Activity 2B
C & I 335
Summer, 1998

Toni Greer
Lincoln School
Springfield, Illinois

I used Bobby, version 2.0, to check all pages created thus far of my ePortfolio. I was surprised at the results and made several changes to improve the pages for accessibility. As of this moment, all pages have a four-star rating because of the changes. Listed below are the pages, identifying the results and the changes made.

ePortfolio: index.html

• Results: After running Bobby on this page the first time, I was very shocked and disappointed to discover that I only received one little star. There were three problems with accessibility that were noted:
  • Missing alternative text descriptions for images, or the need to give names for pictures and graphics.
  • HTML tables incorrectly read by screen readers.
  • No text-only link found, or possibly needing to add a text-only version of this web page.
• Changes:
  • In order to change the page to receive a four-star rating, I first added alternative text descriptions to all graphics. By including this information, sight impaired persons will be able to hear the name of the image, rather than seeing it.
  • I did not change the tables at this time in my document, however, I am now aware of the difficulty that it may cause handicapped persons.
  • In order to fix the No text-only link, I would just need to provide access to an identical page that avoided the use of graphics. This would not be a difficult task, and I will do that in the future if a page involves a lot of graphics.

1c.html

• Results: This document received a three-star rating the first time it was run. There was one main problem with this page:
  • Adjacent links must be separated.
• Changes:
  • In order to receive a four-star rating, I went back into the document and separated the links. I added a button or bullet that served as a link, rather than using our names in a row. Not only did that look confusing, but it took away from the overall effect of the page. It looks more organized and accessible at this time.

1d.html and activity.html

• Results: Both of these pages received a four-star rating, but did show two problems:
  • HTML tables are often incorrectly read by screen readers.
  • No text-only link found, or possibly needing to add a text-only version of this web page.
• Changes:
  • At this time, because the page did receive four-stars, I did not make changes. I am aware of these issues and problems, and will keep them in mind in the pages to come.

collab.html

• Results: This page received a four-star rating, but did have one accessibility problem:
  • Adjacent links must be separated.
• Changes:
  • Looking at this adjacent-links problem, I found that it was not a necessary change at this time. I will try to incorporate new ways of providing links to pages in the future.

curric.html

• Results: This was the best page yet, when looking at accessibility! It received a four-star rating, with no accessibility errors!!

Overall, this was a useful and helpful program to run. It certainly makes you aware of your audience and how to effectively reach all viewers. I will definitely keep these new accessibility issues in mind when creating pages in the future. The strategies that I feel are of utmost importance:

• usage of large print
• organizing information effectively
• integrating graphics with descriptions
• using color appropriately in the text and background
• listing links in a manner that doesn't create confusion
• using tables when necessary, and possibly including a text-only option to replace information on table