...Information...
End example.
The following HTML example (using the META element) forwards the user
from one page to another after a timeout. However, users should not
redirect users with this markup since is non-standard, it disorients
users, and it can disrupt a browser's history of visited pages.
Deprecated example.
Don't use this!
If your browser supports Refresh,
you'll be transported to our
new site
in 5 seconds, otherwise, select the link manually.
End example.
1.1.4 The !DOCTYPE statement
Checkpoints in this section:
* 3.2 Create documents that validate to published formal grammars.
[Priority 2]
Validating to a published formal grammar and declaring that validation
at the beginning of a document lets the user know that the structure
of the document is sound. It also lets the user agent know where to
look for semantics if it needs to. The W3C Validation Service
validates documents against a whole list of published grammars.
It is preferable to validate to W3C grammars. Refer to the
Technologies Reviewed for Accessibility.
1.1.5 The LINK element and navigation tools
Checkpoints in this section:
* 13.9 Provide information about document collections (i.e.,
documents comprising multiple pages.). [Priority 3]
Content developers should use the LINK element and link types (refer
to [HTML4], section 6.12) to describe document navigation mechanisms
and organization. Some user agents may synthesize navigation tools or
allow ordered printing of a set of documents based on such markup.
Example.
The following LINK elements might be included in the head of chapter 2
of a book:
End example.
1.1.6 The LINK element and alternative documents
Checkpoints in this section:
* 6.5 Ensure that dynamic content is accessible or provide an
alternative presentation or page. [Priority 2]
The LINK element may also be used to designate alternative documents.
Browsers should load the alternative page automatically based on the
user's browser type and preferences. For example, use the LINK element
as follows:
Example.
User agents that support LINK will load the alternative page for those
users whose browsers may be identified as supporting
"aural","braille", or "tty" rendering.
Welcome to the Virtual Mall!
...
End example.
1.2 Structural grouping
Checkpoints in this section:
* 12.3 Divide large blocks of information into more manageable
groups where natural and appropriate. [Priority 2]
The following HTML 4.01 mechanisms group content and make it easier to
understand.:
* Use FIELDSET to group form controls into semantic units and
describe the group with the LEGEND element.
* Use OPTGROUP to organize long lists of menu options into smaller
groups..
* Use tables for tabular data and describe the table with CAPTION.
* Group table rows and columns with THEAD, TBODY, TFOOT, and
COLGROUP.
* Nest lists with UL, OL, and DL.
* Use section headings (H1 - H6) to create structured documents and
break up long stretches of text. Refer to the following section
for more information.
* Break up lines of text into paragraphs (with the P element).
* Group related links. Refer to the section Grouping and bypassing
links
All of these grouping mechanisms should be used when appropriate and
natural, i.e., when the information lends itself to logical groups.
Content developers should not create groups randomly, as this will
confuse all users.
1.2.1 Section headings
Checkpoints in this section:
* 3.5 Use header elements to convey document structure and use them
according to specification. [Priority 2]
Long documents are often divided into a variety of chapters, chapters
have subtopics and subtopics are divided into various sections,
sections into paragraphs, etc. These semantic chunks of information
make up the structure of the document.
Sections should be introduced with the HTML heading elements (H1-H6).
Other markup may complement these elements to improve presentation
(e.g., the HR element to create a horizontal dividing line), but
visual presentation is not sufficient to identify document sections.
Since some users skim through a document by navigating its headings,
it is important to use them appropriately to convey document
structure. Users should order heading elements properly. For example,
in HTML, H2 elements should follow H1 elements, H3 elements should
follow H2 elements, etc. Content developers should not "skip" levels
(e.g., H1 directly to H3). Do not use headings to create font effects;
use style sheets to change font styles for example.
Note that in HTML, heading elements (H1 - H6) only start sections,
they don't contain them as element content. The following HTML markup
shows how style sheets may be used to control the appearance of a
heading and the content that follows:
Example.
Cooking techniques
Cooking techniques
... some text here ...
Cooking with oil
... text of the section ...
Cooking with butter
... text of the section ...
End example.
See also the section on links.
2 Language information
2.1 Identifying changes in language
Checkpoints in this section:
* 4.1 Clearly identify changes in the natural language of a
document's text and any text equivalents (e.g., captions).
[Priority 1]
If you use a number of different languages on a page, make sure that
any changes in language are clearly identified by using the "lang"
attribute:
Example.
And with a certain je ne sais quoi,
she entered both the room, and his life, forever. My name
is Natasha, she said. Piacere,
he replied in impeccable Italian, locking the door.
End example.
Identifying changes in language are important for a number of reasons:
1. Users who are reading the document in braille will be able to
substitute the appropriate control codes (markup) where language
changes occur to ensure that the braille translation software will
generate the correct characters (accented characters, for
instance). These control codes also prevent braille contractions
from being generated, which could further confuse the user.
Braille contractions combine commonly used groups of characters
that usually appear in multiple cells into a single cell. For
example, "ing" which usually takes up three cells (one for each
character) can be contracted into a single cell.
2. Similarly, speech synthesizers that "speak" multiple languages
will be able to generate the text in the appropriate accent with
proper pronunciation. If changes are not marked, the synthesizer
will try its best to speak the words in the primary language it
works in. Thus, the French word for car, "voiture" would be
pronounced "voter" by a speech synthesizer that uses English as
its primary language.
3. Users who are unable to translate between languages themselves,
will be able to have unfamiliar languages translated by machine
translators.
2.2 Identifying the primary language
Checkpoints in this section:
* 4.3 Identify the primary natural language of a document.
[Priority 3]
It is also good practice to identify the primary language of a
document, either with markup (as shown below) or through HTTP headers.
Example.
....rest of an HTML document written in French...
End example.
3 Text markup
The following sections discuss ways to add structure to pieces of
text.
3.1 Emphasis
Checkpoints in this section:
* 3.3 Use style sheets to control layout and presentation.
[Priority 2]
The proper HTML elements should be used to mark up emphasis: EM and
STRONG. The B and I elements should not be used; they are used to
create a visual presentation effect. The EM and STRONG elements were
designed to indicate structural emphasis that may be rendered in a
variety of ways (font style changes, speech inflection changes, etc.)
3.2 Acronyms and abbreviations
Checkpoints in this section:
* 4.2 Specify the expansion of each abbreviation or acronym in a
document where it first occurs. [Priority 3]
Mark up abbreviations and acronyms with ABBR and ACRONYM and use
"title" to indicate the expansion:
Example.
Welcome to the WWW!
End example.
This also applies to shortened phrases used as headings for table row
or columns. If a heading is already abbreviated provide the expansion
in ABBR. If a heading is long, you may wish to provide an
abbreviation, as described in Data Tables.
Example.
...
First name
SS#
...
End example.
3.3 Quotations
Checkpoints in this section:
* 3.7 Mark up quotations. Do not use quotation markup for formatting
effects such as indentation. [Priority 2]
The Q and BLOCKQUOTE elements mark up inline and block quotations,
respectively.
Example.
This example marks up a longer quotation with BLOCKQUOTE:
Remuneration! O! that's the Latin word for three farthings.
--- William Shakespeare (Love's Labor Lost).
End example.
3.4 Markup and style sheets rather than images: The example of math
Checkpoints in this section:
* 3.1 When an appropriate markup language exists, use markup rather
than images to convey information. [Priority 2]
Using markup (and style sheets) where possible rather than images
(e.g., a mathematical equation) promotes accessibility for the
following reasons:
* Text may be magnified or interpreted as speech or braille.
* Search engines can use text information.
As an example, consider these techniques for putting mathematics on
the Web:
* Ensure that users know what variables represent, for example, in
the equation "F = m * a", indicate that F= Force, m = mass, a =
acceleration.
* For straightforward equations, use characters, as in "x + y = z"
* For more complex equations, mark them up with MathML ([MATHML]) or
TeX. Note. MathML can be used to create very accessible documents
but currently is not as widely supported or used as TeX.
* Provide a text description of the equation and, where possible,
use character entity references to create the mathematical
symbols. A text equivalent must be provided if the equation is
represented by one or more images.
TeX is commonly used to create technical papers which are then
converted to HTML for publication on the Web. However, converters tend
to generate images, use deprecated markup, and use tables for layout.
