Why care? Because with some pretty simple techniques, your site can work for the thousands of people who browse with adaptive technology even while it looks splendiferous on modern browsers. And guess what — the same techniques work for the hundreds of thousands of people who browse with handheld devices and telephones, and the millions more who will use those appliances in the coming future. It’s all about making sites machine-readable so that information can travel globally. That’s the future. And you’re still kludging for 4.x browsers? C’mon! You probably still care whether GIF is pronounced with a hard ‘g’ or a soft ‘g’ or an ‘h’ sound (like gila monster).
How to? Well, this site is no longer a tutorial because there is much better info out there than anything I developed — and I now have other tasks to move on to — but here are my best tips. >Think of your site as a linear document that reads from beginning to end, no matter how it is positioned on the page. >Embrace the fluidity of web design and leave behind the rigidity of the printed page. >Master and use style sheets. >Learn how to use alt text and title.
Other than that, use the hyperlinks in the sidebar. And be excellent to each other.
About my accessible journey: i was enrolled
in Norm Coomb’s first online Accessible Web Design course when WAI formed,
and quickly subscribed to the WAI-IG discussion list, where I occasionally posted
but also learned who to listen to and who to ignore. For several years,
I gave workshops on accessible design and still incorporate the tenets
in my own sites when they’re worthwhile. I also consulted on a
web design project for our state school for the blind, a project which left students and teachers enabled to master
their intranet themselves.
— tom mcCain, crittur.com