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> HTML Writers Guild Newsletter > Volume 6 Number 8, 22 April 2000 > http://www.hwg.org/ > mailto:[log in to unmask] ><!-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --> >2. April is Accessibility Month > (Kynn Bartlett, Director, AWARE Center, [log in to unmask]) > >April 2000 has been designated as the Guild's third annual Web >Accessibility Month, a month-long focus on the very important >issue of web accessibility! > >By "accessible", we mean a web site that can be used by everyone, >regardless of disability. Unfortunately, many web pages being >created are not accessible, because they have unnecessary, >artificial barriers to access -- cutting out parts of their own >audience! > >Accessibility problems are very common and present major >obstacles to a number of web users. For example, images that >are not labeled with the ALT attribute cannot be understood by >the screenreaders often used by blind computer users. Deaf >users cannot understand the sound tracks of multimedia files, >unless transcripts are provided. Users with dexterity or >mobility disabilities may not be able to use a mouse or >keyboard to access a site. > >In order to make an accessible web site, web authors need to >have an understanding of "non-standard access methods" -- in >other words, more than just the latest version of Netscape or >Internet Explorer running on a desktop or laptop. The techniques >that provide access for people with disabilities can also make >a web site usable by people with mobile access devices such as >cell phones or PDAs; by users connecting via web appliances >such as WebTV; and by users who have older hardware and >software. > >The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) -- the industry organization >that crafts the standards for the web, such as HTML, CSS, and XML >-- created the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) in 1997 to >define the techniques necessary to produce accessible web sites. >The HTML Writers Guild, the only organization of web designers >that holds membership in the W3C, has been an active participant >in WAI activities. Some important WAI milestones include the >issuance of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines in May of >1999, and the Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines in February >2000. (Under development now are accessibility guidelines for >browsers and other user agents.) > >As part of last year's Accessibility Month, the HTML Writers >Guild established the Accessible Web Authoring Resources and >Education (AWARE) Center as a resource center for web designers >who want to learn more about web accessibility. The Guild >invites you to become AWARE of web accessibility this April >by visiting: > > http://www.awarecenter.org/ > > ><!-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --> janet paterson 53 now / 41 dx / 37 onset a new voice: http://www.geocities.com/janet313/ 613 256 8340 PO Box 171 Almonte Ontario Canada K0A 1A0