Accessibility

Hi,

This follows on from recent threads about accessibility issues.

I have just run my pages through BOBBY 2.0 [http://www.cast.org/bobby] to
get an accessibility/compatibility report... oh boy, I thought I had been
really careful about such issues, but not according to Bobby!

Here are a couple of "errors" which occur frequently:

"This web page contains HTML TABLESs each with multiple columns of text and
no equivalent text-only page"

It goes on to explain:

"Unfortunately, traditional screen reading software often has difficulty
reading multicolumn text -- it reads across the columns rather than down
each column individually."

Well, DUH! Reading across the columns is fine by me... that's how I designed
the table!

The other error which comes up consistently is:

"Horizontal rules must contain a TITLE"

"Horizontal rules, when used as structural elements, divide a document into
multiple sections which should each have an appropriate title. For example,

<HR TITLE="Current events section">"

Now this one I find really interesting, as it's not a point I saw anyone
make in the "alt tags on useless graphics" debate recently. I think I will
start applying this to my horizontal rules from now on... I wish I had
thought of it BEFORE I wrote 300 pages :-(

Anyway, I'm posting this to get some feedback. Who else has used Bobby? Are
you generally happy with its results? Are you implementing its
recommendations? Any specific thoughts on the TABLE problem and the HR title
text issue? Exactly how far do you go to make your pages "accessible"?

Also, has anyone actually used a speech-based browser? It would be
interesting to hear first-hand what problems and limitations you have come
across. For example, are tables really as big a problem as Bobby claims?


Thanks for listening.

    David.


David Meadows
Technical Writer
DNRC Minister for Littorasy
david(at)goldenheroes.softnet.co.uk
"Vision or Imagination is a Representation of what Eternally Exists"
    -- William Blake

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