Consequently, content providers should:
1. Make the original TeX (or LaTeX) document available on the Web.
There is a system called "AsTeR" ([ASTER]) that can create an
auditory rendition of TeX and LaTeX documents. Also, IBM has a
plug-in for Netscape and Internet Explorer that reads TeX/LaTeX
documents and some of MathML (refer to [HYPERMEDIA]). Note. These
tools work primarily in the English environment and may not work
so well with speech synthesizers whose primary language is not
English.
2. Ensure that the HTML created by the conversion process is
accessible. Provide a single description of the equation (rather
than "alt" text on every generated image as there may be small
images for bits and pieces of the equation).
3.5 Eight other structural elements (to identify citations, code fragments,
deleted text, and others)
The HTML 4.01 specification defines the following structural elements
for miscellaneous markup needs:
CITE
Contains a citation or a reference to other sources.
DFN
Indicates that this is the defining instance of the enclosed
term.
CODE
Designates a fragment of computer code.
SAMP
Designates sample output from programs, scripts, etc.
KBD
Indicates text to be entered by the user.
VAR
Indicates an instance of a variable or program argument.
INS
Indicates text inserted into a document.
DEL
Indicates text deleted from a document.
4 Lists
Checkpoints in this section:
* 3.6 Mark up lists and list items properly. [Priority 2]
The HTML list elements DL, UL, and OL should only be used to create
lists, not for formatting effects such as indentation. Refer to
information on CSS and tables for layout in the CSS Techniques
[WCAG10-CSS-TECHNIQUES].
Ordered lists help non-visual users navigate. Non-visual users may
"get lost" in lists, especially in nested lists and those that do not
indicate the specific nest level for each list item. Until user agents
provide a means to identify list context clearly (e.g., by supporting
the ':before' pseudo-element in CSS2), content developers should
include contextual clues in their lists.
For numbered lists, compound numbers are more informative than simple
numbers. Thus, a list numbered "1, 1.1, 1.2, 1.2.1, 1.3, 2, 2.1,"
provides more context than the same list without compound numbers,
which might be formatted as follows:
1.
1.
2.
1.
3.
2.
1.
and would be spoken as "1, 1, 2, 1, 2, 3, 2, 1", conveying no
information about list depth.
[CSS1] and [CSS2] allow users to control number styles (for all lists,
not just ordered) through user style sheets.
Example.
The following CSS2 style sheet shows how to specify compound numbers
for nested lists created with either UL or OL elements. Items are
numbered as "1", "1.1", "1.1.1", etc.
End example.
Until either CSS2 is widely supported or user agents allow users to
control rendering of lists through other means, authors should
consider providing contextual clues in unnumbered nested lists.
Non-visual users may have difficulties knowing where a list begins and
ends and where each list item starts. For example, if a list entry
wraps to the next line on the screen, it may appear to be two separate
items in the list. This may pose a problem for legacy screen readers.
4.1 Use style sheets to change list bullets
To change the "bullet" style of unordered list items created with the
LI element, use style sheets. In CSS, it is possible to specify a
fallback bullet style (e.g., 'disc') if a bullet image cannot be
loaded.
Example.
Using style sheets to change bullets
Audrey
Laurie
Alice
End example.
To further ensure that users understand differences between list items
indicated visually, content developers should provide a text label
before or after the list item phrase:
Example.
In this example, new information is communicated through text ("New"),
font style (bold), and color (yellow bullet, red text on yellow
background).
Bullet styles example
Roth IRA New
401(k)
End example.
4.1.1 Images used as bullets
Checkpoints in this section:
* 1.1 Provide a text equivalent for every non-text element (e.g.,
via "alt", "longdesc", or in element content). This includes:
images, graphical representations of text (including symbols),
image map regions, animations (e.g., animated GIFs), applets and
programmatic objects, ASCII art, frames, scripts, images used as
list bullets, spacers, graphical buttons, sounds (played with or
without user interaction), stand-alone audio files, audio tracks
of video, and video. [Priority 1]
Avoid using images as bullets in definition lists created with DL, DT,
and DD. However, if this method is used, be sure to provide a text
equivalent for the images.
Deprecated example.
Deprecated example using image in DL lists
Audrey
Laurie
Alice
End example.
Content developers should avoid list styles where bullets provide
additional (visual) information. However, if this is done, be sure to
provide a text equivalent describing meaning of the bullet:
Deprecated example.
Roth IRA
401(k)
End example.
5 Tables
This section discusses the accessibility of tables and elements that
one can put in a TABLE element. Two types of tables are discussed:
tables used to organize data, and tables used to create a visual
layout of the page.
5.1 Tables of data
Content developers may make HTML 4.01 data tables more accessible in a
number of ways:
* Providing summary information
* Identifying row and column information
5.1.1 Providing summary information
Checkpoints in this section:
* 5.5 Provide summaries for tables. [Priority 3]
* 5.6 Provide abbreviations for header labels. [Priority 3]
* Provide a caption via the CAPTION element. A table caption
describes the nature of the table in one to three sentences. Two
examples:
1. "Cups of coffee consumed by each senator."
2. "Who spends the most on pollution cleanup?"
A caption may not always be necessary.
* If a CAPTION is not provided, use the "title" attribute on the
TABLE element to describe the nature of the table in a few words.
* Provide a summary via the "summary" attribute. Summaries are
especially useful for non-visual readers. A summary of the
relationships among cells is especially important for tables with
nested headings, cells that span multiple columns or rows, or
other relationships that may not be obvious from analyzing the
structure of the table but that may be apparent in a visual
rendering of the table. A summary may also describe how the table
fits into the context of the current document. If no caption is
provided, it is even more critical to provide a summary. Two
examples:
1. "This table charts the number of cups of coffee consumed by
each senator, the type of coffee (decaf or regular), and
whether taken with sugar."
2. "Total required by pollution control standards as of January
1, 1971. Commercial category includes stores, insurance
companies and banks. The table is divided into two columns.
The left-hand column is 'Total investment required in
billions of dollars'. The right--hand column is 'Spending'
and is divided into three sub-columns. The first sub-column
is titled '1970 actual in millions of dollars', the second is
'1971 planned in millions of dollars', and the third is
'Percent change, 1970 versus 1971.' The rows are industries."
[NBA, 1996].
* Provide terse substitutes for header labels with the "abbr"
attribute on TH. These will be particularly useful for future
speaking technologies that can read row and column labels for each
cell. Abbreviations cut down on repetition and reading time.
5.1.2 Identifying rows and column information
Checkpoints in this section:
* 5.1 For data tables, identify row and column headers. [Priority 1]
* 5.2 For data tables that have two or more logical levels of row or
column headers, use markup to associate data cells and header
cells. [Priority 1]
* Identify structural groups of rows (THEAD for repeated table
headers, TFOOT for repeated table footers, and TBODY for other
groups of rows) and groups of columns (COLGROUP and COL).
* Label table elements with the "scope", "headers", and "axis"
attributes so that future browsers and assistive technologies will
be able to select data from a table by filtering on categories.
* Do not use PRE to create a tabular layout of text -- use the TABLE
element so that assistive technologies may recognize that it is a
table.
* For information about table headers, refer to the table header
algorithm and discussion in the HTML 4.01 Recommendation ([HTML4],
section 11.4.3).
Example.
This example shows how to associate data cells (created with TD) with
their corresponding headers by means of the "headers" attribute. The
"headers" attribute specifies a list of header cells (row and column
labels) associated with the current data cell. This requires each
header cell to have an "id" attribute.
Cups of coffee consumed by each senator
Name
Cups
Type of Coffee
Sugar?
T. Sexton
10
Espresso
No
J. Dinnen
5
Decaf
Yes
End example.
A speech synthesizer might render this tables as follows:
Caption: Cups of coffee consumed by each senator
Summary: This table charts the number of cups of coffee
consumed by each senator, the type of coffee
(decaf or regular), and whether taken with sugar.
Name: T. Sexton, Cups: 10, Type: Espresso, Sugar: No
Name: J. Dinnen, Cups: 5, Type: Decaf, Sugar: Yes
A visual user agent might render this table as follows:
Illustration of coffee table rendering [Description of coffee table]
The next example associates the same header (TH) and data (TD) cells
as before, but this time uses the "scope" attribute rather than
"headers". "Scope" must have one of the following values: "row",
"col", "rowgroup", or "colgroup." Scope specifies the set of data
cells to be associated with the current header cell. This method is
particularly useful for simple tables. It should be noted that the
spoken rendering of this table would be identical to that of the
previous example. A choice between the "headers" and "scope"
attributes is dependent on the complexity of the table. It does not
affect the output so long as the relationships between header and data
cells are made clear in the markup.
