Approaches to web accessibility
| Date | 01 September 2001 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/03055720010804096 |
| Published date | 01 September 2001 |
| Pages | 12-16 |
| Author | Nick Poole |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management |
12 — VINE 124
Approaches to web
accessibility
by Nick Poole, ICT Adviser, Resource:
The Council for Museums, Archives
and Libraries
The purpose of this article is to examine the
existing tools and guid ance available to
museums, archiv es and libraries, and the n to
consider new technologies such as acc essible
Portable Docum ent Format files and additiona l
modules for existing web developmen t
software. The article reviews current tools ,
standards and guidelines in access ibility such
as WAI, RNIB Digital Ac cess Campaign,
Information Age Gov ernment Champion s
guidelines, Bobby validator, Acces s Adobe
and the Macrom edia Dreamweav er
Accessibili ty Extension. Two Case Studies
concerning accessibility are included .
‘The power of the we b is in its
universality. Acc ess by everyone,
regardless of disability, is an essential
aspect’ -Tim Bern ers-Lee, Director,
World Wide We b Consortium (W 3C)
The Internet has brought about a revolution in the
way organisations communicate with their users. It
enables an unprecedented level of interaction
between the institution and the individual, provid-
ing the opportunity for self-directed learning,
resource discovery and virtual access to a huge
range of collections and materials.
Initiatives such as the New Opportunities Fund
(NOF) digitisation programme and the Peoples
Network are enabling museums, libraries and
archives to make the most of the opportunities
afforded by developing web technologies such as
broadband, user identification and authentication,
and e-commerce.
At the heart of all of this technological progress
lies the basic principle that the web has the
potential to enhance access to the collections of
museums, libraries and archives, to overcome
traditional obstacles, and to create a more inclusive
and valuable information environment for us all.
The issue of online accessibility, whether physical,
intellectual or technological, is key to realising this
potential.
A website is primarily, though by no means exclu-
sively, a visual medium for structuring and
displaying information. Accordingly, traditional
approaches to web accessibility have focussed on
the visual appearance and information architecture
of stat ic Hypert ext M arkup Language (HTML)
pages as a means of ensuring that the widest
possible audience can make use of the materials
available.
There is a huge variety of information and guid-
ance available to museums, archives and libraries
to assist them in this process, from the Centre for
Applied and Social Technology’s (CAST) ‘Bobby’
software to the World Wide Web Consortium’s
(W3C) Web Accessibility Initiative. These tools
allow the website designer to evaluate their site
against baseline criteria for accessibility and are
able to suggest ways of ensuring compatibility
with assistive technologies such as screen readers
and magnifiers.
As web technologies develop, however, to include
dynamic database-generated sites, divergent file
formats and ever more active content, the issue of
accessibility has become in turn more significant
and more complex. The modern web designer must
juggle the frequently opposing requirements of
high-interactivity, short download times, browser
compatibility and platform independence to
produce a site that remains accessible to an enor-
mously varied audience.
To meet these increasing demands, a new genera-
tion of tools is beginning to emerge that address
most, though not all, of the immediate obstacles to
accessibility. The purpose of this article is to
examine the existing tools and guidance available
to museums, archives and libraries, and then to
consider new technologies such as accessible
Portable Document Format files and additional
modules for existing web development software.
Web accessibility – current
tools, standards and guidance
There is a variety of freely available hardware and
software solutions addressing particular areas of
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