This assignment has been a struggle for me.  I had originally planned on using my "free pass" this week, but decided that I had some scattered thoughts that I needed to try to organize.

    After having pushed my dad around in his wheelchair, I have become very aware of accessibility of our physical world.  Now I am becoming more aware of our electronic world.

    It was fairly easy to make my eportfolio pages Priority 1 Bobby approved.  Like many classmates, I only had to add the ALT text to my graphics.  After having done some reading on web page suggestions for accessibility, I also took out a few of my tables.  I didn't want to make my pages too visually unattractive either, so I left a few.  In the future I would like to address some of the other questions that Bobby brings up in the higer Priorities.

    Without checking, I know some of the other web pages I created have some accessibility problems.  One problem is with frames.  I like using frames.  I am aware that some browsers do not accept frames.  I am currently trying to help those users by I naming the left side of the page menu.  In theory when the top page is opened by a browser that is not frame compatible, the menu link would be visible.  From the menu, all other pages could be accessed.

    Before this class, I printed out any information that I had to read and comprehend from a computer screen.  Luckily, I have adapted and learned to read from the screen, saving a lot of paper and ink.  One of the problems I had with reading from the screen was the various background of web sites.  The more wild they were, the less likely I would spend time at them, and I don't have vision problems!  For this reason, the web sites that I have designed have had plain backgrounds, except for one.  Last summer I designed a commercial page for some friends that are trying to sell artwork over the web.  I spent a lot of time working with them to choose a layout because I wanted the site to be personal for them.  Unfortunately we have different tastes.  They chose a basket weave background.  (Not my first choice.)  This wild background caused a problem for text.  The colors in the basket weave were such a contrast, it was hard to choose a font color.  I hope I solved the problem by writing the text in tables inwhich I changed the background color to brown.  I was able to provide the contrast needed to read the web pages.  Of course this caused problems for people with browsers that do not support table background color.  On the other hand though, the site will probably not be visited by many people with visual problems as it is an art site.

    I agree with Zandra when she mentioned that we have to catch our students attention and that we are "competing with videos game graphics."  My fourth graders love bright colors and busy combinations.

    My final project will be using frames.  It is designed for my students.  A class of visual learners.  Although the menu can be reached from the top page, in the future, I hope to take the time to make my site more accessible to all.

    For me this assignment has been a learning experience about creating webpages.  I have picked up a lot of new ideas for my future attempt at making my websites more accessible.... ideas as simple as adding ALT text to my pictures and to as cool as adding a one pixel image with ALT text to identify columns of a table (see Helen Keller article) to as tricky as finding the time to learn more HTML.

Some sites that I have bookmarked for future use.
All Things Web
Compatibility & Accessibility
This organization is working "towards the creation of an accessible, truly World-wide Web."  It includes many resources and articles including. . .

Could Helen Keller Read Your Page?
by Terry Sullivan & Krystyn Manning
This article includes some "slick" tips for creating more accessible sites - especially in reference to tables.

Information on accessible Web page design
Provided by the University of Washington DO-IT program