Example.
Cups of coffee consumed by each senator
Name
Cups
Type of Coffee
Sugar?
T. Sexton
10
Espresso
No
J. Dinnen
5
Decaf
Yes
End example.
The following example shows how to create categories within a table
using the "axis" attribute.
Example.
Travel Expense Report
Meals
Hotels
Transport
subtotals
San Jose
25-Aug-97
37.74
112.00
45.00
26-Aug-97
27.28
112.00
45.00
subtotals
65.02
224.00
90.00
379.02
Seattle
27-Aug-97
96.25
109.00
36.00
28-Aug-97
35.00
109.00
36.00
subtotals
131.25
218.00
72.00
421.25
Totals
196.27
442.00
162.00
800.27
End example.
This table lists travel expenses at two locations: San Jose and
Seattle, by date, and category (meals, hotels, and transport). The
following image shows how a visual user agent might render it.
[Description of travel table]
Travel Expense Report table as rendered by a visual user agent.
5.2 Tables for layout
Checkpoints in this section:
* 5.3 Do not use tables for layout unless the table makes sense when
linearized. Otherwise, if the table does not make sense, provide
an alternative equivalent (which may be a linearized version).
[Priority 2]
* 5.4 If a table is used for layout, do not use any structural
markup for the purpose of visual formatting. [Priority 2]
Authors should use style sheets for layout and positioning. However,
when it is necessary to use a table for layout, the table must
linearize in a readable order. When a table is linearized, the
contents of the cells become a series of paragraphs (e.g., down the
page) one after another. Cells should make sense when read in row
order and should include structural elements (that create paragraphs,
headings, lists, etc.) so the page makes sense after linearization.
Also, when using tables to create a layout, do not use structural
markup to create visual formatting. For example, the TH (table header)
element, is usually displayed visually as centered, and bold. If a
cell is not actually a header for a row or column of data, use style
sheets or formatting attributes of the element.
5.3 Linearizing tables
Checkpoints in this section:
* 10.3 Until user agents (including assistive technologies) render
side-by-side text correctly, provide a linear text alternative (on
the current page or some other) for all tables that lay out text
in parallel, word-wrapped columns. [Priority 3]
Tables used to lay out pages where cell text wraps pose problems for
older screen readers that do not interpret the source HTML or browsers
that do not allow navigation of individual table cells. These screen
readers will read across the page, reading sentences on the same row
from different columns as one sentence.
For example, if a table is rendered like this on the screen:
There is a 30% chance of Classes at the University of Wisconsin
rain showers this morning, but they will resume on September 3rd.
should stop before the weekend.
This might be read by a screen reader as:
There is a 30% chance of Classes at the University of Wisconsin
rain showers this morning, but they will resume on September 3rd.
should stop before the weekend.
It is usually very simple to linearize a table used to layout a page -
simply strip the table markup from the table. There are several tools
that do this, and it is becoming more common for screen readers and
some browsers to linearize tables.
However, linearizing data tables requires a different strategy. Since
data cells rely on the information provided by surrounding and header
cells, the relationship information that is available visually needs
to be translated into the linear table.
For example, specify the column layout order. The natural language
writing direction may affect column layout and thus the order of a
linearized table. The "dir" attribute specifies column layout order
(e.g., dir="rtl" specifies right-to-left layout).
This markup will also help browsers linearize tables (also called
table "serialization"). A row-based linear version may be created by
reading the row header, then preceding each cell with the cell's
column header. Or, the linearization might be column-based. Future
browsers and assistive technologies will be able to automatically
translate tables into linear sequences or navigate a table cell by
cell if data is labeled appropriately. The WAI Evaluation and Repair
working group is tracking the progress of tools as well as developing
their own that will allow users to linearize or navigate tables cell
by cell. Refer to [WAI-ER].
Quicktest! To get a better understanding of how a screen reader would
read a table, run a piece of paper down the page and read your table
line by line.
5.4 Backward compatibility issues for tables
In HTML 3.2 browsers, the rows of a TFOOT element will appear before
the table body.
6 Links
6.1 Link text
Checkpoints in this section:
* 13.1 Clearly identify the target of each link. [Priority 2]
Good link text should not be overly general; don't use "click here."
Not only is this phrase device-dependent (it implies a pointing
device) it says nothing about what is to be found if the link if
followed. Instead of "click here", link text should indicate the
nature of the link target, as in "more information about sea lions" or
"text-only version of this page". Note that for the latter case (and
other format- or language-specific documents), content developers are
encouraged to use content negotiation instead, so that users who
prefer text versions will have them served automatically.
In addition to clear link text, content developers may specify a value
of the "title" attribute that clearly and accurately describes the
target of the link.
If more than one link on a page shares the same link text, all those
links should point to the same resource. Such consistency will help
page design as well as accessibility.
If two or more links refer to different targets but share the same
link text, distinguish the links by specifying a different value for
the "title" attribute of each A element.
"Auditory users" -- people who are blind, have difficulty seeing, or
who are using devices with small or no displays -- are unable to scan
the page quickly with their eyes. To get an overview of a page or to
quickly find a link, these users will often tab from one link to the
next or review a list of available links on a page.
Thus, for a series of related links, include introductory information
in the first link, then distinguishing information in the links that
follow. This will provide context information for users reading them
in sequence.
Example.
My document is available in HTML,
PDF,
plain text
End example.
6.1.1 Text for images used as links
Checkpoints in this section:
* 1.1 Provide a text equivalent for every non-text element (e.g.,
via "alt", "longdesc", or in element content). This includes:
images, graphical representations of text (including symbols),
image map regions, animations (e.g., animated GIFs), applets and
programmatic objects, ASCII art, frames, scripts, images used as
list bullets, spacers, graphical buttons, sounds (played with or
without user interaction), stand-alone audio files, audio tracks
of video, and video. [Priority 1]
When an image is used as the content of a link, specify a text
equivalent for the image.
Example.
End example.
Or, if you provide link text, use a space as the "alt" attribute value
of the IMG element. Note that this text will appear on the page next
to the image.
Example.
Current routes at Boulders Climbing Gym
End example.
6.2 Grouping and bypassing links
Checkpoints in this section:
* 13.6 Group related links, identify the group (for user agents),
and, until user agents do so, provide a way to bypass the group.
[Priority 3]
* 10.5 Until user agents (including assistive technologies) render
adjacent links distinctly, include non-link, printable characters
(surrounded by spaces) between adjacent links. [Priority 3]
When links are grouped into logical sets (for example, in a navigation
bar that appears on every page in a site) they should be marked up as
a unit. Navigation bars are usually the first thing someone encounters
on a page. For users with speech synthesizers, this means having to
hear a number of links on every page before reaching the interesting
content of a page. There are several ways to allow users to bypass
groups of links (as users with vision do when they see the same set on
each page):
* Include a link that allows users to skip over the set of
navigation links.
* Provide a style sheet that allows users to hide the set of
navigation links.
* Use the HTML 4.01 MAP element to group links, then identify the
group with the "title" attribute.
In the future, user agents may allow users to skip over elements such
as navigation bars.
Example.
In this example, the MAP element groups a set of links, the "title"
attribute identifies it as a navigation bar , and a link at the
beginning of the group links to the anchor after the group. Also, note
that the links are separated by non-link, printable characters
(surrounded by spaces).
End example.
6.3 Keyboard access
Checkpoints in this section:
* 9.4 Create a logical tab order through links, form controls, and
objects. [Priority 3]
* 9.5 Provide keyboard shortcuts to important links (including those
in client-side image maps), form controls, and groups of form
controls. [Priority 3]
Keyboard access to active elements of a page is important for many
users who cannot use a pointing device. User agents may include
features that allow users to bind keyboard strokes to certain actions.
HTML 4.01 allows content developers to specify keyboard shortcuts in
documents via the "accesskey" attribute.
Example.
In this example, if the user activates the "C" key, the link will be
followed.
XYZ company home page
End example.
Note: Until user agents provide an overview of which key bindings are
available, provide information on the key bindings.
