Unabashedly Accessible

How I Run My Web Site Good



Jessamyn West
Rutland Free Library

www.librarian.net/talks/dol/

20apr04

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Accessibility in a Nutshell

We just redesigned our website. I think it looks pretty good.

But best of all, it's accessible!

Accessible web design means that your web site is viewable, usable and understandable by the widest possible range of users. What sorts of users might you have?

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Who are your users?

Potentially, your community includes To sum up: people with sensory, physical, cognitive or software limitations.

Why is this important for libraries?

[source]
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Two reasons: we care, and it's the law

"the Department of Justice stated that state, local governments and the business sector must provide effective communication whenever they communicate through the Internet. The effective communication rule would apply to libraries using the Internet for communication regarding their programs and services. "
"When blind people use the internet and come across unfriendly sites, we aren't surfing, we are crawling ....Imagine hearing pages that say, 'Welcome to ...[image].' 'This is the home of ... [image].' 'Link, link, link.' It is like trying to use Netscape with your monitor off and the mouse unplugged. See how far you'll get."
[source1] [source2]
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Two things to focus on

  1. What users "see" depending on their situation
  2. How users move from place to place
Special hot spots: use of color, use of images, phrasing of links, "bells and whistles." Some examples from the RFL site...

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Rutland Free Library Site

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Special for Librarians

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Thank you!



any questions or comments?

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Resource List

Testing Tools & Tips

Other Resources

Books

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Credits

This presentation was created in HTML using CSS. There was no PowerPoint involved in this presentation.

I can be reached via email at jessamyn@rutlandfree.org.