Macromedia has released an accessibility kit for Dreamweaver 4 and UltraDev 4 that checks Web content for compliance with federal accessibility guidelines. Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act requires by law that all U.S. federal Web sites must be made fully usable and accessible to people with disabilities by June 21, 2001.
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more like:
- fill in your alts like you've never filled them before
- don't open new windows
- make sure if you use CSS it works fine without CSS
- make sure it works fine without javascript
- don't even think about plug-ins unless you intend to create a similar experience for those who don't have/can't use the plugin
- while you're at it, you'd better get used to creating really *descriptive* alt-tags for all content-related images on the site. "girl with dog" isn't going to cut it in many cases.
It's a *good thing*, but a lot of people are going to have to dramatically change the way they build sites if they want to successfully deploy a government-funded site from now on. The tool is a welcome addition, but a tool can't go far enough on it's own.
Hey, I can't experience particle physics because my mind isn't good enough. So no one should be allowed to study and research what the 'disabled' can't. Also, as a 'disabled' person I can't learn PHP and SQL. So folks, please stop developing with these. Stop oppressing me!
And stop oppressing my 'disabled' mom too! She couldn't install the Flash plug in. So, no more Flash, OK?
Stop the oppression!
Convergence isn't just about repurposing web content to run on iTV and mobile phones, but also about creating web sites that can be:
(*) accessed by people who don't have the same systems that you do (PCs, T1 connection in office, Flash plug-ins). This is both for Lynx users and for disabled people with text-to-speech browsers.
(*) Non-english speaking people. HINT: They outnumber us and will soon be (some say they are) a strong commercial market.
(*) As above, people who don't read left-to-right, top-to-bottom. Therefore, your top-left navigation is the antithesis of what they're used to in the offline world.
If you're not paying attention to the above, you're either:
(a) a web developer who is not practicing skills that will help you to be more marketable in the (near) future.
(b) a web company owner who is ignoring A LOT of potential revenue.
Good luck to you all! Less competition for the rest of us.
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What???
Break out your wheelchair ramps and fill in your alts or the feds will get ya.