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Web accessibility

What is web accessibility?

Simply put, web accessibility is a broad term, used to describe the process of preparing a web site in such a manner that it is accessible to people with disability.

Standards in Web Accessibility

The use of processes, technologies and techniques in the provision of accessible web sites is standardised and maintained by a sub-group of the W3C under the title of the WAI

These standards offer web site owners, designers and developers clear guidelines and techniques to be used in the provision of accessible web sites and also ensure uniformity throughout the industry to encourage and promote the use of web accessibility integration into more web sites.

Not all web sites need to make WAI considerations

Whilst not all web sites have a requirement for web accessibility to be included, it is not something that should be ignored when developing a web site design or solution.

The guidelines and standards provided by the Web Accessibility initiative and the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines are not a rigid mechanism aimed at absolute uniformity. These standards represent a flexible and usable tool offering a level of inclusion, based on their recommendations, from a modest, almost invisible use of HTML elements to assist people with disability, right through to the ability to completely re-size the web page.

The level of conformity you require will depend on your need to provide a web site that is accessible to people with disability, but it must be assumed that, at some point, a disabled user will visit your site. We think it is prudent to be prepared.

The options available for web site accessibility

The WAI offers 2 levels of conformance with its guidelines

  • Conformance Level "A"
  • Conformance Level "Double-A"
  • Conformance Level "Triple-A"

Each of these standards asks that a specific set of criteria for accessibility be matched. The usage of content for each of these conformance levels is carefully monitored and must be adhered to in order to qualify for a rating.

Conformance Level "A"

All Priority 1 checkpoints are satisfied

Conformance Level "Double-A"

All Priority 1 and 2 checkpoints are satisfied

Conformance Level "Triple-A"

All Priority 1, 2, and 3 checkpoints are satisfied

The complete reference of terms and details for web accessibility and accessible web sites is out of the scope of a single web page to convey. It is also a vast and complex subject which is better explained by its authors. You can find all th information you need about the WAI on the WAI web site.

Preparing an accessible web site

If you need to create an accessible web site, would like to convert an existing web site to one of the 3 compliance levels, please contact us. You can find our contact details on our contact page

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