Website Design
One of the most important points in owning a website is accessibility.
Making Web sites accessible to all potential customers seems like common sense. One in five Americans has some disability; as the country ages, that percentage is expected to increase. A Web site that's navigable by an assistive technology such as a screen reader is also accessible by phones and palmtops, not to mention by old, slow computers. In addition, every site wants to stand out, and the goodwill generated by maintaining an accessible online presence can be a powerful way to do that.
Accessibility also makes sense legally: The Justice Department has ruled that the Americans With Disabilities Act applies to the Web, not just to places that can be accessed physically. A retailer whose Web site doesn't meet ADA standards can be sued under the act, just as a brick-and-mortar store can. - CNN News
But there is another very good business reason to make your website accessible to all - search engine ranking. The search engine spiders 'read' your website in a very similar way to partially sighted people, to people who cannot use a mouse or who do not have access to the very latest browser technology. By designing a website that conforms to the ADA, you will also be creating a website that automatically achieves a high ranking in the most important search engines. A high ranking means more visitors, and more business. Therefore making your website accessible is good for business.
Here are some guidelines to follow when creating an accessible website:
- Images & Animations - Use the alt attribute to describe the function of each visual.
- Multimedia - Provide descriptions of video and captioning and transcripts of audio and video.
- Links. Use text that makes sense when read out of context. For example, avoid "click here."
- Use CSS for layout and style where possible.
- Graphs & Charts. Summarize and describe.
- Tables. Make line-by-line reading sensible, summarize.
- Check your work. Validate. Use tools, checklist, and guidelines at World Wide Web Consortium
All websites created by GFGraphics conform to all W3Consortium standards and are entitled to wear the and