6.4 Anchors and targets
Checkpoints in this section:
* 10.1 Until user agents allow users to turn off spawned windows, do
not cause pop-ups or other windows to appear and do not change the
current window without informing the user. [Priority 2]
7 Images and image maps
The following sections discuss accessibility of images (including
simple animations such as GIF animations) and image maps.
For information about math represented as images, refer to the section
on using text markup and style sheets rather than images.
7.1 Short text equivalents for images ("alt-text")
Checkpoints in this section:
* 1.1 Provide a text equivalent for every non-text element (e.g.,
via "alt", "longdesc", or in element content). This includes:
images, graphical representations of text (including symbols),
image map regions, animations (e.g., animated GIFs), applets and
programmatic objects, ASCII art, frames, scripts, images used as
list bullets, spacers, graphical buttons, sounds (played with or
without user interaction), stand-alone audio files, audio tracks
of video, and video. [Priority 1] .
When using IMG, specify a short text equivalent with the "alt"
attribute. Note. The value of this attribute is referred to as
"alt-text".
Example.
End example.
When using OBJECT, specify a text equivalent in the body of the OBJECT
element:
Example.
End example.
7.2 Long descriptions of images
Checkpoints in this section:
* 1.1 Provide a text equivalent for every non-text element (e.g.,
via "alt", "longdesc", or in element content). This includes:
images, graphical representations of text (including symbols),
image map regions, animations (e.g., animated GIFs), applets and
programmatic objects, ASCII art, frames, scripts, images used as
list bullets, spacers, graphical buttons, sounds (played with or
without user interaction), stand-alone audio files, audio tracks
of video, and video. [Priority 1]
When a short text equivalent does not suffice to adequately convey the
function or role of an image, provide additional information in a file
designated by the "longdesc" attribute:
Example.
In sales97.html:
A chart showing how sales in 1997 progressed. The chart
is a bar-chart showing percentage increases in sales
by month. Sales in January were up 10% from December 1996,
sales in February dropped 3%, ..
End example.
For user agents that don't support "longdesc", provide a description
link as well next to the graphic:
Example.
[D]
End example.
When using OBJECT, specify longer text equivalent within the element's
content:
Example.
End example.
Note that OBJECT content, unlike "alt" text, can include markup. Thus,
content developers can provide a link to additional information from
within the OBJECT element:
Example.
End example.
7.2.1 Invisible d-links
Note. Invisible d-links are deprecated in favor of the "longdesc"
attribute.
An invisible d-link is a small (1-pixel) or transparent image whose
"alt" attribute value is "D-link" or "D" and is part of the content of
an A element. Like other d-links, it refers to a text equivalent of
the associated image. Like other links, users can tab to it. Invisible
d-links thus provide a (temporary) solution for designers who wish to
avoid visible d-links for stylistic reasons.
7.3 Ascii art
Checkpoints in this section:
* 13.10 Provide a means to skip over multi-line ASCII art.
[Priority 3]
Avoid ASCII art (character illustrations) and use real images instead
since it is easier to supply a text equivalent for images. However, if
ASCII art must be used provide a link to jump over the ASCII art, as
follows.
Example.
skip over ASCII artcaption for ASCII art
End example.
ASCII art may also be marked up as follows [skip over ASCII figure or
consult a description of chart]:
Example.
% __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
100 | * |
90 | * * |
80 | * * |
70 | @ * |
60 | @ * |
50 | * @ * |
40 | @ * |
30 | * @ @ @ * |
20 | |
10 | @ @ @ @ @ |
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70
Flash frequency (Hz)
End example.
Another option for smaller ascii art is to use an ABBR element with
"title".
Example.
:-)
End example.
If the ASCII art is complex, ensure that the text equivalent
adequately describes it.
Another way to replace ASCII art is to use human language substitutes.
For example, might substitute for a winking smiley: ;-). Or,
the word "therefore" can replace arrows consisting of dashes and
greater than signs (e.g., -->), and the word "great" for the uncommon
abbreviation "gr8".
7.4 Image maps
An image map is an image that has "active regions". When the user
selects one of the regions, some action takes place -- a link may be
followed, information may be sent to a server, etc. To make an image
map accessible, content developers must ensure that each action
associated with a visual region may be activated without a pointing
device.
Image maps are created with the MAP element. HTML allows two types of
image maps: client-side (the user's browser processes a URI) and
server-side (the server processes click coordinates). For all image
maps, content developers must supply a text equivalent.
Content developers should create client-side image maps (with
"usemap") rather than server-side image maps (with "ismap") because
server-side image maps require a specific input device. If server-side
image maps must be used (e.g., because the geometry of a region cannot
be represented with values of the shape attribute), authors must
provide the same functionality or information in an alternative
accessible format. One way to achieve this is to provide a textual
link for each active region so that each link is navigable with the
keyboard. If you must use a server-side image map, please consult the
section on server-side image maps
7.4.1 Text equivalents for client-side image maps
Checkpoints in this section:
* 1.1 Provide a text equivalent for every non-text element (e.g.,
via "alt", "longdesc", or in element content). This includes:
images, graphical representations of text (including symbols),
image map regions, animations (e.g., animated GIFs), applets and
programmatic objects, ASCII art, frames, scripts, images used as
list bullets, spacers, graphical buttons, sounds (played with or
without user interaction), stand-alone audio files, audio tracks
of video, and video. [Priority 1]
Provide text equivalents for image maps since they convey visual
information. As with other links, the link text should make sense when
read out of context. Refer to the section on Link Text for information
on writing good link text. Users may also want keyboard shortcuts to
access frequently followed links. Refer to the section on Keyboard
access to links.
If AREA is used to create the map, use the "alt" attribute:
Example.
End example.
The following example illustrates the same idea, but uses OBJECT
instead of IMG to insert the image to provide more information about
the image:
Example.
End example.
7.4.2 Redundant text links for client-side image maps
Checkpoints in this section:
* 1.5 Until user agents render text equivalents for client-side
image map links, provide redundant text links for each active
region of a client-side image map. [Priority 3]
In addition to providing a text equivalent, provide redundant textual
links. If the A element is used instead of AREA, the content developer
may describe the active regions and provide redundant links at the
same time:
Example.
End example.
Note that in the previous example, the MAP element is the content of
the OBJECT element so that the alternative links will only be
displayed if the image map (navbar1.gif) is not.
Note also that links have been separated by brackets ([]). This is to
prevent older screen readers from reading several adjacent links as a
single link as well as to help sighted users distinguish between links
visually.
Content developers should make sure they include printable characters
(such as brackets or a vertical bar (|)) surrounded by spaces between
adjacent text links. The problem does not occur if images have been
used as links; The alt-text will not be read as a single link because
of the place-holding images that graphical browsers use when images
are not loaded. Refer to the section Grouping and bypassing links for
more information.
7.4.3 Client-side versus server-side image maps
Checkpoints in this section:
* 9.1 Provide client-side image maps instead of server-side image
maps except where the regions cannot be defined with an available
geometric shape. [Priority 1]
7.4.4 Server-side image maps
Checkpoints in this section:
* 1.2 Provide redundant text links for each active region of a
server-side image map. [Priority 1]
When a server-side image map must be used, content developers should
provide an alternative list of image map choices. There are three
techniques:
* Include the alternative links within the body of an OBJECT element
(refer to the previous example illustrating links in the OBJECT
element).
* If IMG is used to insert the image, provide an alternative list of
links after it and indicate the existence and location of the
alternative list (e.g., via that "alt" attribute).
Example.
[Reference]
[Audio Visual Lab]
End example.
* If other approaches don't make the image map accessible, create an
alternative page that is accessible.
Server-side and client-side image maps may be used as submit buttons
in Forms. For more information, refer to the section Graphical
buttons.
7.5 Color in images
Checkpoints in this section:
* 2.2 Ensure that foreground and background color combinations
provide sufficient contrast when viewed by someone having color
deficits or when viewed on a black and white screen. [Priority 2
for images, Priority 3 for text].
7.6 Animated images
Checkpoints in this section:
* 7.3 Until user agents allow users to freeze moving content, avoid
movement in pages. [Priority 2]
8 Applets and other programmatic objects
While applets may be included in a document with either the APPLET or
OBJECT element, OBJECT is the preferred method.
