2. About Me
• Digital Reference Librarian with the Library of
Congress’ National Library Service for the
Blind and Physically Handicapped*
• Four years experience with the Adaptive
Services Division of the DC Public Library
• www.christophercorrigan.com
*My views are my own and I am not speaking for the Library of
Congress.
3. Accessibility and Usability
• Accessibility
– Accessible design allows users with disabilities to
use and add content to a digital interface
• Usability
– Usability refers to how well users can learn and
use a product to achieve their goals
• Universal Design
4. Why Is Accessibility Important?
• It’s good practice
• It’s the law
– Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act
– While the law applies to federal government
agencies, all organizations which receive federal
funds must be 508 compliant.
5. Real Quick, Here’s How People with
Disabilities Use the Web
• Screen Readers (Blind/Low-Vision)
• Adaptive Mice (Physical Disabilities)
• Speech Recognition Software
(Physical/Cognitive Disabilities)
6. Usability Heuristics
• Visibility of system status
• Match between the system and the real world
• User control and freedom
• Consistency and standards
• Error prevention
• Recognition rather than recall
• Flexibility and efficiency of use
• Aesthetic and minimalist design
• Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors
• Help and documentation
7. Match Between the System and the
Real World
• Write for how users read on the web
– The inverted pyramid, conclusion first
– Make your key concepts headings
• Plain Language
– People come to complete a task not
hear a story
– Only necessary language related to the
user’s need
21. How to Make Accessible Forms
www.webstandards.org
22. Error Prevention
Limit the use of CAPTCHAs
• Alternative: Ask a question which would be simple for a human, but
difficult for a computer to answer.
-e.g. What sport uses a hockey puck?
– Accessibility handbook : making 508 websites for everyone
» Cunningham, Katie
27. Recognition Rather than Recall
• Labels for buttons, not images
•Images mean different things to
different people.
•While the image of a magnifying
glass may be intuitive to many users,
users without a cultural history of
using the magnifying glass to search
would be confused
34. Aesthetic and Minimalist Design
• Busy pages are difficult
for users with low-vision
and users with cognitive
disabilities
• Sentences should be
short 10-15 words
• Have smaller paragraphs
• Don’t bunch up
paragraphs together
• Proper color contrast
45. Resources
• Accessibility handbook : making 508 websites for everyone
– Cunningham, Katie
• CaptionTube
– http://captiontube.appspot.com/
• Firefox Fangs
– Simulates how a screen reader would read text
– http://bit.ly/ZA4mtL
• Usability.gov’s Accessibility Guidelines
– www.1.usa.gov/13RHkaj
• Vizcheck
– Simulates how a colorblind person sees the web
– www.vischeck.com
• W3C Accessibility Standards
– www.bit.ly/10yGtnt
• Web Aim
– www.webaim.org
• Web Standards Project
– Tutorials on how to create online forms
– www.bit.ly/Z1QMAp
Images mean different things to different people. While the image of a magnifying glass may be intuitive to many users, users without a cultural history of using the magnifying glass to search would be confused
