Cooperative Extension Service
Departments
Administration
Web Accessibility Standards
"The power of the Web is in its universality.
Access by everyone regardless of disability is an essential aspect." --
Tim Berners-Lee, W3C Director and inventor of the World Wide Web
The UACES will address accessibility as a key policy issue in the design of
web pages and consider the following:
A. Many environmental barriers to people with
disabilities can be removed by making minor modifications or
adjustments. The same is true of Web sites!
B. If you construct a building, it's easier and cheaper
to put in access for people with disabilities during the initial
construction than to add it on later. The same is true of Web sites!
C. Making accommodations on your Web site for the
greatest number of users increases the availability and usefulness of
those materials.25-26-204. Procurement requirements. (a)
The technology access clause specified in § 25-26-203 shall be developed by the
Department of Information Systems and shall require compliance with nonvisual
access standards established by the state. The clause shall be included in all
contracts for the procurement of information technology by, or for the use of,
entities covered by this subchapter on or after July 30, 1999.
(see
Information Technology Access for the Blind)
The University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service is required by
federal and state law to make information intended for the general public
accessible to individuals with disabilities. Federal laws include the Americans
with Disabilities Act P.L. 101-336, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of
1973, the Telecommunications Act of 1996, and Section 508 of the Workforce
Investment Act of 1998. Arkansas laws that affect disability issues include Act
1227.
The Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI), developed by the World Wide Web
Consortium (W3C), is widely accepted as standards for accessibility. By
implementing WAI standards, UACES will be in compliance with the federal and
state guidelines for Web accessibility. According to the WAI, people with or
without disabilities use the Internet with different degrees of capabilities,
software, and hardware. Users with disabilities may not be able to see, hear,
move, or process some types of information; may have difficulty reading or
understanding text; or may not have or be able to use a keyboard or mouse. The
Web Developers Virtual
Library Web site states that approximately 10 to 20 percent of
Web visitors have some kind of disability. The following are reasons why a Web
site should be designed so that people with disabilities can easily use it.
Designing for accessibility will:
1. Improve the usability of the Web site for all
visitors, including those with disabilities such as blindness or
visual impairments, hearing impairments, physical disabilities, and
cognitive difficulties.
2. Help people understand the content of Web pages
regardless of the user agent they have: e.g., desktop browser, voice
browser, mobile phone, or automobile-based PC. Designing for
accessibility will also help people use Web pages regardless of
constraints they may face: e.g., noisy room, glaring lights,
hands-free environment, slow connection speed, or vision and attention
focused elsewhere.
3. Help people find information more quickly by removing
barriers related to design and navigation, such as poorly organized
information, unexplained graphics and images, uncaptioned audio or undescribed video, and lack of
color contrast.
Description of Standards
The Web Accessibility Standards adopted by UACES are the
Web Content Accessibility
Guidelines for accessibility
established by the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) and the
State of Arkansas Accessibility Architecture - Web Page
Best Practices. UACES Web developers and programmers will comply
with Priority 1 and Priority 2. Priority 3 checkpoints as recommended standards
for improving the quality of the site.
Implementation Standards for UACES Web Developers
Successful implementation of the
Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)
Web Content Accessibility
Guidelines and the
State of Arkansas Accessibility Architecture - Web Page
Best Practices are the responsibility of Web developers and
Programmers and the administration at UACES. The following are the procedures
for implementing the UACES Web accessibility standards. All UACES Web developers
and programmers will:
1. Participate in professional development on Priorities 1, 2, 3.
a. Design self-directed opportunities to meet individual
needs, including online activities developed by W3C and other
entities. b. Attend training opportunities outside UACES as needed. 2. Know and use the mark-up language that supports accessibility.
Resource:
W3C Techniques
3. Test and validate pages according to UACES standards.
a) Check all UACES Web pages for compliance with the latest version of
JAWS,
developed by Freedom Scientific and other appropriate tools
b) Design the UACES home (default) page and all pages for sub-sites to
follow the Priority 1 and 2 checkpoints.
c) Ensure over the long term that all UACES Web pages continue to follow
Priority 1 and 2 checkpoints including any changes that are made in the WAI.
d) Address and Priority 3 checkpoints as time permit.
Resources:
4. Comply with Priority 1 Checkpoints.
Resources:
5. PDF (Printer Friendly)
PDF (Printer Friendly Version) can be added to the web site but only as a
link from an identical HTML or ASP file. UACES understands the need of some
specialist to have their subject matter information available in PDF format
but current technology keeps PDF's from being constantly assessable to the
visually impaired. All Printer Friendly links will be accompanied by
a  Printer Icon and locate at the top right corner of the document
immediately below the header. See
Instructions for
Making Accessible PDF's.
6. Background Colors & Images
No background images will be allowed on any UACES web page. All page body
background will be white with Black text.
Backgrounds used in tables should be used sparingly and will match the
color scheme of the web where the page lives. In the event that the page
should be outside of the normal web sites (Example:
http://stats.uaex.edu)
then the colors shall be those of the Main UACES web site.
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Designing Web Pages for Accessibility |
