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Online Materials for Staff Disability Awareness
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: DEMOS Techniques

Accessibility techniques used:
Priority 2 Checkpoints

Colours

WAI Guideline 2: Don't rely on color alone.

Checkpoint: Ensure that foreground and background color combinations provide sufficient contrast when viewed by someone having color deficits or when viewed on a black and white screen. [Priority 2 for images, Priority 3 for text]. [WAI 2.2]

This point is discussed in the DEMOS Accessibility Guide:

Background and link colours were chosen to provide contrast. All colours are specified in the style sheet, which means that a) the user has control over these colours and can specify his/her own preferred colours and b) that user agents that ignore style sheets will simply display the default colours set in the software.

There are a number of websites that provide information on which colour combinations to avoid or simulations of the experience of a colour-blind person.

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Images

WAI Guideline 3: Use markup and style sheets and do so properly.

Checkpoint: When an appropriate markup language exists, use markup rather than images to convey information. [WAI 3.1]

This point is discussed in the DEMOS Accessibility Guide:

There is only a limited number of images on this site. The navigation images are used in addition to text links, to make the pages more appealing, especially to users with learning difficulties, who prefer recognizable graphics to pure text. Another example is the 'Open in new window' image [External link: Open in new browser window] , which is also used in addition to text links and contains appropriate information in the ALT attribute. Hover your mouse pointer over the image to see the description.

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Validation

WAI Guideline 3: Use markup and style sheets and do so properly.

Checkpoint: Create documents that validate to published formal grammars. [WAI 3.2]

This point is discussed in the DEMOS Accessibility Guide:

This site uses standard-compliant mark-up (XHTML and CSS). A XHTML-transitional doctype is used. Random pages are regularly validated using the W3C validation services.

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Stylesheets

WAI Guideline 3: Use markup and style sheets and do so properly.

Checkpoint: Use style sheets to control layout and presentation. [WAI 3.3]

This point is discussed in the DEMOS Accessibility Guide:

Style sheets are used here for layout and other presentational styles. Some browsers do not understand the latest CSS specifications. In this case, or when style sheets are turned off in the user's browser, the content is laid out in a linearized fashion, it 'transforms gracefully'. Font and colour characteristics and other presentational styles are correctly ignored when the style sheet is turned off. This makes it possible for users to take control over font sizes, link colours etc.

Example:
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Sizes (fonts, margins, etc.)

WAI Guideline 3: Use markup and style sheets and do so properly.

Checkpoint: Use relative rather than absolute units in markup language attribute values and style sheet property values. [WAI 3.4]

This point is discussed in the DEMOS Accessibility Guide:

Relative units (em) are used instead of absolute units (pt/px) to, for example, specify font sizes. This is done in the style sheet to provide the best possible user control.

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Structure

WAI Guideline 3: Use markup and style sheets and do so properly.

Checkpoint: Use header elements to convey document structure and use them according to specification. [WAI 3.5]

This point is discussed in the DEMOS Accessibility Guide:

A look at this page without style sheet will reveal the structural mark-up, the organisation of text in a logical structure, especially through hierarchically ordered headers and subheader.

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Lists

WAI Guideline 3: Use markup and style sheets and do so properly.

Checkpoint: Mark up lists and list items properly. [WAI 3.6]

Lists are marked up according to specifications.

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Quotations

WAI Guideline 3: Use markup and style sheets and do so properly.

Checkpoint: Mark up quotations. Do not use quotation markup for formatting effects such as indentation. [WAI 3.7]

This point is discussed in the DEMOS Accessibility Guide:

<cite> and <blockquote> are used where appropriate. <blockquote> is not used to purely indent text.

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Dynamic content

WAI Guideline 6: Ensure that pages featuring new technologies transform gracefully.

Checkpoint: Ensure that dynamic content is accessible or provide an alternative presentation or page. [WAI 6.5]

This point is discussed in the DEMOS Accessibility Guide:

No dynamic content on this site.

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Blinking

WAI Guideline 7: Ensure user control of time-sensitive content changes.

Checkpoint: Until user agents allow users to control blinking, avoid causing content to blink (i.e., change presentation at a regular rate, such as turning on and off). [WAI 7.2]

No blinking text or graphics on this site.

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Automatic refresh

WAI Guideline 7: Ensure user control of time-sensitive content changes.

Checkpoint: Until user agents provide the ability to stop the refresh, do not create periodically auto-refreshing pages. [WAI 7.4]

No refresh used on this site.

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Automatic redirect

WAI Guideline 7: Ensure user control of time-sensitive content changes.

Checkpoint: Until user agents provide the ability to stop auto-redirect, do not use markup to redirect pages automatically. Instead, configure the server to perform redirects. [WAI 7.5]

No auto-redirect used on this site.

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Pop-up windows

WAI Guideline 10: Use interim solutions.

Checkpoint: Until user agents allow users to turn off spawned windows, do not cause pop-ups or other windows to appear and do not change the current window without informing the user. [WAI 10.1]

No pop-up windows used on this site.

