CPHA policy
CPHA's sites strive to be accessible! It is policy that:
- All images have an appropriate text (in HTML - the
alt attribute; in the CMS, the
title field). This text is short but descriptive. It is used as follows:
- It appears in lieu of the image (when image display is turned off in the browser)
- It displays when the cursor hovers over the image
- It is read out by an oral reader (for the blind), such as JAWS.
- All links to other pages and files have an appropriate text (the
title attribute in both HTML and the CMS). It is used as follows:
- It displays when the cursor hovers over the link
- It is read out by an oral reader (for the blind), such as JAWS.
General industry guidelines
The
World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has developed guidelines through its
Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI). This is a site worth visiting.
Canadian legal requirements
An American lawsuit unfolds
Future options for CPHA sites
Some options worth looking at for the site as a whole, keeping in mind that the challenged user is familiar with these approaches:
- Letting the user know, in spite of the above statement, how to improve access to the site. An example is the City of Ottawa website, which contains a link in the template (used on all its pages) to help information.
- However, the website is not completely suited to the technique (using
ctrl-+ to increase the font size), since some text won't fit in the allotted space (e.g. the top navigation bar).
- An alternative is to provide the user with different styles sheets, selectable from the browser. These style sheets can overcome the size problems just mentioned.
- An older technique is to use custom program script to change the font size, accessed by links on web pages. An example is the US National Park Service
(
). This technique is losing currency, with the improved support in common browsers for user-selectable style sheets.
Using style sheets
It is possible to create alternate style sheets which the user can select in their browser. The Open Journal Systems software is an example that uses this (but the style sheets have not been developed!). Here's how the user selects them:
