Website accessibility Hints and Tips

Standards and guidelines

The core web accessibility 'standard' is the World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C) 'Web content accessibility guidelines 1.0' created in 1999 to explain how to make Websites accessible to people with disabilities. The guidelines are based on a series of checkpoints prioritised into three levels:

Priority Level 1 - 'Must' or level 'A'
These are essential for basic accessibility. Failure to implement these design rules will mean many potential users will not be able to use your Website at all

Priority Level 2 - 'Should', or level 'Double-A'
If your Website violates these rules it will make it difficult to use the Website, but not impossible

Priority Level 3 - 'Ought' or level 'Triple-A'
Implementing these design rules will improve accessibility to a high standard demonstrating real commitment to excellence

For an accessible e-recruitment site there are elements of level 2 accessibility that need to be implement such as accessible form design, clear navigation and meaningful hypertext links, which are discussed in more detail in later sections. It is a realistic goal for an organisation to fully meet level 2 accessibility standards as part of on going web development plan. Level 1 accessibility should be seen as a transitional phase, especially as it is not guaranteed to be seen as the minimum legal requirement in the future under relevant legislation such as the DDA.

Section 508

There are also a number of other guidelines in use, such as Section 508 in America.

Section 508 requires Federal departments and agencies that develop, purchase, maintain, or use electronic and information technology to ensure that Federal employees and members of the public with disabilities have access to and use of information and data, comparable to that of the employees and members of the public without disabilities - unless it is an undue burden to do so.

Bobby

Bobby is an automated testing tool for checking the accessibility of your web pages. Including a series of icons you can use if you meet the relevant criteria, it has equivalent icons for the three levels of W3C accessibility and Section 508.