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Accessibility & Browser Compatibility

Accessibility

Can Your Page be Read by a Blind Person?

Your answer should be yes! Blind or disabled web users browse the web utilizing special software to accommodate their disability.

With just a few adjustments, your HTML code should be accessible.

  • Use headings, lists, table summaries and consistent page structure to make
    the page easier to scan.
  • Each link should make sense when read alone.
  • Provide a text equivalent for non-text - "alt" for images. Make the "alt" tag statement brief and explanatory.

    Ex: <"img src="lake.gif" alt="White Rock Lake" height="140" width="50">

  • Provide captions for graphics.
  • Avoid strongly textured backgrounds.
  • Choose background and text colors that provides good contrast. Some color combinations make pages invisible for color-blind users.
  • Provide text links as part of image maps.
  • Title each frame to facilitate frame identification and navigation.
  • Provide alternatives to a high-tech page that includes Java.

Additional Information:

Content Accessibility Guidelines
http://www.w3.org/

Accessibility Myths
http://www.htmlhelp.com/design/accessibility/myths.html

Ask Bobby
http://www.cast.org/bobby/
Will do an accessibility analysis of your page.

Browser Compatibility

One of the greatest features of the web… and its greatest web authoring headaches is the variety of software and hardware that can be used to utilize the web. Your viewers may be using a laptop, a Macintosh, a 486 computer, black and white Unix terminal, Lynx browser, a Palm handheld device… You want your pages to view the best from any number of systems.

You probably will not be able to please all viewers, but you can aim for the most. Web statistics show that most people use:

Browser
Internet Explorer 88% IE5 81% IE4 - 7%
Netscape 5% Netscape5 - 6 % Netscape4 - 5%

Operating System
Windows 98 - 74% Windows 95 - 8% Windows 2000 - 7%
Window NT 5% Macintosh - 1%

Monitor Resolution
1024 x 768 - 41% 800 x 600 - 51% 640 x 480 - 4%

Source: http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp


Browser Compatibility Check
NetMechanic
http://www.netmechanic.com/cobrands/workz/compat_check.htm

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