Breeze IT recommends that you print this page for future reference
"The power of the Web is in its universality. Access by everyone regardless of disability is an essential aspect."
(Tim Berners-Lee, W3C Director and inventor of the World Wide Web)
What is accessibility?
Accessibility is essentially the adherence to rules to allow everyone to use a website without penalising users due to a non-custom interface (i.e. an out-of-the-ordinary web browser, a special keyboard, a custom screen resolution).
In principle, a fully accessible site will be viewable and usable by all, regardless of their circumstances.
In particular, accessibility affects the following groups:
- The visually impaired (who use screen readers to read out the contents of the screen)
- The disabled (using specialist hardware like mice and keyboards, and also specialist software like Sticky Keys, Mouse Keys, etc)
- Those users with old or uncommon hardware and software
Why do we have accessibility standards?
The steps required to make a site accessible are standardised so that:
- Site designers can build sites knowing that they will be usable by anyone, including those with custom hardware and software
- Designers of web browsers will know how the page should be displayed and interacted with
- Designers of support hardware and software (i.e. screen readers, special keyboards/mice) can build their products knowing what to expect from the applications they will be used with
Therefore, if someone is using standards compliant hardware and software, they will be able to use any standards compliant website without any loss of functionality.
Who awards/enforces the standards?
The standards are currently dictated by a department of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), known as the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI). It is a unique organisation, who creates guidelines for others to use.
It is up to the site designers/authors to assess whether they are accessible or not, and decide which level of accessibility they adhere to. It is the designer's responsibility to honestly and consistently certify their site. However, to help them, there is a variety of verification software available (i.e. Bobby) to automate and confirm the process.
Breeze have developed the Assist suite to be accessible to AAA standard, the highest possible award. This also means they have recursively complied with A & AA standards too.
Accessibility and the real world
Unfortunately, the real world doesn't live up to the theoretical standards of accessibility. The most common browser platform - Internet Explorer, does not follow the accessibility guidelines strictly. Because of this, Breeze essentially have had to adhere to two sets of guidelines: the WAI guidelines and the best practice for Internet Explorer. Breeze's systems detect the scenario upon starting, and tailor the web site accordingly.
What do the icons at the bottom of each page signify?
Each page of the Assist suite displays the following icons:
- WAI-AAA
Icon to show that the page is accessible to AAA standard; links to the accessibility guidelines on the W3C site.
- XHTML-1.1
Icon to show that the page is displayed using XHTML, fast becoming the new standard for web pages.
- CSS
Icon to show that the page appearance is maintained using valid CSS.
- Bobby
Icon to show that the page is verified to AAA standard using the Watchfire Bobby automated checker; links to the old location of the Bobby site, but redirects users to WebXACT, Watchfire's new replacement to Bobby. Unfortunately, WebXACT cannot validate the Assist suite's pages properly and therefore a desktop based checker like Bobby must still be used. (all URL based validators do not work correctly with the Assist suite's pages, due to its dynamic nature).
What features have been included to make the Assist suite accessible?
The following features have been built as part of the Assist suite to make the product accessible:
- Access keys
Access keys allow screen elements (links, buttons, text boxes, etc) to be accessed directly using the keyboard. A list at the bottom of each page shows the access keys that are currently active. They are invoked by pressing Alt+[specified key], sometimes requiring Return to be pressed after to carry through the action.
- Tab indexes
Tab indexes ensure that pressing the Tab key cycles through fields on a form in a logical manner. Pressing the Tab key on any page in the Assist suite will shift focus to the next logical element (e.g. if filling out event details, pressing Tab whilst in the Address 1 field will shift focus to the Address 2 field).
- Layout using DIVs and CSS
Web designers have traditionally used HTML tables to lay out pages, ensuring a stable structure. Unfortunately, screen readers have particular trouble in making sense of a table used in such a way, so Breeze have designed the Assist suite to use a different structure using HTML DIV (Divider) elements and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).
The result is a page which looks as visually pleasing as a table layout, is legible using a screen reader, and renders to a black and white, text only screen layout where CSS is not available (this can be demonstrated using a browser fitted with the Accessibility Toolbar).
- Control/Label linking
All labels pointing to controls (e.g. the text "Forename" next to the forename text box on a form) are linked using the HTML Label control. This allows the control to be selected by clicking on the label (e.g. clicking on the text "Forename" will place the cursor in the forename box), and offers a better structure for screen readers to deal with.
- Tooltip help
All pages on the Assist suite have inline help messages, which can be accessed simply by hovering the mouse cursor over help icons on the page. Those without JavaScript will see a less visually pleasing (although equally as functional) message, and text only viewers will be redirected to a separate area of the same screen with the help message.
- Special consideration for links
All links found within the Assist suite are worded to make sense when read out of context, with no two similarly named links on the same page pointing to different content.
No two links are located side by side (to avoid ambiguity for screen readers), and are instead separated by hidden characters to distinguish them.