General References:
Acronyms and Abbreviations
- "For structured text, the ABBR and ACRONYM
elements, in conjunction with style sheets and the "lang" (language) attribute,
will provide assistance to speech synthesizers...A common problem with informative
text is defining new terms or abbreviations. Most publishers provide a visual
offset, such as italic font, at first use. HTML provides the ABBR
element to do the same for abbreviations. The syntax for the abbreviation
element makes use of the TITLE attribute discussed previously. This reinforces
the concept of describing everything for your users. For example, it is very
helpful to a blind user who is reading a Web page using a speech-based browser
because it clarifies the context of what is written, particularly for unfamiliar
abbreviations." - Michael G. Paciello
- "The ACRONYM element is functionally similar
to the ABBR element, as it provides a definition for the acronym contained
within. The important distinction is using each element appropriately. For
example, HTML is an acronym for "Hypertext Markup Language." Bldg., on the
other hand, is an abbreviation for "building." Similar to the concept of properly
interpreting text marked up with the ABBR element, a speech-based browser
supporting the strict HTML 4.0 specification is able render the meaning of
an acronym to an individual who might not otherwise recognize the term when
spoken." - Michael G. Paciello
- ABBR - Abbreviation
- htmlhelp.org
- ACRONYM
- Acronym - htmlhelp.org
- Specify the expansion of
each abbreviation or acronym in a document where it first occurs - W3c
- Use the ABBR and ACRONYM
elements to denote and expand any abbreviations and acronyms that are present.
- bobby
- Acronyms and Abbreviations -
Minnesota Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility. "Acronyms
and abbreviations may not be clear to all individuals visiting a site. Screen-readers
will attempt to pronounce acronyms and abbreviations that contain vowels;
these pronunciations may be misleading or unintelligible to the screen-reader
user. The first occurrence of an acronym in the body of a document should
be preceded by the full title to which the acronym refers, for example, Computer
Accommodations Program, University of Minnesota (CAP).
- When used as part of a link, the and elements should be used to denote
and expand acronyms and abbreviations. These tags do not visibly display
any text; the expanded text is read by screen-readers only.
Examples:
<ABBR title=”Minnesota”>MN <ACRONYM title=”University
of Minnesota”>UMN
Although it is mostly a matter of personal preference and common sense,
the following guidelines may help to determine when to use the <
ABBR> element and when to use the <ACRONYM> tag:
Use the <ABBR> tag for familiar abbreviations and acronyms (e.g.,
FYI, ASAP, CST/CDT, lbs. and the like).
Use the <ACRONYM> tag any time the acronym refers to a place,
organization or other proper noun. This will aid sighted visitors in
identifying the acronym.
Note: The and elements are part of the HTML 4.0 specifications and may
not be interpreted by some browsers; they probably will not be recognized
by most text-only browsers, such as Lynx. "
Acronyms
and Abbreviations
- abbr = text
- W3c
Identify Natural Language
- The Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) suggests that content developers
identify the primary language of each document so that web visitors will be
able to automatically retrieve web pages in their preferred language.
- Identify the primary natural
language of a document - W3c
- Identify the language of
the text - Bobby
- NISO Z39.53 Language
Codes and Alpha-3 codes
- Identify any changes in the
documents language - Bobby
-
WAI checkpoint (4.3)
- Identifying
the primary language - W3C
-
clarify natural LANGUAGE usage - The rule implements W3C/WAI Guideline
4 "Clarify natural language usage." and more specifically checkpoint 4.1 "Clearly
identify changes in the natural language of a document's text and any text
equivalents (e.g., captions)".
- The rule prompts the user to check if the page contains chunks of text
written using different natural languages. If so, then every chunk should
be contained in a tag with a lang attribute.
- Description - Please check if the page contains chunks of text written
using different natural languages (i.e. English, French, Spanish, etc).
If so, then every chunk should be contained in a tag with a lang attribute.
Explanation
If you use a number of different languages on a page, make sure
that any changes in language are clearly identified by using the lang
attribute.
