Starling - Accessible Web Page Design: Introduction.

This site is a guide and resource for designers and developers of Web-pages who want to their efforts to reach the widest possible audience.

Please be aware that the information on this site has been largely superceded by the recent work of the World Wide Web Consortium's Web Accessibility Initiative.

Chuck Letourneau, the author of this site, was also co-chair of the W3C Working Group that developed the first international "standard" for accessible Web content design. In fact, this site and others on the same topic that were created in the mid 1990's were used as a basis for the definitive W3C guidelines.

Starling Access Services has chosen to leave this site on the Web for both practical and historical reasons. The practical reasons are that many of the guidelines, tips and techniques shown here are still valid today, and some of these examples have been cited as being very "friendly" and useful. The historical reason is to show future researchers how the HTML, Web browsers, assistive devices and our knowledge and thoughts about this subject have changed over time.

To avoid confusion, Starling Access Services has clearly identified such "obsolete" information throughout this site. Where appropriate, we have provided a link to a current W3C resource that covers the same topic.

In some cases, minor edits have been made to the original content, and the entire site has been updated to conform to the HTML 4.0 DTD, including a much stronger reliance on Cascading Style Sheets for page layout and appearance.

Larger blocks of new information, such as this, will also be clearly identified throughout the site.

On the following pages, Starling Access Services provides information, tips and techniques on how to make your World-Wide Web publishing as accessible as possible to the widest range of people, including persons with sensory, mobility and learning disabilities, as well as the vast number of people who don't have multimedia computers, or who use text-browsers, or slow modems.

On reading any guidelines relating to publishing on the World-wide Web, you must be aware that change is rapid and continuous. What you see in writing is often just a snapshot of a particular instant in time.

As you read this, it is likely that new Web browsers, and new versions of established browsers, are being released: some may include features that enhance your ability to use the Web -- others may not. New Web-tools (like HTML scripting tools and word processor document converters), programming environments (like JAVA), scripting languages (like JavaScript) and standards like HTML and Virtual Reality Modelling Language (VRML)) are being developed, modified and enhanced. In some cases, new developments are inaccessible to a wide range of Web users, either because their hardware and software are unable to support the new features, or because the feature was not designed with universal accessibility in mind.

Systems and tools that help persons with disabilities overcome the barriers to accessibility are also constantly being refined and enhanced. Unfortunately, the development of these aids often lags far behind the introduction of the new and inaccessible features of the World Wide Web.

Since the end-user cannot count on either standard technology or assistive devices to ensure access to information on the Web, the onus is on you, the Web-page developer, to deliver your message in a way that allows everyone to benefit. If you use the simple tips and techniques contained in these guidelines you will be assured that your Web-site will reach the largest possible audience.

These guidelines will be updated frequently to reflect the rapid and continuous change described above.

We need your help...
Our goal is to make this a very accessible site.

Where possible, we have followed our own (and other's) guidelines on the design of accessible Web pages, but since the aim of this site is to show what is inaccessible (and then suggest accessible alternatives) some pages may be confusing to some users. We encourage you to send us your comments about our site: What works? What doesn't? What Web browser software did you use to reach us? What adaptive technology did you use to read these pages? What content would you like to see?... and so on. We would have built these questions into an HTML FORM, but FORMs are not yet accessible to the widest range of users.

If your browser supports the "MAILTO:" feature, you can write to Starling Access Services now. Otherwise, our e-mail address is: access@starlingweb.com

Accessible Web Page Design: Introduction

We need your help... Our goal is to make this a very accessible site.

Finding your way.

Accessible Web Page Design:
Introduction

We need your help...
Our goal is to make this a very accessible site.