8.1 Text and non-text equivalents for applets and programmatic objects
Checkpoints in this section:
* 1.1 Provide a text equivalent for every non-text element (e.g.,
via "alt", "longdesc", or in element content). This includes:
images, graphical representations of text (including symbols),
image map regions, animations (e.g., animated GIFs), applets and
programmatic objects, ASCII art, frames, scripts, images used as
list bullets, spacers, graphical buttons, sounds (played with or
without user interaction), stand-alone audio files, audio tracks
of video, and video. [Priority 1]
* 6.2 Ensure that equivalents for dynamic content are updated when
the dynamic content changes. [Priority 1]
* 6.3 Ensure that pages are usable when scripts, applets, or other
programmatic objects are turned off or not supported. If this is
not possible, provide equivalent information on an alternative
accessible page. [Priority 1]
If OBJECT is used, provide a text equivalent in the content of the
element:
Example.
End example.
A more complex example takes advantage of the fact the OBJECT elements
may be embedded to provide for alternative representations of
information:
Example.
End example.
If APPLET is used, provide a text equivalent with the "alt" attribute
and in the content in the APPLET element. This enables the content to
transform gracefully for those user agents that only support one of
the two mechanisms ("alt" or content).
Deprecated example.
End example.
8.2 Directly accessible applets
Checkpoints in this section:
* 8.1 Make programmatic elements such as scripts and applets
directly accessible or compatible with assistive technologies
[Priority 1 if functionality is important and not presented
elsewhere, otherwise Priority 2.]
If an applet (created with either OBJECT or APPLET) requires user
interaction (e.g., the ability to manipulate a physics experiment)
that cannot be duplicated in an alternative format, make the applet
directly accessible.
If an applet creates motion, developers should provide a mechanism for
freezing this motion (for an example, refer to [TRACE]). Also, please
refer to the next section for information about making audio and video
presentations accessible.
For more information about developing accessible applets, please refer
to [JAVAACCESS] and [IBMJAVA]. These companies have been developing an
Accessibility API as well as making the Java Swing classes accessible.
Related checkpoints:
* 3.4 Use relative rather than absolute units in markup language
attribute values and style sheet property values. [Priority 2] ,
* 6.4 For scripts and applets, ensure that event handlers are input
device-independent. [Priority 2] ,
* 6.5 Ensure that dynamic content is accessible or provide an
alternative presentation or page. [Priority 2] ,
* 7.1 Until user agents allow users to control flickering, avoid
causing the screen to flicker. [Priority 1] ,
* 7.2 Until user agents allow users to control blinking, avoid
causing content to blink (i.e., change presentation at a regular
rate, such as turning on and off). [Priority 2] ,
* 7.3 Until user agents allow users to freeze moving content, avoid
movement in pages. [Priority 2] ,
* 7.4 Until user agents provide the ability to stop the refresh, do
not create periodically auto-refreshing pages. [Priority 2] ,
* 9.2 Ensure that any element that has its own interface can be
operated in a device-independent manner. [Priority 2] ,
* and 10.1 Until user agents allow users to turn off spawned
windows, do not cause pop-ups or other windows to appear and do
not change the current window without informing the user.
[Priority 2] .
* 1.4 For any time-based multimedia presentation (e.g., a movie or
animation), synchronize equivalent alternatives (e.g., captions or
auditory descriptions of the visual track) with the presentation.
[Priority 1]
9 Audio and video
9.1 Audio information
9.2 Text equivalents for multimedia
Checkpoints in this section:
* 1.1 Provide a text equivalent for every non-text element (e.g.,
via "alt", "longdesc", or in element content). This includes:
images, graphical representations of text (including symbols),
image map regions, animations (e.g., animated GIFs), applets and
programmatic objects, ASCII art, frames, scripts, images used as
list bullets, spacers, graphical buttons, sounds (played with or
without user interaction), stand-alone audio files, audio tracks
of video, and video. [Priority 1]
When necessary, a text equivalent should be provided for visual
information to enable understanding of the page. For example, consider
a repeating animation that shows cloud cover and precipitation as part
of a weather status report. Since the animation is supplementing the
rest of the weather report (that is presented in natural language -
text), a less verbose description of the animation is necessary.
However, if the animation appears in a pedagogical setting where
students are learning about cloud formations in relation to land mass,
then the animation ought to be described for those who can not view
the animation but who also want to learn the lesson.
9.3 Embedding multimedia objects
Other objects, such as those requiring a plug-in, should also use the
OBJECT element. However, for backward compatibility with Netscape
browsers, use the proprietary EMBED element within the OBJECT element
as follows:
Deprecated example.
End example.
For more information refer to [MACROMEDIA].
10 Frames
For visually enabled users, frames may organize a page into different
zones. For non-visual users, relationships between the content in
frames (e.g., one frame has a table of contents, another the contents
themselves) must be conveyed through other means.
Frames as implemented today (with the FRAMESET, FRAME, and IFRAME
elements) are problematic for several reasons:
* Without scripting, they tend to break the "previous page"
functionality offered by browsers.
* It is impossible to refer to the "current state" of a frameset
with a URI; once a frameset changes contents, the original URI no
longer applies.
* Opening a frame in a new browser window can disorient or simply
annoy users.
In the following sections, we discuss how to make frames more
accessible. We also provide an alternative to frames that uses HTML
4.01 and CSS and addresses many of the limitations of today's frame
implementations.
10.1 Providing a frame title
Checkpoints in this section:
* 12.1 Title each frame to facilitate frame identification and
navigation. [Priority 1]
Example.
Use the "title" attribute to name frames.
A simple frameset document
End example.
10.2 Describing frame relationships
Checkpoints in this section:
* 1.1 Provide a text equivalent for every non-text element (e.g.,
via "alt", "longdesc", or in element content). This includes:
images, graphical representations of text (including symbols),
image map regions, animations (e.g., animated GIFs), applets and
programmatic objects, ASCII art, frames, scripts, images used as
list bullets, spacers, graphical buttons, sounds (played with or
without user interaction), stand-alone audio files, audio tracks
of video, and video. [Priority 1]
* 12.2 Describe the purpose of frames and how frames relate to each
other if it is not obvious by frame titles alone. [Priority 2]
Example.
Today's news
frameset-desc.html might say something like:
#Navbar - this frame provides links to the major
sections of the site: World News, National News,
Local News, Technological News,
and Entertainment News.
#Story - this frame displays the currently selected story.
#Index - this frame provides links to the day's
headline stories within this section.
End example.
Note that if the a frame's contents change, the text equivalent will
no longer apply. Also, links to descriptions of a frame should be
provided along with other alternative content in the NOFRAMES element
of a FRAMESET.
10.3 Writing for browsers that do not support FRAME
Checkpoints in this section:
* 1.1 Provide a text equivalent for every non-text element (e.g.,
via "alt", "longdesc", or in element content). This includes:
images, graphical representations of text (including symbols),
image map regions, animations (e.g., animated GIFs), applets and
programmatic objects, ASCII art, frames, scripts, images used as
list bullets, spacers, graphical buttons, sounds (played with or
without user interaction), stand-alone audio files, audio tracks
of video, and video. [Priority 1]
* 6.5 Ensure that dynamic content is accessible or provide an
alternative presentation or page. [Priority 2]
Example.
In this example, if the user reads "top.html":
This is top.html
and the user agent is not displaying frames, the user will have access
(via a link) to a non-frames version of the same information.
End example.
10.4 Frame sources
Checkpoints in this section:
* 6.2 Ensure that equivalents for dynamic content are updated when
the dynamic content changes. [Priority 1]
Content developers must provide text equivalents of frames so that
their contents and the relationships between frames make sense. Note
that as the contents of a frame change, so must change any
description. This is not possible if an IMG is inserted directly into
a frame. Thus, content developers should always make the source
("src") of a frame an HTML file. Images may be inserted into the HTML
file and their text alternatives will evolve correctly.
Example.
A correct frameset document
End example.
The following deprecated example should be avoided since it inserts
IMG directly in a frame:
Deprecated example.
A bad frameset document
Note that if, for example, a link causes a new image to be inserted
into the frame:
Visit a beautiful grove of
oranges
the initial title of the frame ("Apples") will no longer match the
current content of the frame ("Oranges").
End example.
