The W3C's Web Accessibility Initiative

Note:
This page was created for use in my former classes. It is only occasionally updated resulting in many links being more of historical rather than current usefulness. Over time many links will suffer link rot.

“Time spent with cats is never wasted.”
Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette

Getting Started: Making a Web Site Accessible

1. WAI Accessibility Guidelines
2. Checklist of Checkpoints for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0
3. List of Checkpoints for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0
4. Fact Sheet for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0
5. WAI A Compliance    [Web-Savvy]
6. WAI Double-A Compliance    [Web-Savvy]
7. WAI AAA Compliance    [Web-Savvy]

Techniques

1. Techniques for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0
2. Techniques for Accessibility Evaluation and Repair
3. Accessibility improvements in HTML 4.0
4. Creating Pages that Conform to WCAG 1.0
5. Accessibility Features of CSS
6. Accessibility Features of SVG
7. Accessibility Features of SMIL
8. XML Accessibility Guidelines

Evaluation and Repair Tools

1. Evaluating Web Sites for Accessibility
2. Evaluation and Repair Tools

WAI vs 508

1. Section 508 Web Standards & WCAG Priority 1 Checkpoints: A Side-by-side Comparison
2. Section 508 and WCAG Sidebar

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0    W3C Working Draft 22 August 2002

1. Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0
2. Checkpoint Mapping Between WCAG 1.0 and the WCAG 2.0 Working Draft

The WAI page authoring recommendations are organized by priority as follows:

[Priority 1] - A Compliance
A Web content developer must satisfy this checkpoint. Otherwise, one or more groups will find it impossible to access information in the document. Satisfying this checkpoint is a basic requirement for some groups to be able to use Web documents.
[Priority 2] - AA Compliance
A Web content developer should satisfy this checkpoint. Otherwise, one or more groups will find it difficult to access information in the document. Satisfying this checkpoint will remove significant barriers to accessing Web documents.
[Priority 3] - AAA Compliance
A Web content developer may address this checkpoint. Otherwise, one or more groups will find it somewhat difficult to access information in the document. Satisfying this checkpoint will improve access to Web documents.

The 14 WAI Accessibility Guidelines

Guideline, Technique, Checkpoint, Example, Tutorial

1. Provide equivalent alternatives to auditory and visual content.   W3C  Tech  Ck   Ex   WebAim
2. Don't rely on color alone.   W3C   Tech   Ck     Ex    WebAim
3. Use markup and style sheets and do so properly.   W3C    Tech   Ck     Ex     WebAim
4. Clarify natural language usage.   W3C    Tech   Ck     Ex     WebAim
5. Create tables that transform gracefully.   W3C    Tech   Ck      Ex    WebAim
6. Ensure that pages featuring new technologies transform gracefully.   W3C   Tech   Ck     Ex      WebAim
7. Ensure user control of time-sensitive content changes.    W3C   Tech  Ck      Ex    WebAim
8. Ensure direct accessibility of embedded user interfaces.   W3C    Tech   Ck     Ex    WebAim
9. Design for device-independence.    W3C    Tech   Ck     Ex    WebAim
10. Use interim solutions.    W3C    Tech  Ck     Ex     WebAim
11. Use W3C technologies and guidelines.    W3C    Tech   Ck     Ex    WebAim
12. Provide context and orientation information.     W3C   Tech  Ck    Ex    WebAim
13. Provide clear navigation mechanisms.    W3C   Tech   Ck     Ex     WebAim
14. Ensure that documents are clear and simple.    W3C    Tech   Ck     Ex    WebAim
• Validation    W3C   Tech  Ck     Ex    WebAim

• W3C: Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 W3C Recommendation 5-May-1999
• Tech: Techniques for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 W3C Note 6 November 2000
• Ck: Checkpoints: WAI Web Content Accessibility Curriculum
• Ex: Example for Checkpoint Introduction to the Example Set
• WebAim: Tutorials: Creating Pages that Conform to WCAG 1.0
  

If a web site is WCAG A-Compliant and its author wants to be Section 508 compliant as well, these are the five standards he must address additionally. These are paragraphs 1194.22 (l), (m), (n), (o), and (p).

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David J. Hark
HARK/INTERNET-HELP,Inc.
P. O. Box 201 Shepherdstown, WV 25443-0201
304-876-2607
dhark@fred.net
dhark@intrepid.net
http://www.dhark.com
http://www.fred.net/dhark