Finding your way:

Accessible Web Page Design:
Navigating this site.

How People Browse Web-sites.

There are two kinds of Web-browsing software: text-based and graphical.

Who uses text-based browsers?

• People with older personal computers that do not support the current crop of graphical user interfaces;
• People who subscribe to some community "free nets";
• People who connect to the internet via dumb-terminals through mainframe or mini-computers; and
• Many people who have visual impairments, especially blindness (because there are still more effective, less expensive tools to read information from text-based applications than from graphical programs).

If you are using a graphical Web browser, you have (at least) two options for viewing a Web-site: with in-line graphic images displayed or ignored.

Who uses graphical browsers with in-line graphic images NOT displayed?

• People with slow modems, who find that highly graphical sites take too long to display;
• People who pay high connect-time charges with their service providers;
• People who are more interested in information content than presentation style;
• Many people who have visual impairments -- they cannot see the graphical design, and their screen-reading tools can only interpret the plain text on a Web-page.

Everyone else may be using a graphical browser, but which one, and how?

There are many graphical Web browsers available, each supporting a wide range of features, but rarely the same set of features as other, competing packages. There may even be many versions of a particular browser in use, with only the latest version supporting the most recent features of Web-page design. Some of the most up-to-date browsers only work on the most recent operating system releases.

If you are using a graphical Web browser, like NCSA Mosaic (version 2 or later) or Netscape Navigator (version 1.1N or later), you have (at least) two options for reading:

1. With automatic display of in-line graphic images. If you are using a screen-reader you will not see descriptive information (ALT text) that accompanies the image. These pages have been designed and formatted to be as accessible as possible, while still displaying a pleasing visual design.

2. With in-line graphic images not displayed. You will be able to read the "ALT text" that is a feature of the HTML IMAGE tags. Little or no useful information should be lost using this method. If you have the capability to view graphics, you can re-load any individual page to see the images.

Understanding the examples on this site.

I have chosen to demonstrate live examples of the hypertext markup language (HTML). I want developers to see the results of their design choices, and how the accessible alternatives can add value without detracting from high-quality page design.

Here is the conundrum: if you are using a text-browser, or an older version of most graphical browsers, your software will not be able to display many of the intentionally inaccessible examples I have provided. On the other hand, you ought to be able to read the accessible alternatives.

By the same token, if you are using the most up-to-date graphical browser you may be able to see and use the inaccessible features, but your browser may not be able to show you the accessible alternatives.

On pages where I have used inaccessible HTML you may need to download the source code to see how the features were designed.

Finding your way.

Introduction.
General HTML and design tips.