Web Quality - Accessibility (WAI)

A website that can be used by people with disabilities can be called an easy-to-use (accessible) website.

People with disabilities refer to users who have disabilities or are in poor health.

Web Accessibility Initiative - WAI

WAI (initiated by W3C in 1997) is a series of guidelines planned for web developers, content creators, and designers - on how to make content more accessible to people with disabilities.

The goal of these guidelines is accessibility, but they also help make web content usable in more browsers (voice browsers, mobile phones, handheld devices), and for more users working in difficult environments (hands-free, strong light, darkness, low vision, noise, etc.).

Is WAI important to your website?

Yes.

Millions of people with disabilities surf the internet every day, and even more than millions of people are using poor browser devices, or working in difficult environments.

If your website lacks things like adjustable font sizes, graphics with text descriptions, and convenient navigation, those people will not be able to access your information.

In fact: your website deprives these people of their rights.

Additional reasons to enhance website accessibility include:

  • Can enhance the website's reputation and image
  • Can improve user satisfaction
  • Can increase the number of visitors
  • Can increase the time visitors spend on the site
  • Can increase the number of return visits
  • Can also increase usability for people without disabilities
  • Can increase usability for visitors who have turned off graphics
  • Can increase usability for people using older devices
  • Can make your website serve the fastest growing population: the elderly

Use adjustable font sizes

Please use relative font sizes, so that users can change the default font size using the browser menu.

Can you read this?

Can you read this?

Can you read this?

Can you read this?

lamp.gifYou can select "View - Text Size" in your browser menu to change the font size.

Use the "alt" attribute

The alt attribute allows you to provide corresponding text for images (and for other elements as well).

Example:

<img src="images/banana.jpg.html" alt="Banana">

Sometimes browsers cannot display images. Specific reasons include:

  • The user has turned off image display
  • The browser is a mini browser that does not support graphics display
  • The browser is a voice browser (used by blind and low-vision people)

If you use the alt attribute, the browser can at least display or read out a description of the image.

Other Extensions