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Accessible And Attractive Websites

When we think about highly accessible sites the first ones that spring to mind are not necessarily fantastic looking examples. Most sites that sport a Bobby AAA or WCAG Level 3compliant badge also sport a dull interface unimaginative navigation and are about as attractive as typical baywatch baby! This is hardly the kind of thing that you want to show your boss or a prospective client when explaining about the positive aspects of an accessible site.

So show them the good stuff!

What do we want? More! When do we want it? Now!

There are not that many big corporate sites that have tread on the road to accessibility. Sure many have made a few token gestures sufficient to pass the automated and essentially dumb Bobby Level A test. But there are very few that push the envelope’ What does this mean? Well as a basic list you might expect to see these tactics implemented on a site that meets Bobbly Level A requirements:

• Judicious use of ‘Skip Navigation’ links or careful ordering of content such that navigation does not get in the way of content the second approach perhaps veers into advanced territory
• No use of dropdown lists as in the select tag for navigation or if it is used ensuring that it is activated with a Go button and that a noscript alternative is provided
• Suitable alt attributes or blank alt attributes for images when they are not needed
• Sensible link phrases no ‘click here’ type links; when the user tabs through each link makes sense in its own right

This is a basic list but we should follow even more:

• Tablefree layouts that work as well on a handheld device as they do a PC or Mac with full colour 15″ monitor
• Use of acronym and abbr elements to clarify abbreviated phrases
• Data tables with the headers and id attributes making them usable in the likes of Jaws and other screen readers
• A link to an accessibility statement on the home page
• A link to the site map on every page
• No framed content at all although CSS could be used to make it appear as such

…The list could go on. And indeed we need to ensure at least one more addition it’s got to look attractive. But actually speaking there are very few sites which have all these ingredients.

Follow by the Examples:

Let us consider the websites of Wired News and ESPN these two sites have had extensive coverage because they’re big names today. However despite the very evident use of Web standards for layout they are still not necessarily totally accessible for example if you try to access ESPN on Netscape 4 you don’t get un styled text; instead you’re sent to a page that explains why they’re unwilling to serve content in that basic format.

About the writer:  Head SEO Marketing at AIT India

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2. Make The Web Site Attractive To The Visitors
3. Web Designing – Creative Custom Websites
4. How To Rank Websites On Top Of Serps
5. Designing Seo Websites

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