Expo Zaragoza 2008 :: Accessibility

Accessibility

Accessibility

Why have we made an accessible website?

Expo Zaragoza 2008 aims at being accessible for everyone. That is why, using the possibilities offered by technology today, it has decided to use the necessary means to construct a website for everyone, without exception, including those people who have physical or sensorial limitations, or those who may not have access to the latest technologies, and who as a result may have usability problems.

Accordingly, these pages have been prepared in agreement with the recommendations provided by the WAI (Web Accessibility Initiative), an international workgroup that belongs to the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium), an international association that ensures that no group suffers discriminations of any type that might be the cause of social fractures in a virtual world. We are currently working to improve accessibility to all the pages of the portal.

Usability and accessibility

Expo Zaragoza 2008’s objective for the services it offers to be within everyone’s reach can clearly be seen in this proposal for a usable and accessible portal. In other words, a website that enables all users to make use of its possibilities, easily and without restrictions.

The requirement level fits in with what the WAI defines with its AA stamp, that is, never to incorporate elements or processes that prevent certain groups from using the services and contents of the web, or that make them so difficult that many people will not be able to enjoy them.

The following principles have been considered to accomplish this objective:

Accessibility criteria and levels

• Never exclusively use purely visual elements when offering users the information included on the page. This has been a way of avoiding basing the reading and interpretation of the information on images and colours, which would be lost when navigating in black and white, and which make no sense when navigating with a screen reader.

• Use standard formats whenever possible, in relative and not absolute units, to guarantee coherence and uniformity when defining the page format. This guarantees the use of functionalities, such as increasing the size of the letters, so that people with sight deficiencies will be able to read the pages.

• Present the information, with respect to content organisation and layout, so that its hierarchical structure becomes very clear just by reading the text information it provides. This ensures that the information will be presented with the same structure and clarity on any device that is used to access the website.

• Avoid the use of alternatives that execute actions that are not controlled directly by users, when they are browsing specific points of the page. This ensures that users who use a screen reader to navigate can always appropriately control their navigation and their position within the website, without options such as the appearance of secondary windows, automatic updates or automatic addressing markers being able to induce navigation errors.

• Avoid the use of elements whose only purpose is to achieve a certain visual structure but which distort the reading order of the information contents of the page, such as quote markers to force indentations or tables to force layouts. This guarantees that there will be no rupture of the sequential logic of the information presented if users use a screen reader to navigate.

• Appropriately identify all the pages of the website, as well as the elements that they include and the navigation tools they offer, with the appropriate names in connection with their location, their destinations and functionalities. This ensures that users will have a clear and unmistaken reference of where they are and where they want to go to, at any place on the website, as well as the operation alternatives offered in the event that they use screen readers.

• Tag all the edition fields and correctly number the processes they are integrated into, as well as distribute them in such a way that they follow a logical reading order when users navigate with screen readers. This guarantees that all users will be able to obtain the desired information.

Language and programming for the accessible web design.

The language used to structure the contents is XHTML 1.0. To separate the content from the design, Cascade Style Sheets are used (CSS2).

Accessibility stamps

And, finally, the following icons are presented, which inform about the site accessibility:

 
This declares that the XHTML version 1.0 language has been correctly used and its syntax adheres to the grammar of that language. Its link leads to the W3C validator.

This declares that the syntax of the style sheets used is correct. Its link leads to the W3C cascade style sheets validator.

 
This declares that the page has been reviewed with TAW 1.1 and that it has been approved. Its link leads to the TAW.

 
This declares that it conforms the Accessibility Guidelines for Web Content 1.0 with Double A level. Its link leads to the explanation about the accessibility levels and use of its icons.

Keyboard shortcuts for the most important sections

Keyboard shortcuts help users who have problems using pointer devices such as the mouse. They are activated differently depending on the type of explorer used:

We have defined a series of keyboard shortcuts for the most important sections:

Other useful tools

JAWS for Windows (or JFW, as it is generally known) is a powerful screen reader which enables a totally blind person to access the contents of the visual output of a personal computer by voice and/or Braille alphabet.

It can be used both by people with low vision and by the blind or deaf and blind. If you want to have first-hand information about this interesting tool, you can go to its designers' website, which is the official page of JAWS for Windows, where you will find a lot of online and downloadable documentation, product assessment copies and other useful resources.

DEMO de JAWS for windows