Category: review

Categories
easi law review roundup

Web Axe 2011 Year in Review

So another year has gone by, and another bigger and better for web accessibility! One good sign is that I’ve noticed lots of job openings related to web accessibility, you probably noticed multiple posts on that this year. And more lawsuits going on as well, which I believe is an evil necessity to wake up many companies on the topic.

The “Fixing Alt” series continued which provides alternative text for various web pages in the wild. Check out two for The Oatmeal: the Netflix Comic on the company’s pricing fiasco, and 6 Reasons Bacon Is Better Than True Love.

We had a couple guest blogs including Jennison’s IT Accessibility Goes To Camp. Mid-year, Web Axe joined Facebook, serving as another great avenue to share the good word. And, now you can order your own Web Axe T-shirt!

2011 was also a big year for Easy Chirp, created by Web Axe author Dennis Lembree. The accessible Twitter web app was renamed from “Accessible Twitter” and was a recipient of the AFB 2011 Access Award.

Dennis was busy in November and gave presentations for the @AccessibilityDC meetup, How To Build An Accessible Web Application, and for EASI, Twitter and Accessibility.

Other great blogs this year:

Categories
review

AccessibleTech Website Analysis; No Joke

Saw a new Google ad on Web Axe this past Friday, April 1, that I couldn’t help but click. After viewing the ad’s website briefly, I had slim hopes that this was yet another techie April Fool’s joke. Unfortunately, it was not. The website for AccessbileTech has many accessibility and usability issues when claiming to be accessibility experts/consultants. Let’s examine:

  • Skip nav link is visually unreadable (due to lack of contrast from background image).
  • Text links unclear; too many link styles; blue bullets appear to be links but not.
  • Headings not marked up as headings, such as Products & Services.
  • Mismatch in alternative text in News & Events heading image; alt says “events”.
  • The ordered list on the home page and on the Accessibility Goal page are not marked up as an ordered list; uses spans and break tags, yuck!
  • Hover states on links don’t have focus states.
  • Home tab is highlighted on all pages. Confusing, especially for those with cognitive disabilities.
  • Table layout, 5 levels of nesting. Nuff said.
  • No language declared (in HTML element).
  • CSS used for emphasis rather than markup (Company page) “.style1 {font-weight: bold}”
  • Small decorative image (203 by 141 pixels) on About Us page is almost 40K in file size! Needs web optimization to make smaller.
  • On home page News & Events section, audio and arrow icons are confusing, they appear to have functionality, but there’s no behavior attached to them.
  • Simple layout is fixed width; making flexible width would accommodate different screen resolutions.

Not funny. Agree?

Update

The owner of this website has contacted me. Most of the issues listed have been corrected.

Categories
review testing

Comments on A quick Web Accessibility Checklist

I came across the article A quick Web Accessibility Checklist (published last July) and have some feedback. Some points were great, but others needed some work. I was going to leave a comment, but thought the points would be good to share in a blog post.

  • “Skip-to” links help, but wouldn’t put first on the list. Proper tag markup and ARIA are also big navigation helpers.
  • Font resize widgets are unnecessary as they add weight to a site, add clutter to the screen, and the behavior should be done by the browser.
  • A site map is not needed if navigation is done well and is accessible; the tip is more of a usability issue in my opinion.
  • Don’t know what “links have descriptive screen text” means. If it means tool-tips (title attribute), then I highly recommend not doing most of the time.
  • Yes, keyboard accessible dropdown menus are good, but remember that the whole site must be keyboard accessible.
  • People still use frames? iFrames also relevant to list here, and more up-to-date.
  • A good basic point missing is color; ensure sufficient color contrast, no content conveyed with color alone; etc.

Update, Jan 11:

I submitted a blog comment that linked to this page, and it did not yet get accepted.

Shortened URL to this page: http://weba.im/commquick

Categories
podcast review

Podcast #87: Web Axe 2010 Year in Review

Download Web Axe Episode 87 (Web Axe 2010 Year in Review)

Transcript of podcast 87

Transcript sponsored by Crein: Centre de recherche et d’expérimentation sur l’inclusion numérique (Centre for Research and experimentation on digital inclusion). An organization from Québec, Canada, “promoting digital inclusion of persons with disabilities”.

News & Articles

Main Segment

Categories
articles review

Feedback on A Complete Beginner’s Guide to Web Accessibility

Here is my feedback on a recent article A Complete Beginner’s Guide to Web Accessibility on 1stWebDesigner.com. Some good points, but I’d like to clarify a few things:

  • Item 1 is good, I think the main point is “follow conventions”, to continue established design patterns. This may be beneficial for those with cognitive disabilities, but it’s somewhat more of a usability issue rather than accessibility.
  • For Item 2, remember that a text-alternative is now frowned upon; it’s almost always not equal content, nor a comparable experience. Also, many Flash websites can now be done with accessible HTML/JS/CSS.
  • Don’t agree with your point on Pagination. Not directly related to accessibility, but again, more of an opinion on usability.
  • For item 4, I think the point is to use semantic markup. A great place to start!
  • On item 7, the point is that you should use relative sizing and layout (EM, %) instead of absolute (PX, PT).
  • For 8, you’re pointing to WCAG1, which is now outdated. You want WCAG2. Also, for testing, auto tools are handy, but it’s always best to have real users test. And many items MUST be checked by a human, such as proper alternative text.