I checked all of my Web pages for accessibility using Bobby 2.0 and Netscape Navigator 3.0. My Web site earned a four star rating on all of the pages the first time I checked it. Two pages had minor accessibility problems. The index html page made with the CTER template earned a four star rating, but had minor problems with line 11, the table used for page formatting and line 10, the line5.gif used for background color. Bobby also suggested that a text-only link might be added to this page. On the activity table of contents page I had another minor problem in line 34 with adjacent links not being separated. I corrected this. Activity pages 1C, 1D, 2E, the Urbana Middle School page and the Curricular Hot List page had no accessibility problems.
Alternative design strategies for students at our school would of course depend on the disability of the student, but the following include general solutions that can be built into the design of all Web pages to make the information accessible to more.
This site has many sections with tips and techniques for building reader friendly Web pages. These are simple things that students and teachers should use in designing Web pages. Among those sections are Accommodating Imperfection. This section encourages Web authors to anticipate imperfections and design to accommodate them. To accommodate visual impairment avoid the use of red and green since 6% of the population suffers from some degree of color blindness; use color sparingly, use meaningful ALT tags; avoid using absolute font tags so that browsers may display the text in a certain size or font they find more legible; and don't be afraid of white space. To accommodate motion impairment make sure that the graphic navigational tools and links are ample-sized. The author suggests testing your design by using the non-dominant hand to test if the links work quickly and easily.
Another good section is The Rules which are ten things that every Web author should know. These rules increase the accessibility for all browsers by reminding the novice authors of Web pages of such things as what you see is not what everyone that browses gets; not everyone browses graphically; good original content is the key, and fast-loading pages with small graphic files make happy browsers.
Tips for Creating Accessible Web Sites
This site explains some of the most common problems that make Web pages inaccessible. The site includes examples of how it would look in Lynx browsers and other special browsers as well as including examples of good and bad designs. The four problems that the site addresses in detail are the following: alternative text for all images and image maps, using frames and tables and making sure that navigational graphics are intuitive and easy to read. Alternative text for images is one of the easiest things that can be done to increase accessibility. If it is not included and a text-only browser is being used, students will not be able to know whether the image was decorative, navigational or important to the content. Frames can be very difficult for students with mobility problems to navigate and activate sites. Users should be given a choice on the opening page to choose an alternative "frameless" site. Tables present a similar problem. Screen readers may read across or read two columns at a time rather than down columns individually. Students with low vision may not be able to raise the font size without ruining the table or chart. Students with severe dyslexia may also have difficulty reading tables. A way for Web authors or teachers to check material is to try raising the font size. If it is not easily readable, then one should consider providing an alternative page without tables. Icons used as navigation aides should have descriptive text underneath because they may not be intuitive for all students nor are they able to be enlarged for students with low vision.
NYISE Blindness Resource Center
The New York Institute for Special Education Blindness Resource Center has many links to very specific information for the visually impaired. Among those are special links for the teaching of math, science, and engineering to the visually impaired. It has disability list servers and many links for specific technology for the blind such as Lynx, EMacSpeak, UnWindows, and Net Tamer .