Access for everyone

Volume 16, Number 6 • June 1999

Access for everyone - sort of — Web accessibility guidelines aim to remedy usage limitations
by Robin Peek

FOCUS ON PUBLISHING column presents a discussion of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines recommendation proposed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). Says that the overriding principle of the guidelines is to make the Web accessible to people with disabilities. Adds that the best way to achieve this goal is to make the Web available to all users, regardless of the devices or browsers that they employ. Notes that, because of this, all Web users may benefit from the new guidelines. Indicates that the new browsers are based on voice input and output. Says that, to be compliant with the new guidelines, a Web document's tagging must describe visual appearance or how something sounds. Adds that a quick compliance test can be done by imagining that the Web document must be read aloud over the telephone and must still be comprehensible to the listener.