10.5 Using FRAME targets
Checkpoints in this section:
* 10.1 Until user agents allow users to turn off spawned windows, do
not cause pop-ups or other windows to appear and do not change the
current window without informing the user. [Priority 2]
Content developers should avoid specifying a new window as the target
of a frame with target="_blank".
10.6 Alternatives to frames
One of the most common uses of frames is to split the user's browser
window into two parts: a navigation window and a content window. As an
alternative to frames, we encourage you to try the following:
1. Create one document for the navigation mechanism (call it
"nav.html"). A separate document means that the navigation
mechanism may be shared by more than one document.
2. In each document requiring the navigation mechanism, include it at
the bottom of the document with the following (or similar) OBJECT
markup:
Example.
Putting the navigation mechanism at the end of the document means
that when style sheets are turned off, users have access to the
document's important information first.
3. Use style sheets to position the navigation mechanism where you
want on the screen. For example, the following CSS rule floats the
navigation bar to the left of the page and makes it take up 25% of
the available horizontal space:
OBJECT { float: left; width: 25% }
The following CSS rule attaches the navigation mechanism to the
bottom-left corner of the page of the page and keeps it there even
if the user scrolls down the page:
OBJECT { position: fixed; left: 0; bottom: 0 }
Note. Navigation mechanisms or other content may be inserted in a
document by means of server-side includes.
10.6.1 Sizing frames with relative units
Checkpoints in this section:
* 3.4 Use relative rather than absolute units in markup language
attribute values and style sheet property values. [Priority 2]
In the previous examples, note that frame sizes are specified in
percentage. When a user resizes the window, the frames will adjust
accordingly and remain readable.
11 Forms
This section discusses the accessibility of forms and form controls
that one can put in a FORM element.
11.1 Keyboard access to forms
Checkpoints in this section:
* 9.4 Create a logical tab order through links, form controls, and
objects. [Priority 3]
* 9.5 Provide keyboard shortcuts to important links (including those
in client-side image maps), form controls, and groups of form
controls. [Priority 3]
In the next example, we specify a tabbing order among elements (in
order, "field2", "field1", "submit") with "tabindex":
Example.
End example.
This example assigns "U" as the accesskey (via "accesskey"). Typing
"U" gives focus to the label, which in turn gives focus to the input
control, so that the user can input text.
Example.
End example.
11.2 Grouping form controls
Checkpoints in this section:
* 12.3 Divide large blocks of information into more manageable
groups where natural and appropriate. [Priority 2]
Content developers should group information where natural and
appropriate. When form controls can be grouped into logical units, use
the FIELDSET element and label those units with the LEGEND element:
Example.
End example.
11.2.1 Grouping menu options
Content developers should group information where natural and
appropriate. For long lists of menu selections (which may be difficult
to track), content developers should group SELECT items (defined by
OPTION) into a hierarchy using the OPTGROUP element. Specifies a label
for the group of options with the label attribute on OPTGROUP.
Example.
End example.
11.3 Labeling form controls
Checkpoints in this section:
* 12.4 Associate labels explicitly with their controls. [Priority 2]
* 10.2 Until user agents support explicit associations between
labels and form controls, for all form controls with implicitly
associated labels, ensure that the label is properly positioned.
[Priority 2]
An example of LABEL used with "for" in HTML 4.01 is given in the
previous section.
A label is implicitly associated with its form control either through
markup or positioning on the page. The following example shows how a
label and form control may be implicitly associated with markup.
Example.
End example.
11.4 Graphical buttons
Checkpoints in this section:
* 1.1 Provide a text equivalent for every non-text element (e.g.,
via "alt", "longdesc", or in element content). This includes:
images, graphical representations of text (including symbols),
image map regions, animations (e.g., animated GIFs), applets and
programmatic objects, ASCII art, frames, scripts, images used as
list bullets, spacers, graphical buttons, sounds (played with or
without user interaction), stand-alone audio files, audio tracks
of video, and video. [Priority 1]
Using images to decorate buttons allows developers to make their forms
unique and easier to understand. Using an image for a button (e.g.,
with the INPUT element or BUTTON) is not inherently inaccessible -
assuming a text equivalent is provided for the image.
However, a graphical form submit button created with INPUT,
type="image" creates a type of server-side image map. Whenever the
button is clicked with a mouse, the x and y coordinates of the mouse
click are sent to the server as part of the form submission.
In the Image and Image Maps section, we discuss why server-side images
ought to be avoided, and suggest using client-side image maps instead.
In HTML 4.01, graphical buttons may now be client-side image maps. To
preserve the functionality provided by the server, authors have the
following options, as stated in the HTML 4.01 Recommendation ([HTML4],
section 17.4.1):
If the server takes different actions depending on the location
clicked, users of non-graphical browsers will be disadvantaged.
For this reason, authors should consider alternate approaches:
* Use multiple submit buttons (each with its own image) in place of
a single graphical submit button. Authors may use style sheets to
control the positioning of these buttons.
* Use a client-side image map together with scripting.
11.5 Techniques for specific controls
Checkpoints in this section:
* 10.4 Until user agents handle empty controls correctly, include
default, place-holding characters in edit boxes and text areas.
[Priority 3]
Example.
Some legacy assistive technologies require initial text in form
controls such as TEXTAREA in order to function properly.
End example.
Provide a text equivalent for images used as "submit" buttons:
Example.
End example.
Also refer to the section on keyboard access since this applies to
form controls.
11.6 Backward compatibility issues for forms
In some HTML 3.2 browsers,
* The BUTTON element does not appear
* INPUT with type="button" will appear as a text input field
12 Scripts
This section discusses the accessibility of scripts included in a
document via the SCRIPT element.
12.1 Graceful transformation of scripts
Checkpoints in this section:
* 6.5 Ensure that dynamic content is accessible or provide an
alternative presentation or page. [Priority 2]
Content developers must ensure that pages are accessible with scripts
turned off or in browsers that don't support scripts.
* Avoid creating content on the fly on the client. If a user's
browser does not handle scripts, no content will be generated or
displayed. However, this is different than displaying or hiding
already existing content by using a combination of style sheets
and scripting; if there is no script, then the content is always
shown. This also does not rule out generating pages on the fly on
the server-side and delivering them to the client.
* Avoid creating links that use "javascript" as the URI. If a user
is not using scripts, then they won't be able to link since the
browser can't create the link content.
Deprecated example. This is a dead-end link for a user agent where
scripts are not supported or not loaded.
...
End example.
12.2 Scripts that cause flickering
Checkpoints in this section:
* 7.1 Until user agents allow users to control flickering, avoid
causing the screen to flicker. [Priority 1]
12.3 Scripts that cause movement and blinking
Checkpoints in this section:
* 7.2 Until user agents allow users to control blinking, avoid
causing content to blink (i.e., change presentation at a regular
rate, such as turning on and off). [Priority 2]
* 7.3 Until user agents allow users to freeze moving content, avoid
movement in pages. [Priority 2]
12.4 Directly accessible scripts
Checkpoints in this section:
* 6.4 For scripts and applets, ensure that event handlers are input
device-independent. [Priority 2]
* 6.3 Ensure that pages are usable when scripts, applets, or other
programmatic objects are turned off or not supported. If this is
not possible, provide equivalent information on an alternative
accessible page. [Priority 1]
* 8.1 Make programmatic elements such as scripts and applets
directly accessible or compatible with assistive technologies
[Priority 1 if functionality is important and not presented
elsewhere, otherwise Priority 2.]
* 9.3 For scripts, specify logical event handlers rather than
device-dependent event handlers. [Priority 2]
An event handler is a script that is invoked when a certain event
occurs (e.g, the mouse moves, a key is pressed, the document is
loaded, etc.). In HTML 4.01, event handlers are attached to elements
via event handler attributes (the attributes beginning with "on", as
in "onkeyup").
Some event handlers, when invoked, produce purely decorative effects
such as highlighting an image or changing the color of an element's
text. Other event handlers produce much more substantial effects, such
as carrying out a calculation, providing important information to the
user, or submitting a form. For event handlers that do more than just
change the presentation of an element, content developers should do
the following:
1. Use application-level event triggers rather than user
interaction-level triggers. In HTML 4.01, application-level event
attributes are "onfocus", "onblur" (the opposite of "onfocus"),
and "onselect". Note that these attributes are designed to be
device-independent, but are implemented as keyboard specific
events in current browsers.
