Newsletter issue #26 - 2nd May 2006
This issue
Hello and welcome to the May edition of the Webcredible newsletter!
In this issue:
- Feature article: Beyond guidelines: Advanced accessibility techniques
- Top tip: Ensure PDFs are accessible (& usable)
- Useful program: MAGic screen magnifier
- Top link: CSS Beauty
- New articles in April
- Webcredible news in April
Enjoy!
Feature article: Beyond guidelines: Advanced accessibility techniques
When developing and managing websites, people tend to focus on the W3C accessibility guidelines, but for ultimate accessibility these guidelines aren't quite enough. Find out some more advanced (and simple-to-implement) techniques to take your website's accessibility that one step further.
Read this article in full at www.webcredible.co.uk/user-friendly-resources/web-accessibility/beyond-guidelines.shtml.
Top tip: Ensure PDFs are accessible (& usable)
Making PDFs accessible, at its most basic, isn't particularly difficult. PDFs should only be used in the first place if you wish to provide information that will almost certainly be printed out and/or e-mailed as an attachment. If this is the case, and you have PDFs on your website, be sure to follow these guidelines to ensure their accessibility (and usability):
- Alternative text for images As with web pages all images need to have alternative text assigned to them, so that screen reader users can access the information provided by the picture. If you're creating a document in Microsoft Word, simply select format picture from the menu (or right-click on the image), and then choose the Web tab at the top. You'll then be able to insert the alternative text.
- Use headings To ensure that all document structure is transferred from the editing document into the completed Adobe file, the document must be tagged. To do this, go to Advanced > Accessibility > Add Tags to Document.
- Tag the document You can also change the tabbing order of links and form items on the page, so keyboard-only users get to the most important links and form items first (you can achieve this through the
tabindexcommand). This is only worth doing though if there is an item on the page you expect most users will want to use straightaway. For example, on a search driven site you may wish to have users tab straight on to the search function. - Ensure bookmarks are visible Bookmarks are of course helpful to everyone as they act like a contents to the information contained in the document. They are especially helpful to those with special needs, as they break the document into more manageable chunks. To ensure bookmarks are displayed, go to File > Document Properties > Initial View > Show > Bookmarks Panel and Page.
Useful program: MAGic screen magnifier
A screen magnifier is piece of software used by web users with poor vision. It sits on top of the computer screen, magnifying everything on screen. Download the MAGic screen magnifier and see what it's like to use a magnifier for real!
You can use this program at www.freedomscientific.com/fs_downloads/magic.asp.
Top link: CSS Beauty
CSS Beauty bills itself as a design showcase. What's really useful about the website is that it keeps up-to-date with all major new CSS articles on the web, doing all the hard work for you!
Check out this useful site at www.cssbeauty.com.
New articles in April
Read this and many other articles at www.webcredible.co.uk/user-friendly-resources.
Webcredible news in April
- Webcredible to exhibit at ad:tech
- We're giving away two free places on our training courses!
Read these news stories in full at www.webcredible.co.uk/about-us/latest-news.shtml.
Training courses
Courses continue to sell out well in advance! Our next training courses will take place in our training centre in Aldgate, London in May and June:
- Usability testing training - Monday 22nd May & Monday 26th June. For more information and to reserve your place before it fills up please consult our usability testing training page.
- Writing for the web training - Tuesday 23rd May & Tuesday 27th June. For more information and to reserve your place before it fills up please consult our writing for the web training page.
- Web usability training - Wednesday 24th May & Wednesday 28th June. For more information and to reserve your place before it fills up please consult our web usability training page.
- Web accessibility training - Thursday 25th May & Thursday 29th June. For more information and to reserve your place before it fills up please consult our web accessibility training page.
- Advanced CSS training - Friday 26th May & Friday 30th June. For more information and to reserve your place before it fills up please consult our advanced CSS training page.
About Webcredible
Based in London, UK, Webcredible is a user experience consultancy. Tailor-made usability, accessibility & design solutions include:
- User-centered design
- Accessible web design
- CMS services
- Usability
- Accessibility
- Training
- Website review lite
Please contact us on 0870 242 6095 or info at webcredible.co.uk, or consult www.webcredible.co.uk for further information.