Comments on: Website Accessibility is Now Getting Serious in the USA http://lorelle.wordpress.com/2006/02/27/website-accessibility-is-now-getting-serious-in-the-usa/ Helping you learn more and do more with WordPress Fri, 18 Jul 2008 20:50:46 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=MU By: Happy CSS Naked Day ‘08 | Zair Abbas http://lorelle.wordpress.com/2006/02/27/website-accessibility-is-now-getting-serious-in-the-usa/#comment-896601 Happy CSS Naked Day ‘08 | Zair Abbas Wed, 09 Apr 2008 12:34:10 +0000 http://lorelle.wordpress.com/2006/02/27/website-accessibility-is-now-getting-serious-in-the-usa/#comment-896601 [...] accessible your web page structure is even without the pretty, reminding the world that it is the law that your website must accessible by everyone using any method to access your [...] [...] accessible your web page structure is even without the pretty, reminding the world that it is the law that your website must accessible by everyone using any method to access your [...]

]]> By: Dimitrio Androas » Blog Archive » CSS Naked Day - 9 April 2008 http://lorelle.wordpress.com/2006/02/27/website-accessibility-is-now-getting-serious-in-the-usa/#comment-896500 Dimitrio Androas » Blog Archive » CSS Naked Day - 9 April 2008 Wed, 09 Apr 2008 04:19:32 +0000 http://lorelle.wordpress.com/2006/02/27/website-accessibility-is-now-getting-serious-in-the-usa/#comment-896500 [...] accessible your web page structure is even without the pretty, reminding the world that it is the law that your website must accessible by everyone using any method to access your [...] [...] accessible your web page structure is even without the pretty, reminding the world that it is the law that your website must accessible by everyone using any method to access your [...]

]]> By: Aaron http://lorelle.wordpress.com/2006/02/27/website-accessibility-is-now-getting-serious-in-the-usa/#comment-18333 Aaron Sat, 01 Jul 2006 19:24:06 +0000 http://lorelle.wordpress.com/2006/02/27/website-accessibility-is-now-getting-serious-in-the-usa/#comment-18333 These are awesome information ! These are awesome information !

]]> By: Martin http://lorelle.wordpress.com/2006/02/27/website-accessibility-is-now-getting-serious-in-the-usa/#comment-2999 Martin Wed, 01 Mar 2006 16:40:51 +0000 http://lorelle.wordpress.com/2006/02/27/website-accessibility-is-now-getting-serious-in-the-usa/#comment-2999 Wow Lorelle, that certainly gives me a moment or two to ponder about :) I'll let you know... Thanks for the ample (or is it ampel) reply on this. You are still one of my faves ;) Wow Lorelle, that certainly gives me a moment or two to ponder about :)
I’ll let you know… Thanks for the ample (or is it ampel) reply on this. You are still one of my faves ;)

]]> By: Lorelle VanFossen http://lorelle.wordpress.com/2006/02/27/website-accessibility-is-now-getting-serious-in-the-usa/#comment-2995 Lorelle VanFossen Wed, 01 Mar 2006 15:37:17 +0000 http://lorelle.wordpress.com/2006/02/27/website-accessibility-is-now-getting-serious-in-the-usa/#comment-2995 To track comments on this blog, you can subscribe to the comments feed. It doesn't feature a per-post subscription. As for checking Lorelle on WordPress, all blogs on Wordpress.com are only as compliant as the WordPress Theme author and <a href="http://lorelle.wordpress.com/2006/02/23/improving-your-seo-standards-with-wordpresscom-blogs/" rel="nofollow">blogger's content area permit</a>. I currently add titles to all my links, but Wordpress.com strips them. Why? They used to. You'll have to ask them. I still add them for the day when Wordpress.com software will also allow them again. It's a hard thing for Wordpress.com and other blogging services users to be, shall we say, "victims" of the designers. We aren't responsible, nor do many want to be, for the lack of accessibility standards on the Themes we choose. We want pretty and functional and "expect" the designers to know their stuff when it comes to designing themes and web page designs to meet web standards. My main site meets accessibility standards because I have total control over the content and the design. All my web page designs meet web standards and have done so for many years. It's THAT important to me. What the client does with it afterwards, well, I do what I can. ;-) It is critically important to me and my work to meet or rise above the standards, and the laws. Accessibility isn't "grey matter". It is the law. Unfortunately, the law isn't always clear and specific. As for which level of accessibility you attain, it's up to you to choose your stopping point. If it is important to you to get the highest score, then go for it. If you don't score at the lowest level, then fix it. The law doesn't look at the finite details...yet. I want to also point out that the end design has absolutely nothing to do with accessibility standards. Putting titles in links, alt descriptions in images, and meeting the bare bones of accessibility standards says absolutely nothing about how the end result of the web page design should look. Just check out what is possible in web page design at <a href="http://www.csszengarden.com/" rel="nofollow">CSS Zen Garden</a>. I believe that the core HTML file meets web accessibility standards, and that is not changed in all the different web page looks. Only the CSS stylesheet is changed, changing the design. When you think about all the things that are possible with web page design, meeting accessibility standards is the smallest part. It's so easy. It's more expensive and time consuming to build ramps and automatically opening doors. To track comments on this blog, you can subscribe to the comments feed. It doesn’t feature a per-post subscription.