2. Otherwise, if you must use device-dependent attributes, provide
redundant input mechanisms (i.e., specify two handlers for the
same element):
+ Use "onmousedown" with "onkeydown".
+ Use "onmouseup" with "onkeyup"
+ Use "onclick" with "onkeypress"
Note that there is no keyboard equivalent to double-clicking
("ondblclick") in HTML 4.01.
3. Do not write event handlers that rely on mouse coordinates since
this prevents device-independent input.
12.5 Alternative presentation of scripts
Checkpoints in this section:
* 1.1 Provide a text equivalent for every non-text element (e.g.,
via "alt", "longdesc", or in element content). This includes:
images, graphical representations of text (including symbols),
image map regions, animations (e.g., animated GIFs), applets and
programmatic objects, ASCII art, frames, scripts, images used as
list bullets, spacers, graphical buttons, sounds (played with or
without user interaction), stand-alone audio files, audio tracks
of video, and video. [Priority 1]
* 6.2 Ensure that equivalents for dynamic content are updated when
the dynamic content changes. [Priority 1]
One way to accomplish this is with the NOSCRIPT element. The content
of this element is rendered when scripts are not enabled.
Example.
End example.
12.6 Page updates and new windows
Checkpoints in this section:
* 7.4 Until user agents provide the ability to stop the refresh, do
not create periodically auto-refreshing pages. [Priority 2]
* 7.5 Until user agents provide the ability to stop auto-redirect,
do not use markup to redirect pages automatically. Instead,
configure the server to perform redirects. [Priority 2]
* 10.1 Until user agents allow users to turn off spawned windows, do
not cause pop-ups or other windows to appear and do not change the
current window without informing the user. [Priority 2]
13 Index of HTML elements and attributes
Checkpoints in this section:
* 11.2 Avoid deprecated features of W3C technologies. [Priority 2]
Elements
Linear version of HTML 4.01 element index.
This index lists all elements in HTML 4.01. The first column of this
table links to the definition of the element in the HTML 4.01
specification ([HTML4]). Elements that are deprecated in HTML 4.01 are
followed by an asterisk (*). Elements that are obsolete in HTML 4.01
or don't exist in a W3C specification of HTML (2.0, 3.2, 4.01) do not
appear in this table.
The second column indicates other W3C specifications for HTML that
included each element. The third column indicates the element's role.
The last column lists the sections in the current document where the
element is discussed. An entry of "N/A" means that the element is not
discussed in this document.
Element name Defined also in Role Techniques
A 2.0, 3.2 Structure N/A
ABBR Structure N/A
ACRONYM Structure N/A
ADDRESS 2.0, 3.2 Metadata N/A
APPLET* 3.2 Replaced N/A
AREA 3.2 Structure N/A
B 2.0, 3.2 Presentation N/A
BASE 2.0, 3.2 Processing N/A
BASEFONT* 3.2 Presentation N/A
BDO Processing N/A
BIG 3.2 Presentation N/A
BLOCKQUOTE 2.0, 3.2 Structure N/A
BODY 2.0, 3.2 Structure N/A
BR 2.0, 3.2 Presentation N/A
BUTTON Structure N/A
CAPTION 3.2 Structure N/A
CENTER* 3.2 Presentation N/A
CITE 2.0, 3.2 Structure N/A
CODE 2.0, 3.2 Structure N/A
COL Structure N/A
COLGROUP Structure N/A
DD 2.0, 3.2 Structure N/A
DEL Metadata N/A
DFN 3.2 Structure N/A
DIR* 2.0, 3.2 Structure N/A
DIV 3.2 Structure N/A
DL 2.0, 3.2 Structure N/A
DT 2.0, 3.2 Structure N/A
EM 2.0, 3.2 Structure N/A
FIELDSET Structure N/A
FONT* 3.2 Presentation N/A
FORM 2.0, 3.2 Structure N/A
FRAME Replaced N/A
FRAMESET Presentation N/A
H1 2.0, 3.2 Structure N/A
HEAD 2.0, 3.2 Structure N/A
HR 2.0, 3.2 Presentation N/A
HTML 2.0, 3.2 Structure N/A
I 2.0, 3.2 Presentation N/A
IFRAME Replaced N/A
IMG 2.0, 3.2 Replaced N/A
INPUT 2.0, 3.2 Structure N/A
INS Metadata N/A
ISINDEX* 2.0, 3.2 Structure N/A
KBD 2.0, 3.2 Structure N/A
LABEL Structure N/A
LEGEND Structure N/A
LI 2.0, 3.2 Structure N/A
LINK 2.0, 3.2 Metadata N/A
MAP 3.2 Structure N/A
MENU* 2.0, 3.2 Structure N/A
META 2.0, 3.2 Metadata N/A
NOFRAMES Alternative N/A
NOSCRIPT Alternative N/A
OBJECT Replaced N/A
OL 2.0, 3.2 Structure N/A
OPTGROUP Structure N/A
OPTION 2.0, 3.2 Structure N/A
P 2.0, 3.2 Structure N/A
PARAM 3.2 Processing N/A
PRE 2.0, 3.2 Presentation N/A
Q Structure N/A
S* Presentation N/A
SAMP 2.0, 3.2 Structure N/A
SCRIPT 3.2 (DTD) Processing N/A
SELECT 2.0, 3.2 Structure N/A
SMALL 3.2 Presentation N/A
SPAN Structure N/A
STRIKE* 3.2 Presentation N/A
STRONG 2.0, 3.2 Structure N/A
STYLE 3.2 (DTD) Processing N/A
SUB 3.2 Presentation N/A
SUP 3.2 Presentation N/A
TABLE 3.2 Structure N/A
TBODY Structure N/A
TD 3.2 Structure N/A
TEXTAREA 2.0, 3.2 Structure N/A
TFOOT Structure N/A
TH 3.2 Structure N/A
THEAD Structure N/A
TITLE 2.0, 3.2 Metadata N/A
TR 3.2 Structure N/A
TT 2.0, 3.2 Presentation N/A
U* 3.2 Presentation N/A
UL 2.0, 3.2 Structure N/A
VAR 2.0, 3.2 Structure N/A
Attributes
Linear version of HTML 4.01 attribute index.
This index lists some attributes in HTML 4.01 that affect
accessibility and what elements they apply to. The first column of
this table links to the definition of the attribute in the HTML 4.01
specification ([HTML4]). Attributes and elements that are deprecated
in HTML 4.01 ([HTML4]) are followed by an asterisk (*). Attributes and
elements that are obsolete in HTML 4.01 or don't exist in a W3C
specification of HTML (2.0, 3.2, 4.01) do not appear in this table.
Attributes that apply to most elements of HTML 4.01 are indicated as
such; please consult the HTML 4.01 specification for the exact list of
elements with this attribute.
The second column indicates other W3C specifications for HTML that
included each attribute. The third column indicates the elements that
take each attribute. The fourth column indicates the attribute's role.
The last column lists the sections in the current document where the
attribute is discussed. An entry of "N/A" means that the attribute is
not discussed in this document.
Attribute name Applies to elements Role Techniques
abbr TD, TH Alternative N/A
accesskey A, AREA, BUTTON, INPUT, LABEL, LEGEND, TEXTAREA User
Interface N/A
alt APPLET, AREA, IMG, INPUT Alternative N/A
axis TD, TH Structure N/A
class Most elements Structure N/A
dir Most elements Processing N/A
for LABEL Structure N/A
headers TD, TH Structure N/A
hreflang A, LINK Metadata N/A
id Most elements Structure N/A
label OPTION Alternative N/A
lang Most elements Metadata N/A
longdesc IMG, FRAME, IFRAME Alternative N/A
scope TD, TH Structure N/A
style Most elements Processing N/A
summary TABLE Alternative N/A
tabindex A, AREA, BUTTON, INPUT, OBJECT, SELECT, TEXTAREA User
Interface N/A
title Most elements Metadata N/A
usemap IMG, INPUT, OBJECT Processing N/A
The following is the list of HTML 4.01 attributes not directly related
to accessibility. Content developers should use style sheets instead
of presentation attributes. For event handler attributes, please refer
to the section on device-independent event handlers for more detail.