- Identifying changes in language is important for a number of reasons:
- * users who are reading the document in braille will be able to
substitute the appropriate control codes (markup) where language changes
occur to ensure that the braille translation software will generate
the correct characters (accented characters, for instance);
- * similarly, speech synthesizers that speak multiple languages will
be able to generate the text in the appropriate accent with proper
pronunciation. If changes are not marked, the synthesizer will pronounce
the words in the language it works in, usually producing sounds that
cannot be understood;
- * users who are unable to translate between languages themselves,
will be able to have unfamiliar languages translated by machine translators.
- Consider that more and more sites will be accessed through audio
only devices (for example by telephone).
- The lang attribute may be helpful in many other situations:
- * assisting search engines;
- * helping a browser select glyph variants for high quality typography;
- * helping a browser choose a set of quotation marks;
- * helping a browser make decisions about hyphenation, ligatures,
and spacing;
- * assisting spell checkers and grammar checkers.
-
Clear LANGUAGE for site's content - usablenet.com
Logical Structure
List Tags
- List Tags
- "Some screen-readers may not automatically detect bullets and numbers created
using an HTML list tag – unordered list < UL> and ordered list
< OL>. Avoid the use of the HTML < OL> tag to create numbered
lists when the number is referenced elsewhere in the document. Number the
list manually as an alternative to using numbered list tags." - Computer Accommodations
Program, University of Minnesota, University of Minnesota
Scripts
- 508 Section 1194.22 Paragraph (i) "When pages utilize scripting languages
to display content, or to create interface elements, the information provided
by the script shall be identified with functional text that can be read by
Assistive technology. "
- "According to Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) guidelines, web content
authors are required to provide a text equivalent for SCRIPTS to ensure that
the information contained within the opening and closing SCRIPT tags is accessible
to all web visitors." - A-Prompt
- 508
Regs on Scripting - Leonard R. Kasday
- Scripts
are accessible - usablenet.com
- Provide alternative content
for each SCRIPT that conveys important information or functionality. -
Bobby
- Checkpoint Thirteen:
Don't Rely on Scripts- Kynn Bartlett
- "Any info produced by mouseover is generally not accessible. Cosmetic
effects are OK." - WAVE
- " When pages utilize scripting languages to display content, or to create
interface elements, the information provided by the script shall be identified
with functional text that can be read by assistive technology." - WAVE
- For scripts, specify logical
event handlers rather than device-dependent event handlers - W3c example
- Make sure event
handlers do not require use of a mouse. - Bobby. Event handlers respond
to user actions (mouse movement, typing, voice input, etc.). On web pages,
event handlers often just change the presentation of an element, such as by
changing the color of an image. Others, however, are parts of the functionality
of the page. This functionality needs to be presented in a device-independent
way so all users can access it, since not all users use a mouse.
- Use application-level event triggers rather than user interaction-level
triggers. In HTML 4.0, application-level event attributes are "onfocus",
"onblur" (the opposite of "onfocus"), and "onselect". These events are
triggered when something happens on the page regardless of how the user
causes it to happen. For example, an "onfocus" event occurs when a control
receives the focus, whether that is done by clicking the mouse or by using
the keyboard. By contrast, device-dependent events only occur when a particular
device is in use. A "onmousedown" event, which also can give a control
the focus, is only triggered by a mouse action, and other means of giving
focus to the control will not be responded to.
- If you must use device-dependent attributes, provide redundant input
mechanisms (i.e., specify two handlers for the same element, both of which
have the same code associated with them)
-
WAI checkpoint (9.3)
- Roll-over
Controls (onmouseover)
- "Web content authors should always include a keyboard equivalent with
a traditional device-dependent event handler such as a mouse. While both are
device-dependent, scripts that accept keyboard input are generally accessible
to those using speech input or a command line interface. Avoid using event
handlers that rely on mouse coordinates since this precludes device-independent
input." -A-prompt
- Javascript
and Applets - Leonard R. Kasday
- If you can't make
a page accessible, construct an alternate accessible version - Bobby
- Testing
Script Generated Pages - " Since you generally can't validate your
code directly on your script, you need to use your script to generate a page,
and then view the source using your browser's view source command. Use this
source page to run a validator on, or save it onto your server in a testing
directory somewhere and use one of the online validators. This will often
be enough to catch most or all the errors in a page." - Cari Burstein,
Any Browser campaign.
