# Building User Interfaces to Address Accessibility Guidelines

This topic contains information on the following subjects:

- Accessibility Standards and the Internet
- Accessibility Checkpoints
- Industry Guidelines
- Government Regulations and Standards
- Accessibility Evaluation and Testing Tools

## Accessibility Standards and the Internet

The Internet provides you with the ability to communicate with a diverse audience from a single point via a portal or web site. Many organizations are required to provide web sites that meet industry or government standards for supporting people with special needs. And even if you do not have specific requirements, it is just good business to design your site to serve the needs of a diverse audience.

WebLogic Portal provides a flexible architecture that supports the design, development, and management of accessible portals and applications, for example, the ability to target specific user interfaces based on user preferences or browser and request attributes.

To learn more about building user interfaces with WebLogic Portal see Creating Look and Feels.

## Accessibility Checkpoints

When you develop web sites, you can use the following general guidelines to facilitate accessibility. For a complete list, refer to the industry or government regulation relevant for your implementation.

Text Tags
Provide a text equivalent for every non-text element (for example, via "alt", "longdesc", or in element content).

Multimedia Presentations
Synchronize equivalent alternatives for any multimedia presentation.

Color
Design web pages so that all information conveyed with color is also available without color. (for example, from context or markup.)

Readability (style sheets)
Organize documents so they are readable without requiring an associated style sheet.

Server-Side Image Maps
Provide redundant text links for each active region of a server-side image map.

Client-Side Image Maps
Provide client-side image maps instead of server-side image maps except where the regions cannot be defined with an available geometric shape.

Data Table (simple row and column headers)
Identify row and column headers for data tables

Data Tables (multiple levels of row and column headers)
Use markup associate data cells and header cells for data tables that have two or more logical levels of row or column headers.

Frames
Entitle frames with text that facilitates frame identification and navigation.

Flicker Rate
Design pages to avoid causing the screen to flicker with a frequency greater than 2 Hz and lower than 55 Hz.

Text-Only Alternative
Provide atext-only page, with equivalent information or functionality, to make a web site comply with the provisions of this section when compliance cannot be accomplished in any other way. You must remember to update the content of the text-only page whenever the primary page changes.

Scripts
When pages use scripting languages to display content, or to create interface elements, you must identify the information provided by the script with functional text that can be read by assistive technology.

Applets and Plug-ins
When a web page requires that an applet, plug-in or other application be present on the client system to interpret page content, you must provide a link in the page to a plug-in or applet that complies with Section 508 §1194.21(a) through (l).

Electronic Forms
When electronic forms are designed to be completed on-line, you must create the form to allow people using assistive technology to access the information, field elements, and functionality required for completion and submission of the form, including all directions and cues.

Navigation Links
Provide a method that permits users to skip repetitive navigation links.

Time Delays
When a timed response is required, you must alert users and give them sufficient time to indicate more time is required.

## Industry Guidelines

W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines

- http://www.w3.org/WAI/w3c.htm - Checklist of Checkpoints for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0
- http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10/full-checklist.html

## Government Regulations and Standards

### UNITED STATES

Section 508
http://www.section508.gov

CLF Accessibility best practices
http://www.cio-dpi.gc.ca/clf-upe/1/1d_e.asp

### CANADA

Adaptive Computer Technology Training Center (Canada)
http://www.cio-dpi.gc.ca/clf-upe/standards/1-1/references/references_e.asp

### UNITED KINGDON

Guidelines for U.K. Government Web Sites
http://www.web-access.org.uk/

## Accessibility Evaluation and Testing Tools

These tools allow you to validate web page code. They do not repair your code, but they do provide reports on what does and doesn't need to be fixed, as relating to HTML 4.0, W3C, Section 508 and general Accessibility issues.

### W3C Web Accessibility Initiative

- W3C Web Accessibility Initiative's Web Tools Page - Evaluation, Repair, and Transformation Tools for Web Content Accessibility
  http://www.w3.org/WAI/ER/existingtools.html
- W3C HTML Validator - The W3C HTML Validation Service checks HTML documents for conformance to W3C HTML and XHTML recommendations and other HTML standards.
  http://validator.w3.org/
- CSS Validator - If you are using Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), then you should use the CSS Validator. http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/

For more information, visit the W3C's Evaluation & Repairs Tools page. http://www.w3.org/TR/2000/WD-AERT-20000426

### Bobby

The Bobby tool identifies W3C accessibility issues by priority level and Section 508 issues. http://bobby.watchfire.com/bobby/html/en/index.jsp

Note: The free version of Bobby allows you to test one page at a time.

### Lynx Viewer

The Lynx Viewer generates an HTML page that indicates how much of the content of your page would be available to Lynx, which is a text-only browser. In addition to showing how useful a site would be for a visually-impaired person, it is also a good indicator for anyone with older technology. http://www.delorie.com/web/lynxview.html