  |
 |
 Technology & Development Center |
| March 2002 | 7100 | 0271-2304-MTDC |
Michelle Beneitone, Editorial Assistant
Jacob Cowgill, Web Designer
Bob Beckley, Project Leader
In June 2001, new accessibility standards for Web sites and other forms of electronic information technologies went into effect. Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1998 directs Federal agencies to ensure that everyone with a disability has access to information that is electronically available. These standards apply to all Web-based information or applications developed, procured, maintained, or used by the Federal government.
Web sites administered by the Access Board (http://www.access-board.gov) and the General Services Administration (GSA) provide technical assistance on the new standards. An online training program known as "508 Universe" can be found on the GSA Web site:
If you are preparing a Web site, you need to remember that all the information has to be available to persons with disabilities. This may mean extra work if you plan to use features like drop-down menus, videos, and animation. Photographs, graphics (such as Excel graphs), and text can be made accessible without a lot of extra work. A Web site can look great and be accessible at the same time if you use careful planning during its development.
This Tech Tip is not a comprehensive explanation of the laws governing accessibility for Web sites, but it can help you make your Web site more accessible to people with disabilities.
Two types of programs may help you find problem areas in your Web sites and documents. Screen readers are programs that use speech synthesizers to read text from a computer screen, allowing persons who can't read the text to listen to it. Such programs are one of the primary tools persons with visual impairments rely on as they use computers. The second type of program that will help you develop a more accessible Web site is an accessibility checker. These programs identify accessibility problems and may suggest solutions.
Job Access With Speech (JAWS) is a screen reader for the visually impaired. It uses an integrated voice synthesizer and your computer's sound card to read the content on your computer screen and send the information to the computer's speakers. This technology allows persons who are visually impaired to access a variety of information. Developers can use JAWS to test Web sites and other types of electronic media. You may download a free trial version of JAWS at:
http://www.freedomscientific.com/index.html
The free trial version of JAWS for Windows 4.0 will operate for 40 minutes from the first use. This product can be used with the Windows 9x/Me and the Windows NT/2000 operating systems.
Bobby is a Web-based analysis tool that identifies accessibility problems on Web pages and teaches developers how to correct these problems. It can display how Web pages will look when persons use different browsers. CAST (the Center for Applied Special Technology) offers Bobby for free to further its mission to expand opportunities for all persons, including persons with disabilities. You can download Bobby at:
PageScreamer identifies Section 508 violations in Web pages and suggests corrections. The program ensures that there is a text equivalent for every nontext element on a Web page and that tables are properly labeled, allowing screen readers to read them.
The USDA has a purchase agreement with the manufacturer of PageScreamer software. Any USDA contracting officer or anyone authorized to use a purchase card can buy the software.
The purchase agreement states: "Organizations should make the best use of their resources to ensure that all USDA programs contained on these existing [Web] pages are available in a nondiscriminatory manner, and to test for and comply with the Access Board's Web accessibility provisions to the extent that resources allow (beginning with the most popular Web sites)."
All electronic information, whether it is in the form of text, graphics, or multimedia, should be available to all persons regardless of their abilities. Making a Web site accessible does not necessarily mean destroying its visual impact. When the standards for accessible design are followed, all readers will find the pages easier to read.
The World Wide Web Consortium (http://www.w3.org) provides documentation on Web content accessibility. As stated on the consortium's Web site, "The World Wide Web Consortium develops interoperable technologies (specifications, guidelines, software, and tools) to lead the Web to its full potential as a forum for information, commerce, communication, and collective understanding." The consortium's Web Accessibility Initiative "pursues accessibility of the Web through five primary areas of work: technology, guidelines, tools, education and outreach, and research and development." The accessibility initiative's main site is:
A Web content accessibility checklist is available at:
http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10/full-checklist.html
Techniques for Web content accessibility can be found at:
http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10-TECHS/
Web content accessibility guidelines are provided at:
http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT/
Tags have specific purposes in the hypertext markup language (HTML) used on the World Wide Web. Tags should be meaningful within a Web page. Two examples are the heading tags and tags to make text bold and italic.
Rather than using heading tags as design elements, use them to explain the hierarchy of the site. The main heading should be <H1> and the first subheading <H2>. Use <H3> and <H4> for subheadings beneath the first two. More information is available at:
http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10-HTML-TECHS/#grouping
To denote speech inflection or to highlight a word or phrase within a page, use <STRONG< to bold the text and <EM> to italicize it. Use <B> and <I> only for visual effect. More information is available at:
http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10-HTML-TECHS/#text
Tables should be marked up to specify the order of navigation as well as table elements. The tags tell screen reader software how the elements should be read. For simple data tables, identify row and column headers. Data tables with more than one logical level of row or column headers must be marked up more extensively. More information is available at:
http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10/wai-pageauth.html#gl-table-markup
All graphics must have text equivalents. Graphics include photographs, illustrations, image-maps, and rollovers. Each graphic must have an "alt" tag associated with it in the HTML code. If the graphic is essential to convey information, the "alt" tag must describe the graphic well enough that the tag could be understood by someone with impaired vision. For example, a caption may describe a graph, but the "alt" tag should describe what the graph displays. For graphics that serve simply as design elements, the text within the "alt" tag could describe the graphic or a space character may be placed within the "alt" tag. For example, the HTML code for a graphic serving simply as a design element (starburst.gif) could read <IMG src="/images/starburst.gif" alt="""">. This empty "alt" tag ensures the screen reader will have something to "read," even if it is just a space. More information is available at:
http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT-TECHS/#gl-provide-equivalents
All essential information conveyed with color should also be available without color. When color is used to convey information, the colors should have high contrast. For example, persons with blue-green color blindness would be unable to read blue text on a green background. More information is available at:
http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT-TECHS/#gl-color
Use style sheets to control layout and presentation. Use external style sheets rather than placing the style sheets within the Web pages themselves. That way, if style sheets have been turned off by the user, the information should still be legible. More information is available at:
http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10-TECHS/#gl-structure-presentation
Just as for graphics, text alternatives must be provided for nontext elements in multimedia presentations. Multimedia may include PowerPoint presentations, audio, and video. More information is available at:
http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10-TECHS/#gl-provide-equivalents
Formats other than hypertext markup language may be used to display information on Web sites, but the most accessible file type is HTML. If an alternate HTML file can be created, providing such an alternative is probably the best option. If you are not able to do so, it may be possible to make documents in other formats more accessible. Here are some examples of other formats that might be used to display electronic information and areas that may need special attention.
