The host for this web site (Yahoo-Geocities) has used pop-up advertising and/or banners and has at various times added other coding to my web site over which I have no control.  These ads, banners and other items often do not include alternatives that make them accessible to people using special screen readers. 

In order to stop the pop-ups, I  placed "Geoguides" at the bottom of each page of my web site.  In exchange for this, Yahoo-Geocities  limited the advertising to a specific section of the Geoguide.  Although this advertising also sometimes contained graphics (including animated graphics) without alternative text, at least the Geoguides could be restricted to just one area of the page and kept out of the way for most site visitors.

More recently, Yahoo-Geocities began offering "Ad Squares" as an alternative to Geoguides.  The ad squares are limited to just one area of the page, automatically collapse to a smaller size after a few minutes, and may be maximized or closed if you wish to do so.  However, no alternative text identifying the ad square or its control buttons seems to be included as of this writing (Oct. 16, 2001).  

Yahoo-Geocities now has eliminated Geoguides completely.  As time permits, I will remove references to Geoguides at the end of my web pages, but that won't resolve any accessibility problems that may be caused by the Ad Squares. At least the Ad Squares always show up in the same part of the screen—the upper right hand corner.  If you do nothing, the Ad Square collapses to a small size, where it should remain out of your way.

I  have contacted Yahoo-Geocities about various accessibility concerns and will continue to seek better solutions to these problems.  Please send me an e-mail message if you encounter additional accessibility problems that have not been addressed here.