VALA2000 Session 12 Nevile

Persistent URL: http://www.vala.org.au/vala2000-proceedings/vala2000-session-12-nevile

On the web, universal content accessibility is not just browser compatibility.

VALA 2000 CONCURRENT SESSION 12: Accessibility
Friday 18 February 2000, 10:45 – 11:15

Liddy Nevile

Principal Researcher MelbourneIT
http://www.melbourneit.com.au


VALA Peer Reviewed Paper

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Abstract

The web content accessibility guidelines developed under the auspices of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), make clear that web accessibility is a matter of choice for publishers. Following the guidelines it is technically possible to produce exciting, accessible content including content that contains multimedia objects of many kinds. Understanding what is accessible and what is required to make content accessible is another matter. In this paper, a theoretical framework for user equivalence when working on accessibility is proposed and the wide-spread benefits of complying with guidelines are exposed. The disadvantages to many that result from failure to satisfy the guidelines are exemplified. Finally, a practical approach to accessible web development is proposed and resources for ensuring content accessibility are identified.