Accessibility Workshop - 26th May 2004

Box UK ran an Accessibility Workshop on the 26th May 2004 at The Commonwealth Club in London. Its aim was to explore a deeper understanding of accessibility as a fundamental issue relating to every aspect of web development. Accessibility was identified as the way in which all users (disabled or otherwise) can identify, access and comprehend information online.

The programme included the following:

Understanding accessibility

• What is accessibility and why does it matter?
• Understanding access, functionality & comprehensibility, its significance in terms of accessibility for all
  
  

Keynote:

• 'Web site usability for people with disabilities' presented by Julie Howell, Digital Policy Development Manager, Royal National Institute of the Blind
  
  

Providing access – how can your site be found?

• Ensuring users find suitable, relevant content
• The role of peripheral technologies in enabling access 
• The impact of SEO, metadata, privacy, PICS labelling, RDF
  
  

Creating accessible code

• Assessing accessibility: typical issues
• Providing functionality – giving all types of users access; updating your code to enable access
• Using structural mark-up correctly
• Semantic mark-up
• Providing text equivalents for visual information
• Managing multimedia
• Using CSS for controlling presentation
• Building accessible tables
• Building accessible forms
• Building accessible image maps
  
  

Creating accessible content - The importance of comprehensibility

• Communications – creating content for different contexts:  technical ability; age; culture
• Content clarity
• Importance of punctuation
• Internationalisation
• Designing forms
• Design principles for accessibility
• Content, structure & navigation
• Providing alternative content for multimedia
• Maintaining content integrity guidelines
  

Attendees of the Workshop included:

Workthing.com
Expedia
Virgin Mobile
DTI
Lycos
London Development Agency
National Maritime Museum
Imperial War Museum
Legal Services Commission
North East London Strategic Health Authority
DANTE