Accessibility: Beyond the Basics
Just got back from a Beyond the Basics training course run by the Royal National Institute for the Blind, in London. So if this is a little incoherent please forgive me, and pass the coffee and a couple of Pro-Plus - thanks.
The course is a hands on look at how to design web sites to a high degree of accessibility for those with disabilities. The morning session consisted of taking a look at site structure, navigation and design issues from the disabled person’s viewpoint. A number of common obstacles were highlighted and discussed. The afternoon session covered forms and javascript.
A very valid point made by our trainer, Bem, a near blind person herself, was that at the very point where a visitor would want to make contact with the site owner the web form could, and often was a severe obstacle and test of a disabled person’s patience and resolve. We were taken through a poorly designed web form to enable us to appreciate what could go wrong for a disabled person.
After that we were given working examples of properly designed forms. Finally, the last session covered javascript and its uses and abuses. Personally, I’ve always favoured server-side solutions in preference to javascript, but at least I left feeling that some javascript was useful.
I’d recommend anyone involved in web design to go on this course; it really does help to see the issues from a different perspective.