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Technologies reviewed for accessibility

WAI Guideline 11: Use W3C technologies and guidelines.

Checkpoint: Use W3C technologies when they are available and appropriate for a task and use the latest versions when supported. [WAI 11.1]

This site was coded according to the latest W3C specifications and Web Accessibility Initiative Guidelines.

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Deprecated features

WAI Guideline 11: Use W3C technologies and guidelines.

Checkpoint: Avoid deprecated features of W3C technologies. [WAI 11.2]

This point is discussed in the DEMOS Accessibility Guide:

Deprecated elements such as the FONT and CENTER tag or the align="center" attribute are avoided on this site.

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Readability

WAI Guideline 12: Provide context and orientation information.

Checkpoint: Divide large blocks of information into more manageable groups where natural and appropriate. [WAI 12.3]

This point is discussed in the DEMOS Accessibility Guide:

Whenever possible, large amounts of text on this site were broken into smaller paragraphs. Headers, subheaders and horizontal lines were used to divide blocks of information and make text easily scannable and readable.

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Links

WAI Guideline 13: Provide clear navigation mechanisms.

Checkpoint: Clearly identify the target of each link. [WAI 13.1]

This point is discussed in the DEMOS Accessibility Guide:

All links on this site are clearly labelled. Using the same link text for links leading to different destinations has been avoided.

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Metadata

WAI Guideline 13: Provide clear navigation mechanisms.

Checkpoint: Provide metadata to add semantic information to pages and sites. [WAI 13.2]

This point is discussed in the DEMOS Accessibility Guide:

Metadata such as Description, Keywords, Content-Type, Content-Language etc. is used on this site. In addition Dublin Core Metadata is given as well.

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Site maps

WAI Guideline 13: Provide clear navigation mechanisms.

Checkpoint: Provide information about the general layout of a site (e.g., a site map or table of contents). [WAI 13.3]

A site map is provided.

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Consistent navigation

WAI Guideline 13: Provide clear navigation mechanisms.

Checkpoint: Use navigation mechanisms in a consistent manner. [WAI 13.4]

Navigation is discussed in the DEMOS Accessibility Guide:

Navigation to the main sections of the site is consistently available from the top and the bottom of each page. Additionally navigation within each section is provided by the 'Quick links' navigation box on the right hand side, while a so-called breadcrumb trail adds a chronological path, helping users to identify where they are and where they have come from.

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Tables

WAI Guideline 5: Create tables that transform gracefully.

Checkpoint: Do not use tables for layout unless the table makes sense when linearized. Otherwise, if the table does not make sense, provide an alternative equivalent (which may be a linearized version). [WAI 5.3]

Checkpoint: If a table is used for layout, do not use any structural markup for the purpose of visual formatting. [WAI 5.4]

This point is discussed in the DEMOS Accessibility Guide:

Table mark-up is only used for data tables on this site with one exception: the header containing logo, strap line, search box and main navigation uses a table for layout, which is clearly marked as such. Otherwise CSS positioning is used to lay out content, navigation and footer. The pages degrade gracefully when linearised:

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Frames

WAI Guideline 12: Provide context and orientation information.

Checkpoint: Describe the purpose of frames and how frames relate to each other if it is not obvious by frame titles alone. [WAI 12.2]

This point is discussed in the DEMOS Accessibility Guide:

No frames used on this site.

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Forms

WAI Guideline 10: Use interim solutions.

Checkpoint: Until user agents support explicit associations between labels and form controls, for all form controls with implicitly associated labels, ensure that the label is properly positioned. [WAI 10.2]

This is the one point that this site could not comply with, because the accessibility techniques for forms cause problems in Netscape 4.7, the main browser of the target audience. I am still working on a solution to this problem.

WAI Guideline 12: Provide context and orientation information.

Checkpoint: Associate labels explicitly with their controls. [WAI 12.4]

See checkpoint above.

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Applets and scripts

WAI Guideline 6: Ensure that pages featuring new technologies transform gracefully.

Checkpoint: For scripts and applets, ensure that event handlers are input device-independent. [WAI 6.4]

WAI Guideline 7: Ensure user control of time-sensitive content changes.

Checkpoint: Until user agents allow users to freeze moving content, avoid movement in pages. [WAI 7.3]

WAI Guideline 8: Ensure direct accessibility of embedded user interfaces.

Checkpoint: Make programmatic elements such as scripts and applets directly accessible or compatible with assistive technologies [Priority 1 if functionality is important and not presented elsewhere, otherwise Priority 2]. [WAI 8.1]

WAI Guideline 9: Design for device-independence.

Checkpoint: Ensure that any element that has its own interface can be operated in a device-independent manner. [WAI 9.2]

Checkpoint: For scripts, specify logical event handlers rather than device-dependent event handlers. [WAI 9.3]

These point are touched on in the DEMOS Accessibility Guide:

No applets, scripts or moving content used on this site.

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