR Grantees Offer Listservs
→ Update on Strategies for Web Accessibility
In 1997 the NCDDR presented issues of Web accessibility in The Research Exchange, Vol. 2, No. 1 (NCDDR, 1997). Many of these suggestions are still useful for Web page developers, and should be recognized by grantees as important to making information on their Web sites available and usable to many different users, including people with disabilities. Rather than repeat this information here, the NCDDR presents some new ideas and issues in Web acessibility in this issue.
The Annotated WWW Resource List has been updated and new entries are included. Volume 2, Number 1 of The Research Exchange is available at http://www.ncddr.org/products/researchexchange/v02n01/. You may request a paper copy or alternate formats from the NCDDR office. Call 1-800-266-1832 or 512-476-6861, ext. 293 (voice or TT), or send email to lharris@ncddr.org
The power of the Web is in its universality. Access by everyone regardless of disability is an essential aspect.
–Tim Berners–Lee, W3C Director and inventor of the World Wide Web (W3C, 1998c)
The Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) is an international effort to raise awareness about World Wide Web accessibility for people with disabilities, and to coordinate efforts to develop standards. The WAI is sponsored by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), which was established in 1994 to oversee development of protocols and the evolution of the Web. As of November, 1998, 280 companies from around the world participate as members of the Consortium.
The WAI was launched during the 6th International World Wide Web Conference in Santa Clara, California in April 1997. Through its International Program Office (IPO), the WAI enables partnering and coordination among the many stakeholders in Web accessibility: industry, disability and other non-profit organizations, government, research organizations, Web developers and content providers. Judy Brewer, Director of the IPO, was formerly director of the Massachusetts Assistive Technology Partnership (MATP), which was funded through NIDRR by the Technology-Related Assistance for Individuals with Disabilities Act.
Integrating the WAI on all fronts of Web development is critical to ensure that accessibility protocols are a part of the future of the World Wide Web. For example, a number of accessibility features are incorporated into HTML 4.0, the latest version of the language used to publish files on the Web (W3C, 1998b). A general Web Accessibility Initiative Interest Group (WAI IG) provides a forum for discussion of issues related to Web accessibility via a listserv and occasional face-to-face meetings. The WAI focuses on five primary areas of work: technology, guidelines, tools, education and outreach, and research and development. Specific working groups and interest groups pursue activities in these areas, including:
Dr. Gregg Vanderheiden is co-chair of the WAI Page Author Guidelines Working Group, along with Chuck Letourneau of Canada's Starling Access Services. Dr. Vanderheiden and staff at the Trace Center, a NIDRR grantee, developed guidelines for accessible Web sites that served as the basis for the WAI Accessibility Guidelines: Page Authoring (W3C Working Draft—18 September 1998). These guidelines are used by Bobby, the Web accessibility validator, for its analysis of Web pages. Developers of Web pages are encouraged to follow these guidelines to improve accessibility for all visitors to WWW sites.
A number of resources are maintained at the WAI's Web site, including news briefs, charters and minutes of working group/interest group meetings, subscription instructions and archives of listservs, references for Web accessibility, as well as drafts and final versions of products developed by WAI participants (W3C, 1998c).
The comprehensive nature of the WAI, beginning with the development of international protocols for the Web, the development of guidelines, and education efforts, will help ensure that the need for accessibility is not overlooked in the ongoing evolution of the World Wide Web as an information dissemination, communication and research medium. The participation of NIDRR and NIDRR grantees reflects the value that NIDRR research can provide to such an important undertaking.
Keeping up with the changes and progress in Web accessibility is an ongoing challenge. One source of help is Bobby, a Web-based program that reviews existing pages to verify accessibility and browser compatibility. Bobby examines a page and identifies ways it may not be accessible to people with disabilities. Bobby describes specific problems and gives suggestions and tips on improving accessibility, based on the W3C's WAI Page Author Guidelines. Earlier versions of Bobby rated each page's accessibility with one to four stars, but the current version (3.0) rates a page as Bobby Approved or not approved. If all pages are approved by Bobby as accessible and compatible with current HTML 4.0 standards, a site may display the Bobby Approved icon.
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Bobby also identifies problems which prevent a Web page from being displayed correctly on a variety of browsers (including different versions of Netscape Navigator, Internet Explorer, America Online, Mosaic, Lynx, and WebTV) without having to individually test the page with each browser. Bobby examines three levels of HTML coding incompatibilities. A recent search found over 4,000 Web pages with links to Bobby. A downloadable freestanding version of Bobby is also available on-line to facilitate review of an entire Web site. http://www.cast.org/bobby/download.html
Bobby is a free service that was developed by the Center for Applied Special Technology's (CAST) Universal Design Lab staff and Josh Krieger. CAST is a not-for-profit organization, founded in 1984. CAST's mission is to expand opportunities for individuals with disabilities through innovative computer technology (CAST, 1998).
The codes to publish documents on the WWW are written in HyperText Markup Language (HTML). The current version of HTML is 4.0, and the most recent revised W3C draft recommendation, was made public in April, 1998 (W3C, 1998b). HTML provides a standard that allows documents to be used across various platforms (PC, Macintosh, UNIX, etc.) and with different hardware. The W3C works to coordinate these standards so that Web developers use the same codes, and browser developers (such as Netscape and Microsoft Explorer) can implement the same protocols. Jesse Berst, ZDNET Anchor Desk, identified the key improvements over HTML 3.2 as:
The W3C highlighted the following features of HTML 4.0 that enhance Web accessibility for people with disabilities:
Berst, J. (July 9, 1997.) Why HTML 4.0 is just what we need. [Online]. Available: http://www.zdnet.com/anchordesk/story/story_1066.html
Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST). (1998). Bobby Web accessibility validator. [Online]. Available: http://www.cast.org/bobby/
National Center for the Dissemination of Disability Research (NCDDR). (1997.) Accessible Information on the World Wide Web. The Research Exchange, 2(1), 1-15. [Online]. Available: http://www.ncddr.org//products/researchexchange/v02n01/
World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). (1998a). Cascading style sheets. [Online]. Available: http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/present/styles.html
W3C. (1998b). HTML 4.0 specification. W3C recommendation, revised on 24-Apr-1998. [Online]. Available: http://www.w3c.org/TR/REC-html40/
W3C. (1998c). Web accessibility initiative (WAI). [Online]. Available: http://www.w3c.org/WAI/
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