This is the official accessibility statement for WAGS. Please direct all comments and questions to the webmaster.

Access keys

Some browsers support jumping to specific links by typing keys defined on the web site. These keyboard shortcuts are called Access Keys. On Windows, you can press ALT + an access key; on Macintosh, you can press Control + an access key.

Access Keys are still somewhat experimental, and may not work for everyone. All pages on this site define the following access keys:

  • Access key 1 - Home page
  • Access key 3 - Search
  • Access key 6 - Feedback
  • Access key 0 - Accessibility statement

If you have had either success or difficulty in using the access keys on this site, please do send me feedback on whether they are working for you.

Standards compliance

  1. It is our intent that all pages on this site be WCAG AAA approved, complying wih all priority 1, 2, and 3 guidelines of the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. This is a judgement call; many guidelines are intentionally vague and can not be tested automatically. I have reviewed all the guidelines and believe that all of these pages are in compliance.
  2. It is our intent that all pages on this site be Section 508 approved, complying with all of the U.S. Federal Government Section 508 Guidelines. Again, this is a judgement call. I have reviewed all the guidelines and believe that all of these pages are in compliance.
  3. It is our intent that all pages on this site validate as XHTML 1.0 Transitional. This is not a judgement call; a program can determine with 100% accuracy whether a page is valid XHTML. For example, check the home page or Our Program for XHTML validity.
  4. All Style Sheets used on this site ought to validate as valid CSS. Again, this is not a judgement call; a program can determine with 100% accuracy whether a document is valid CSS. For example, check this page for CSS validity.
  5. All pages on this site use structural, semantic markup. XHTML tags are used to convey a document’s structural meaning, and not for visual presentation.
  6. Abbreviations and acronyms are marked up using the abbr and acronym tags. Each occurrence is expanded via a title tag; for example, WAGS. To assist users with screenreaders, these tags are styled with speak: spell-out and speak: normal.
  7. Special Note: This site makes limited use of the Phark Image Replacement technique; this is the most accessible image replacement technique I have tested. However, it is not perfect; some portions of the site—mainly page headers—may become inaccessible if images are turned off and css is left on.
  8. This site contains links to video files that may not be fully accessible to users with sight impairments. These files are not renderable by web browsers; they must be downloaded and run on by video player software on a user’s computer.

Navigation aids

  1. All pages include a search box (access key 3).

Links

  1. Many links have title attributes which describe the link in greater detail, unless the text of the link already fully describes the target (such as the headline of an article).
  2. Links are written to make sense out of context.

Images

  1. All content images used in this site include descriptive ALT attributes. Purely decorative graphics are kept out of the document’s markup and confined to the Style Sheets.
  2. If present, complex images will include LONGDESC attributes or inline descriptions to explain the significance of each image to non-visual readers.

Visual Design

  1. This site uses CSS for visual presentation and layout.
  2. This site uses only relative font sizes with an absolute base size; this is compatible with the user-specified “text size” option in visual browsers.
  3. If your browser or browsing device does not support stylesheets at all, the content of each page is still readable.

Accessibility References

  1. W3 accessibility guidelines, which explains the reasons behind each guideline.
  2. W3 accessibility techniques, which explains how to implement each guideline.
  3. W3 accessibility checklist, a busy developer's guide to accessibility.
  4. U.S. Federal Government Section 508 accessibility guidelines.

Accessibility Software

  1. JAWS, a screen reader for Windows. A time-limited, downloadable demo is available.
  2. Home Page Reader, a screen reader for Windows. A downloadable demo is available.
  3. Outspoken, a screenreader for Mac OS 9
  4. Lynx, a free text-only web browser for blind users with refreshable Braille displays.
  5. Links, a free text-only web browser for visual users with low bandwidth.

Accessibility Services

  1. Cynthia Says Portal, a free web content accessibility validation site. Validates for Section 508 and WCAG guidelines.
  2. Bobby, a free service to analyze web pages for compliance to accessibility guidelines. A full-featured commercial version is also available.
  3. HTML Validator, a free service for checking that web pages conform to published HTML standards.
  4. Web Page Backward Compatibility Viewer, a tool for viewing your web pages without a variety of modern browser features.
  5. Lynx Viewer, a free service for viewing what your web pages would look like in Lynx.

Related resources

  1. WebAIM, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving accessibility to online learning materials.
  2. Designing More Usable Web Sites, a large list of additional resources.

Recommended Accessibility books and Web Sites

  1. Joe Clark: Building Accessible Websites.
  2. Jim Thatcher and others: Constructing Accessible Web Sites.
  3. diveintoaccessibility

Additional Sites Devoted to Creating Web Documents with Standards Compliance and Accessibility in Mind

  1. AListApart
  2. MezzoBlue
  3. PositionIsEverything

Footnote: This document draws heavily on the models at diveintoacessibility and mezzoblue. Whatever is useful in this document is mostly to the credit of these sites’s authors; any errors or inaccuracies are the sole responsibility of the author of this site.

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