Accessibility:

What are accessibility standards who do they apply to?

Web pages can be designed to maximize their usefulness for many types of users, including users with special needs such as visual, hearing, or physical impairments.
Accessibility standards are a set of guidelines explaining how to make Web content accessible to people with disabilities. The guidelines are intended for all Web content developers and for developers of authoring tools. The primary goal of these guidelines is to promote accessibility. However, following them will also make Web content more available to all users.

Why accessibility standards are inportant?

• use of the Web is spreading rapidly into all areas of society;
• there are barriers on the Web for many types of disabilities;
• millions of people have disabilities that affect access to the Web;
• some Web sites are required to be accessible;
• web accessibility also has carry-over benefits for other users.

Examples of specific user groups with particular accessilbility requirements:

Visual:

• described graphics or video;
• well marked-up tables or frames;
• keyboard support, screen reader compatibility;

Hearing:

• captioning for audio, supplemental illustration;

Physical, Speech:

• keyboard or single-switch support;
• alternatives for speech input on voice portals;

Cognitive, Neurological:

• consistent navigation, appropriate language level;
• illustration; no flickering or strobing designs.

Example of a general legislated accessibility standard and requirement:

The World Wide Web Consortium's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines has been adopted as the common best practice standard for all Australian government websites:

http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT/

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