Developers' Corner

This page contains information for developers to help them make information accessible to people with disabilities.

Creating A Skip Navigation Link In WordPress

Skip navigation is an important feature for accessibility. Skip navigation allows screen reader users and persons with motor disabilities to go directly to the main content, without pressing the arrow or tab keys multiple times.

Using WordPress, you can easily do this in your pages. Below are the steps on how to create a skip navigation in WordPress.

Section 508 validators

A Section 508 validator is a software application that can help you determine if your web pages meet the Section 508 standards. These are tools useful in ensuring that your website is accessible to persons with disabilities.

It is important to note that although these validators are readily available via the Internet, they may not be what you specifically need. It is a good idea to try them out first before including them in your accessibility procedures.

Also, remember that Section 508 validators do not entirely solve your accessibility problems. They can nonetheless let you find the issues much faster. Manual testing is still required to ensure your site’s accessibility.

Making Accessible Web Pages Using Dreamweaver

Adobe Dreamweaver is one of the most popular web authoring tools in the market. Among its many functionalities, this software offers features for enhancing the accessibility of your site. Not only are these features easy to do, but they could also help a lot in making it easier for persons with disabilities to use your site.

Please keep in mind that the following techniques are only some of the examples of ways to improve the accessibility of your site through Dreamweaver. As you develop your site using this software, you may find other functions and methods useful to accessibility.

Furthermore, these accessibility procedures apply to Dreamweaver CS4. They also apply to older versions such as Dreamweaver CS3, although certain modifications may exist.

Providing Understandable Text Content for All

We all want each of our visitors to understand what we are trying to convey in our text content. Regardless of the reading and comprehension skills of our visitors, they should all be able to easily read through our text content, enjoy it, and understand its message.

To do this, we can employ a set of methods that can improve the understandability of text in our website.

Alternative Text For Images

Images play a crucial role in increasing traffic and helping visitors understand your site's content. Therefore, everyone should understand the meaning of your images, regardless of whether or not they can see the pictures. And the best way to do this is by providing alt texts for the images in your site.

Using Access Keys

Access keys refer to keys which, if activated, would take you to a link, a button, a specific part of a page, or a new page.

For example, if a web page contains an access key of Alt+H for the “Help” section, pressing Alt+H would load the “Help” section of the site. In some browsers, pressing the access key will only take you to the location of the link, button, or section of the page.

Here, we will provide the codes for making access keys and will talk about their benefits and the issues associated with them.

Alternatives to CAPTCHA

Earlier we have discussed CAPTCHA, or Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart, refers to a verification scheme used by sites to ensure that web content is accessed only by persons. In this article I would like to provide more examples and concerns for the different alternatives.

CAPTCHA has gained much popularity for its apparent effectiveness and ease of implementation. But a valid concern has started to grow among Internet users regarding the use of CAPTCHA in websites. Many people, especially those with disabilities, find it difficult and sometimes impossible to pass this verification method.

     

Creating A Skip Navigation Link in Drupal

After we have created a skip navigation for your site, I would like to talk about skip navigation in Drupal.

Here, we will discuss Drupal versions up to Drupal 6, because there may be some changes in Drupal 7. We will be talking about Drupal 7 later this year.

The problem is that many web developers want to have a skip navigation on their site, but most of the Drupal themes don’t have such a feature.

There are, however, many themes which are accessible, or can be made accessible with little adjustments. But there is a way to create a skip navigation link in all themes.

Using Skip Navigation Links

Skip navigation refers to a link in a web page that lets users go directly to the main content of the page. Here, we will take a look at the factors concerning skip navigation and how to do it properly in your pages.

Using Headings

People are always keen on organized websites. When pieces of information in your pages are clearly and properly divided, people will generally like your site. This results to more traffic from visitors, both old and new.

There are quite a number of ways for you to make your site more organized. And one of the best options for you is to use headings. As you may know, the heading tag consists of an “h” followed by the numerical value of the heading level, either 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6.