When designing web pages, remember that not everyone will be able to see or hear the extra touches you plan to put on them. There are an estimated 8.6 million people in the U.S. with visual impairments; an estimated 2.4 million people in the U.S. have severe to profound hearing impairments. You need to take these people into account.

To be sure that your web pages are easily usable by all people, follow these tips (adopted from the Quick Tips from W3C):

The main concept -- keep in mind that you don't have to pare down all the graphics, applets, or snazzy details--you simply have to provide an alternative avenue that disabled users can follow.

Images and Animation -- Use the alt tag to describe what each visual is about. For instance, if you have a photo of Old Main, make sure the alt tag says "Photo of Old Main".

Image maps -- Use client-side map and use pertinent, descriptive text for the hotspots.

Multimedia -- Provide captioning/transcripts of audio, and descriptions of video. If the video is of a speech, discussion group, or lecture, provide a complete text transcript as a separate option.

Hypertext links -- Be sure to use descriptive text for your hyperlinks. Don't use "Click here", because it does not provide context.

Page organization -- Use headings, lists, and consistent structure. Use CSS for layout and style where possible (but remember that older browsers don't support style sheets).

Graphs and charts -- Summarize, or use the longdesc attribute.

Scripts, applets and plug-ins -- Provide alternative content in case active features are inaccessible or unsupported.

Frames -- Use NOFRAMES and meaningful titles.

Tables -- Make line-by-line reading sensible; be sure to summarize.

Check your work -- Use the tools, checklists, and guidelines available at www.w3.org/TR/WCAG.

Here are some websites to visit that will give you information about making websites accessible, thorough guidelines to follow when designing accessible web pages, and offer some tools to help:

• This excellent article about web accessibility, from PC World, shows that, while making a website accessible is easy to do, few major websites have done so. It includes a description showing the difference between how screen reader software (for visually impaired browsers) reads a well-designed website versus how it reads a poorly designed website.
  




• The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has a page of accessibility guidelines. They have a round-up of tools to evaluate your website's accessibility, and tools to repair your website (once you've located accessibility problems).
  




• To get an idea of what browsing the web is like for the visually impaired, you can download a free trial version of HomePage Reader from IBM. (NOTE: The trial version is usable for only 30 days; you can purchase a full version, if needed, from IBM. This software is NOT supported by ITS.)
  




• Microsoft has an Accessibility Center for websites.
  




• The "Viewable With Any Browser" campaign has a good guide for browser accessibility.
  




• Article on recently published Section 508 Accessibility Standards.
  
  

• The Access Board - An independent Federal agency devoted to accessibility for people with disabilities.
  




• EASI - Equal Access to Software and Information
  




• http://www.cast.org/bobby - Bobby is a free service provided by CAST to help Web page authors identify and repair significant barriers to access by individuals with disabilities. Download this program and use their logo to make others aware.

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