As for checking Lorelle on WordPress, all blogs on WordPress.com are only as compliant as the WordPress Theme author and blogger’s content area permit. I currently add titles to all my links, but WordPress.com strips them. Why? They used to. You’ll have to ask them. I still add them for the day when WordPress.com software will also allow them again.

It’s a hard thing for WordPress.com and other blogging services users to be, shall we say, “victims” of the designers. We aren’t responsible, nor do many want to be, for the lack of accessibility standards on the Themes we choose. We want pretty and functional and “expect” the designers to know their stuff when it comes to designing themes and web page designs to meet web standards.

My main site meets accessibility standards because I have total control over the content and the design. All my web page designs meet web standards and have done so for many years. It’s THAT important to me. What the client does with it afterwards, well, I do what I can. ;-)

It is critically important to me and my work to meet or rise above the standards, and the laws. Accessibility isn’t “grey matter”. It is the law. Unfortunately, the law isn’t always clear and specific.

As for which level of accessibility you attain, it’s up to you to choose your stopping point. If it is important to you to get the highest score, then go for it. If you don’t score at the lowest level, then fix it. The law doesn’t look at the finite details…yet.

I want to also point out that the end design has absolutely nothing to do with accessibility standards. Putting titles in links, alt descriptions in images, and meeting the bare bones of accessibility standards says absolutely nothing about how the end result of the web page design should look. Just check out what is possible in web page design at CSS Zen Garden. I believe that the core HTML file meets web accessibility standards, and that is not changed in all the different web page looks. Only the CSS stylesheet is changed, changing the design.

When you think about all the things that are possible with web page design, meeting accessibility standards is the smallest part. It’s so easy. It’s more expensive and time consuming to build ramps and automatically opening doors.

]]> By: Martin http://lorelle.wordpress.com/2006/02/27/website-accessibility-is-now-getting-serious-in-the-usa/#comment-2992 Martin Wed, 01 Mar 2006 15:01:34 +0000 http://lorelle.wordpress.com/2006/02/27/website-accessibility-is-now-getting-serious-in-the-usa/#comment-2992 Okidoki. Always willing to keep you on your toes, grin... Bytheby...I have checked my site at Watchfire and it turned out tobe 'Single A' compliant. I am wondering, offcourse I could check but I'll leave that to you, how Lorelle's site is graded. As a website-blogging consultant how do you feel about a Single A grade? Does is say something? What does it say. I find that Accessibility is a kind of "greymatter" (pardon the pun). Like to hear from you. Oh Lorelle, when I post comments at postings here, is there a simple way for me to keep track? Or do I have put a knot in my hanky? Okidoki. Always willing to keep you on your toes, grin… Bytheby…I have checked my site at Watchfire and it turned out tobe ‘Single A’ compliant. I am wondering, offcourse I could check but I’ll leave that to you, how Lorelle’s site is graded. As a website-blogging consultant how do you feel about a Single A grade? Does is say something? What does it say. I find that Accessibility is a kind of “greymatter” (pardon the pun). Like to hear from you.

Oh Lorelle, when I post comments at postings here, is there a simple way for me to keep track? Or do I have put a knot in my hanky?

]]> By: Lorelle VanFossen http://lorelle.wordpress.com/2006/02/27/website-accessibility-is-now-getting-serious-in-the-usa/#comment-2961 Lorelle VanFossen Wed, 01 Mar 2006 03:24:04 +0000 http://lorelle.wordpress.com/2006/02/27/website-accessibility-is-now-getting-serious-in-the-usa/#comment-2961 I thought Watchfire was in this list and I guess it isn't. They are brilliant. And I have listed it other places. Thanks for catching that. I thought Watchfire was in this list and I guess it isn’t. They are brilliant. And I have listed it other places. Thanks for catching that.

]]> By: Martin http://lorelle.wordpress.com/2006/02/27/website-accessibility-is-now-getting-serious-in-the-usa/#comment-2951 Martin Tue, 28 Feb 2006 20:44:43 +0000 http://lorelle.wordpress.com/2006/02/27/website-accessibility-is-now-getting-serious-in-the-usa/#comment-2951 Hi Lorelle, perhaps you've mentioned this somewhere else in your postings. But I expected the link to turn up here aswell. To your resources list on 'Accessibility' you should add <a href="http://webxact3.watchfire.com" title="Accessibility validation service" rel="nofollow">Watchfire's Webxact validation Service conforming to 508 standards</a>. Quite a handy tool to keep track on your website's Accessibility according to WCA standards. Hi Lorelle, perhaps you’ve mentioned this somewhere else in your postings. But I expected the link to turn up here aswell. To your resources list on ‘Accessibility’ you should add Watchfire’s Webxact validation Service conforming to 508 standards. Quite a handy tool to keep track on your website’s Accessibility according to WCA standards.

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