Many Web sites include links to Word documents. Screen readers have no problem reading these documents. The areas that need special attention are similar to those listed above. While Word does not provide "alt" tags for graphics, a caption can be placed below the graphic describing the information that would otherwise be included in an "alt" tag. Newer versions of Word will allow Word documents to be saved as HTML files. The HTML files are large, complex, and will be difficult to maintain. Macromedia Dreamweaver includes an option to remove some of the clutter from the files. At MTDC, we have tried to avoid using Word to generate HTML files.
Acrobat files (sometimes referred to as PDF, or Portable Document Format files) are used to maintain the exact look and feel of a printed document. Special attention is needed to assure that the document structure can be recognized by a screen reader. Acrobat 5.0 can be used to establish a logical structure for a document, increasing its accessibility. Acrobat 5.0 also has a feature that will check a document's accessibility. Once a document has been tagged (labeled and placed in logical order) you can use the "Accessibility Checker" under the "Tools" option in Acrobat. The checker will find potential problems and display a dialog box with a description of problem areas. It may not be much harder to convert the document to HTML for accessibility than to add tags to the Acrobat file.
More information on issues related to Adobe products and accessibility is available at:
Simple PowerPoint presentations can be made more accessible with a few additions to graphics. To tag a graphic, select the graphic or object to be tagged, then select "Insert...Hyperlink" from the top menu bar. The "Insert Hyperlink" dialog box will appear. Choose "Place in This Document" from the "Link to:" options, then select the slide that contains the graphic. After the slide has been selected, choose the "Screen Tip..." option at the top right of the "Insert Hyperlink" window and type the desired alt tag text. If one slide has two graphics, select the slide and select the first graphic before placing the first alt tag text there. Select the slide again and select the second graphic to place the second alt tag text there. The tags will show up on the appropriate graphic when a user moves the mouse over the graphic.
Another option is to use HTML to create presentations.
This information is a guide to help Forest Service employees make their Web sites more accessible. The links provided in this document should help you find some solutions to your problems. Software programs are continually being refined, so Web sites should be checked frequently to see if better tools have become available. Further information is available to Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management employees on the Forest Service's internal computer network at:
http://fsweb.mtdc.wo.fs.fed.us/author/web_sites/accessibility/
Michelle Beneitone worked as an editorial intern for Missoula Technology Development Center for 4 1/2 years while completing a degree in nursing at Montana State University. She developed Web sites for the center and assisted the editor with various projects. She is now working as a registered nurse at St. Patrick's Hospital in Missoula, MT.
Jacob Cowgill has worked as a Web designer for the Missoula Technology and Development Center since 1998. He received a bachelor's degree in fine arts with a minor in computer science from the University of Montana in 2001.
Bob Beckley received a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Montana in 1982. He began his Forest Service career as a forestry technician on the Nez Perce National Forest. Bob was a smokejumper when he came to the Missoula Technology and Development Center in 1990 to work as a videographer, photographer, and project leader. His work includes projects in recreation, accessibility, health and safety, and fire.
Additional single copies of this document may be ordered from:
USDA Forest Service
Missoula Technology and Development Center
5785 Highway 10 West
Missoula, MT 59808
Phone: 406-329-3978
Fax: 406-329-3719
E-mail: wo_mtdc_pubs@fs.fed.us
For additional technical information, contact Jacob Cowgill at the Center's address.
Phone: 406-329-3903
Fax: 406-329-3719
E-mail: jcowgill@fs.fed.us
Electronic copies of MTDC's documents are available on the Forest Service's FSWeb Intranet at:
http://fsweb.mtdc.wo.fs.fed.us
The Forest Service, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), has developed this information for the guidance of its employees, its contractors, and its cooperating Federal and State agencies and is not responsible for the interpretation or use of this information by anyone except its own employees. The use of trade, firm, or corporation names in this document is for the information and convenience of the reader and does not constitute an endorsement by the Department of any product or service to the exclusion of others that may be suitable. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, and where applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orientation, genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or part of an individual’s income is derived from any public assistance program. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD). To file a complaint of discrimination, write to USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20250-9410, or call (800) 795-3272 (voice) or (202) 720-6382(TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.
|
|
Next Top |
 |
E-mail: