Comments on: Basic Facts and Resources You Need to Know Now About Web Accessibility

By: Identifying the Barriers on Your Blog You May Cross | Blog Your Passion

Identifying the Barriers on Your Blog You May Cross | Blog Your Passion — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 05:27:48 +0000

[...] for websites include writing policies covering copyright, disclosure, privacy, and comments, web accessibility, and the laws in your state and country on web standards and web [...]

By: What is a Properly Formed Link? | Learning from Lorelle

What is a Properly Formed Link? | Learning from Lorelle — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 23:13:24 +0000

[...] or tab so the reader could keep reading. This has not only proven to not be true, it violates web standards for accessibility and many federal laws for doing so without warning. People now know how to use the back button and how to open links in [...]

By: Check Out the New Media Manager in WordPress « Lorelle on WordPress

Check Out the New Media Manager in WordPress « Lorelle on WordPress — Sun, 02 Dec 2012 22:36:45 +0000

[...] Federal Laws For Web Accessibility and Images All images on commercial or government websites are required by law to feature alternative descriptions within their HTML image tag. In WordPress, this is set in the [...]

By: The Basic Structure of a Blog Post | Learning from Lorelle

The Basic Structure of a Blog Post | Learning from Lorelle — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 02:33:48 +0000

[...] at. The title is required in WordPress for the database information, but it is optional to meet the web standards for accessibility. The title is usually the “title” of the image such as “Guernica, 1937 by [...]

By: What You Most Need to Know About WordPress « Lorelle on WordPress

What You Most Need to Know About WordPress « Lorelle on WordPress — Sat, 25 Aug 2012 01:48:58 +0000

[...] As required by US Federal law and many international laws, you are required to have a title attribute in your HTML links. WordPress offers this when adding a link from either editor. Use it. The title attribute is supposed to be a descriptive sentence (in sentence structure) that instructs the user about what the destination is for the link. Do not use spammy keywords, just information to help them decide to click. For more information on the law and how it works, see “Basic Facts and Resources You Need to Know Now About Web Accessibility.” [...]

By: Lorelle VanFossen

Lorelle VanFossen — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 21:18:06 +0000

Thank you for the information.

By: Jonathan Hassell

Jonathan Hassell — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 18:52:24 +0000

Great post, Lorelle, and thanks for the mention of PAS 78, esmi.

Just to let you know that PAS 78 was superseded by BS 8878 in December 2010.

BS 8878S continues PAS 78’s emphasis on providing guidance to non-technical website owners for the whole process of commissioning, procuring and producing accessible websites, but updates it to provide advice on :
- web 2.0’s much wider purposes for websites (e.g. multimedia sites, Software as a Service sites) and the move from provider-produced content to user-generated content (e.g. blogs, Facebook, YouTube)
- the increasing range of devices on which websites are viewed (e.g. smartphones, tablets, IPTV)
- the increasing use of non-W3C technologies to produce websites
- the increasing use of “off the shelf” website builder tools to create websites rather than bespoke development
- the increasing use of on-site accessibility personalisation tools like CSS style-switchers
- the changing organisational structure of web product teams and key personnel impacting product accessibility, especially the growing role of web product managers

BS 8878 is well worth checking out, and you can find the official slides from its launch, case studies of organisations using BS 8878, detailed blogs on its use by SMEs, tools and training for applying the Standard, and news on its progress towards an International Standard at http://www.hassellinclusion.com/bs8878/

Jonathan Hassell
Lead-author of BS 8878

By: What are the Essential WordPress Plugins You Can’t Live Without? « Lorelle on WordPress

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 00:19:43 +0000

[...] more WordPress Themes come mobile-ready, so adding these Plugins could be redundant. With the new US federal laws for accessibility compliance, all commercial, government, and public sites must meet the new laws for access from cell phones, [...]

By: WordPress Tips: Exploring the WordPress Text Widget « Lorelle on WordPress

WordPress Tips: Exploring the WordPress Text Widget « Lorelle on WordPress — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 05:06:18 +0000

[...] [TIP: Do not use 'target="_blank" to open the link in a new page. To do so without warning is a violation of web standards.] [...]

By: Managing Multiple Authors: Managing Writers in a Multiple Author Blog « Lorelle on WordPress

Thu, 18 Aug 2011 23:40:39 +0000

[...] Standards: With the requirement in 2011 for public websites to meet web standards for accessibility coming up, spell out your site’s accessibility standards and [...]