- Scripts and Applets
- JimThatcher
StyleSheets
Font Tags
ALT Tags
- 508 Section 1194.22 Paragraph (a) "A text equivalent for every non-text
element shall be provided (e.g., via "alt", "longdesc", or in element content).
"
- WCAG 1.0 Checkpoint -
1.1
- Provide
equivalent alternatives to auditory and visual content. -W3c
- Use of ALT texts
in IMGs - A.J.Flavell
-
Effective Alt Text - Anthony Quinn
- "Provide equivalent alternatives
to auditory and visual content." - webaim.org
- Provide alternative text for
all images - Bobby
- Checkpoint One: Text
Alternatives - Kynn Bartlett
- Alt tags-
Users of screen-readers, language translation applications or some hand-held
devices cannot directly access pictures and other graphics. Similarly, some
users choose to turn picture loading off — especially those with slower
dial-in connections. An ALT tag is used to specify alternative text for an
image. For example: The tag < IMG SRC="UpArrow.gif" ALT="Up Arrow">
(where UpArrow.gif is the picture of an upward pointing arrow) will result
in the image of an upward pointing arrow being displayed by graphical browsers
with image-loading enabled. The text “Up Arrow” will be presented
in place of the image by a text-only browser, a graphics-capable browser with
image-loading disabled or spoken by a screen-reader. In the absence of an
alt tag, screen-readers will speak the path and file name for the graphic
— this rarely provides any useful information. Graphical browsers with
picture loading disabled will display an empty gray rectangle.
- Non-Link
Graphics -"Images can be a tremendous aid in the understanding
of page content for visitors with learning disabilities, cognitive impairments
and those whose native language is not that in which the page is presented.
Select images carefully and provide a clear, complete and concise description
in the ALT tag."
- Bullets
-
" Use an asterisk (*), a single letter (A), or single number
(1) as the alternative text for graphical bullets. - Computer Accommodations
Program, University of Minnesota
-
Images- Amy Cowen
- WAVE
is a good tool for checking alt tags.
- "According to the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI), alternate text
for images should not exceed 150 characters (approximately 10-12 words). While
"alt" text that exceeds 10 or 12 words is not technically invalid, the WAI
encourages web developers to use the "longdesc" attribute when text equivalents
require a more detailed description. Although the WAI supports the use of
the "longdesc" attribute, it is not recognized by most current browsers."
- Aprompt
- "It is imperative web developers provide a text equivalent that conveys
the same information as the visual or auditory content found within a web
document. If, for example, an illustration of a house is used as a navigational
device to return visitors to a site's homepage, an appropriate text equivalent
might be “Link to homepage”. When an image is used to represent complex data
(i.e. charts or diagrams), it may be necessary to describe the way the visual
content is presented. In some cases, it may even be helpful to describe sound
effects accompanying a document....When writing text-equivalent descriptions,
it is important to remember the information must fulfill the same purpose
as the visual or auditory content presented in the document." - A-Prompt
- Human
judgment Needed for ALT text - Leonard R. Kasday
- Alternative Content for
Graphics - Jim Thatcher
Meta Tags
Mailto Links
-
Mailto Links-
"Mailto links are widely used to provide visitors with a quick and
convenient method of sending feedback on a site or requesting information.
However, it should not be assumed that clicking on a mailto link would automatically
launch an e-mail client. Some systems may be incapable of this type of automated
function, while others may simply not be set up to do so. Use the e-mail
address as the text for the mailto link." - Computer Accommodations Program, University of Minnesota
Plugins and applets
Don't Use "Click Here" as a Link
HTML 4
HTML 4 has added a number of elements and attributes that enrich accessiblility.
Among these are ABBR, ACRONYM, FIELDSET, LEGEND , OPTGROUP, THEAD, TBODY, TFOOT,
COLGROUP, and COL. Several new attributes ("scope", "headers", and "axes") can
be used to label table cells so that non-visual browsers may render a table
in a linear fashion, based on the semantically significant labels. For more
info see:
Some Human
Judgements Required for Section 508 Evaluation - Leonard R. Kasday
Books
- Paciello, Michael G. Web Accessibility for People With
Disabilities, CMP Books, 2000.
Staff Meeting Home Page
| Intro Exercise | 508 Law | Improve Your
Pages | References
©
1998-2025
Laura
L.
Carlson