Other structural attributes:
start*, value*, rowspan, colspan, span
Other presentation attributes:
align*, valign*, clear*, nowrap*, char, charoff, hspace*,
vspace*, cellpadding, cellspacing, compact*, face*, size*,
background*, bgcolor*, color*, text*, link*, alink*, vlink*,
border, noshade*, rules, size (deprecated according to
element), marginheight, marginwidth, frame, frameborder, rows,
cols
Other processing instruction attributes:
ismap, coords, shape
Other user interface attributes:
target, scrolling, noresize
Other metadata attributes:
type, cite, datetime
Event handler attributes:
onblur, onchange, onclick, ondblclick, onfocus, onkeydown,
onkeypress, onkeyup, onload, onload, onmousedown, onmousemove,
onmouseout, onmouseover, onmouseup, onreset, onselect,
onsubmit, onunload
_________________________________________________________________
14 References
For the latest version of any W3C specification please consult the
list of W3C Technical Reports at http://www.w3.org/TR.
[CSS1]
"CSS, level 1 Recommendation", B. Bos, H. Wium Lie, eds., 17
December 1996, revised 11 January 1999. This CSS1
Recommendation is http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/REC-CSS1-19990111.
The latest version of CSS1 is available at
http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-CSS1.
[CSS2]
"CSS, level 2 Recommendation", B. Bos, H. Wium Lie, C. Lilley,
and I. Jacobs, eds., 12 May 1998. This CSS2 Recommendation is
http://www.w3.org/TR/1998/REC-CSS2-19980512/. The latest
version of CSS2 is available at http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-CSS2.
[HTML4]
"HTML 4.01 Recommendation", D. Raggett, A. Le Hors, and I.
Jacobs, eds., 24 December 1999. This HTML 4.01 Recommendation
is http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/REC-html401-19991224/.
[MATHML]
"Mathematical Markup Language", P. Ion and R. Miner, eds., 7
April 1998, revised 7 July 1999. This MathML 1.0 Recommendation
is http://www.w3.org/TR/1998/REC-MathML-19990707/. The latest
version of MathML 1.0 is available at
http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-MathML.
[WCAG10]
"Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0", W. Chisholm, G.
Vanderheiden, and I. Jacobs, eds., 5 May 1999. This WCAG 1.0
Recommendation is
http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/WAI-WEBCONTENT-19990505/.
[WCAG10-CSS-TECHNIQUES]
"CSS Techniques for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0",
W. Chisholm, G. Vanderheiden, and I. Jacobs, eds. The latest
version of this document is available at
http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10-CSS-TECHS/.
[WCAG10-TECHS]
"Techniques for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0", W.
Chisholm, G. Vanderheiden, I. Jacobs, eds. This document
explains how to implement the checkpoints defined in "Web
Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0". The latest draft of the
techniques is available at http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10-TECHS/.
15 Resources
Note: W3C does not guarantee the stability of any of the following
references outside of its control. These references are included for
convenience. References to products are not endorsements of those
products.
15.1 Other guidelines
[IBMJAVA]
IBM Guidelines for Writing Accessible Applications Using 100%
Pure Java are available from IBM Special Needs Systems.
[JAVAACCESS]
Information about Java Accessibility and Usability is available
from the Trace R&D Center.
[MACROMEDIA]
Flash OBJECT and EMBED Tag Syntax from Macromedia.
[UWSAG]
"The Unified Web Site Accessibility Guidelines", G.
Vanderheiden, W. Chisholm, eds. The Unified Web Site Guidelines
were compiled by the Trace R & D Center at the University of
Wisconsin under funding from the National Institute on
Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR), U.S. Dept. of
Education.
15.2 User agents and other tools
A list of alternative Web browsers (assistive technologies and other
user agents designed for accessibility) is maintained at the WAI Web
site.
[ASTER]
For information about ASTER, an "Audio System For Technical
Readings", consult T. V. Raman's home page.
[HYPERMEDIA]
IBM's techexplorer Hypermedia Browser.
15.3 Accessibility resources
[TRACE]
The Trace Research & Development Center. Consult this site for
a variety of information about accessibility, including a
scrolling Java applet that may be frozen by the user.
[WAI-ER]
The WAI Evaluation and Repair Working Group
16 Acknowledgments
Web Content Guidelines Working Group Co-Chairs:
Jason White, University of Melbourne
Gregg Vanderheiden, Trace Research and Development
W3C Team contact:
Wendy Chisholm
We wish to thank the following people who have contributed their time
and valuable comments to shaping these guidelines:
Harvey Bingham, Kevin Carey, Chetz Colwell, Neal Ewers, Geoff
Freed, Al Gilman, Larry Goldberg, Jon Gunderson, Eric Hansen,
Phill Jenkins, Leonard Kasday, George Kerscher, Marja-Riitta
Koivunen, Josh Krieger, Chuck Letourneau, Scott Luebking,
William Loughborough, Murray Maloney, Charles McCathieNevile,
MegaZone (Livingston Enterprises), Masafumi Nakane, Mark Novak,
Charles Oppermann, Mike Paciello, David Pawson, Michael Pieper,
Greg Rosmaita, Liam Quinn, Dave Raggett, T.V. Raman, Robert
Savellis, Jutta Treviranus, Steve Tyler, and Jaap van Lelieveld
Level Triple-A conformance icon, W3C-WAI Web Content Accessibility
Guidelines 1.0
_________________________________________________________________
[contents] [html index]
Audrey
Roth IRA
401(k)
End example.
When using OBJECT, specify a text equivalent in the body of the OBJECT
element:
Example.
End example.
7.2 Long descriptions of images
Checkpoints in this section:
* 1.1 Provide a text equivalent for every non-text element (e.g.,
via "alt", "longdesc", or in element content). This includes:
images, graphical representations of text (including symbols),
image map regions, animations (e.g., animated GIFs), applets and
programmatic objects, ASCII art, frames, scripts, images used as
list bullets, spacers, graphical buttons, sounds (played with or
without user interaction), stand-alone audio files, audio tracks
of video, and video. [Priority 1]
When a short text equivalent does not suffice to adequately convey the
function or role of an image, provide additional information in a file
designated by the "longdesc" attribute:
Example.
In sales97.html:
A chart showing how sales in 1997 progressed. The chart
is a bar-chart showing percentage increases in sales
by month. Sales in January were up 10% from December 1996,
sales in February dropped 3%, ..
End example.
For user agents that don't support "longdesc", provide a description
link as well next to the graphic:
Example.
End example.
The following example illustrates the same idea, but uses OBJECT
instead of IMG to insert the image to provide more information about
the image:
Example.
End example.
7.4.2 Redundant text links for client-side image maps
Checkpoints in this section:
* 1.5 Until user agents render text equivalents for client-side
image map links, provide redundant text links for each active
region of a client-side image map. [Priority 3]
In addition to providing a text equivalent, provide redundant textual
links. If the A element is used instead of AREA, the content developer
may describe the active regions and provide redundant links at the
same time:
Example.
End example.
Note that in the previous example, the MAP element is the content of
the OBJECT element so that the alternative links will only be
displayed if the image map (navbar1.gif) is not.
Note also that links have been separated by brackets ([]). This is to
prevent older screen readers from reading several adjacent links as a
single link as well as to help sighted users distinguish between links
visually.
Content developers should make sure they include printable characters
(such as brackets or a vertical bar (|)) surrounded by spaces between
adjacent text links. The problem does not occur if images have been
used as links; The alt-text will not be read as a single link because
of the place-holding images that graphical browsers use when images
are not loaded. Refer to the section Grouping and bypassing links for
more information.
7.4.3 Client-side versus server-side image maps
Checkpoints in this section:
* 9.1 Provide client-side image maps instead of server-side image
maps except where the regions cannot be defined with an available
geometric shape. [Priority 1]
7.4.4 Server-side image maps
Checkpoints in this section:
* 1.2 Provide redundant text links for each active region of a
server-side image map. [Priority 1]
When a server-side image map must be used, content developers should
provide an alternative list of image map choices. There are three
techniques:
* Include the alternative links within the body of an OBJECT element
(refer to the previous example illustrating links in the OBJECT
element).
* If IMG is used to insert the image, provide an alternative list of
links after it and indicate the existence and location of the
alternative list (e.g., via that "alt" attribute).
Example.
End example.
The following deprecated example should be avoided since it inserts
IMG directly in a frame:
Deprecated example.