ADVERTISING

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University Communications and Marketing Web
Workshops Fall 2005
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So What Does Kentucky Have Over Ohio Other than
the Derby? Accessible Web Sites Find Out How
Kent State Can Enter the Race
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Web Accessibility Legislation

• Reference http//www.katsnet.org/section508.html
• In 2000, the Kentucky General Assembly passed a
  far-reaching law, commonly called the Kentucky
  Accessible Information Technology (AIT) Act, KRS
  61.980 - 61.988, which requires that all
  state-supported institutions utilize information
  technology resources that are accessible to
  people with disabilities. This law explicitly
  covers school districts, universities, and all
  other institutions supported with state funds. As
  one of the "covered entities" under this statute,
  school districts are required to ensure that the
  information technology they use will provide
  students with disabilities with access "that is
  equivalent to the access provided individuals who
  are not disabled" (KRS 61.982). As a means of
  determining conformity with this provision,
  Kentucky law further defines that the level of
  access provided by school systems and other
  covered entities must be in compliance with
  federal Section 508 access standards (36 C.F.R.
  1194).

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Web Accessibility Legislation

• Ohio legislation has not specifically impacted
  higher education institutions as of yet
• Expectation it will mirror affirmative action
  legislation and become a mandate at this level

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Why Is Accessibility Important?

• Supporting diversity
• Providing equal information
• Improving customer service

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Where We Were Finding Race Legs
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Bare Minimum Requirements

• Text-only version of www.kent.edu
• Working on Web Publishing Policy
• Guide to Web Standards with section on Web
  accessibility (http//www.kent.edu/ucm/PoliciesSta
  ndards/Web508.cfm)

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Easy Solutions for Others

• Text-only versions
• Alt tags
• Flash
• Font color

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Examples of Color Contrast
Hue, lightness and saturation should vary
dramatically to support those with color
deficient partial sight.
Information, graphs from The Lighthouse Inc. Web
site.
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Where We Are Entering the Race
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Cross-divisional Team to Advance Effort

• Joe Drew (Accessibility Lab)
• New Media Center Other IS Units
• University Communications Marketing
• Webmasters Campuswide

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Better Tools

• Improved knowledge
• Game plan
• Increase awareness of issues
• Provide solutions
• Access to tools
• JAWS
• Lift technology

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What Do the Tools Do?

• Jaws
• Known as a screen reader, reads Web pages to
  users
• Lift
• Converts sites to text-only Web pages, now
  available to all Kent State sites
• Allows users to increase font size to accommodate
  low vision and or the need to move around a page
  with greater accuracy due to limits with their
  fine motor skills
• Allows user to adjust font and set different
  colors and backgrounds
• These settings are not saved, however after a
  user session ends.

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Common Challenges

• Images and image maps
• Links
• Data tables
• Drop downs
• Forms
• Flash
• PDFs (tagging)

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Image Solutions

• Alt tags (image descriptions that show when a
  cursor hovers over an image and that also show in
  text-only sites) are required
• They can be added in the code or via some content
  managers, such as CommonSpot

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Alt Tags Behind the Scenes
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Alt Tags With CommonSpot
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How They Display in Lift

• http//ada.kent.edu/tt/http//www.kent.edu//Academ
  ics/ALA/index.cfm

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Link Solutions

• Links
• Make sure that all links are understandable. Do
  not hyperlink the URL, but instead the title of
  the Web site to be accessed by the user upon
  selection of the link. For example, instead of
  http//www.kent.edu, hyperlink the words Kent
  State University home page.
• Never set a link on the text "click here," "read
  more" or "link to" because these words
  are meaningless to a Web visitor who is blind.
  Instead of linking the words "Click here" to Kent
  State's Admissions Office, the link should read
  Visit Kent State's Admissions Office.
• http//imagine.kent.edu/media/content/facts.asp
  (illustrate link list only in Jaws or Lift
  explain before vs. now)

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Table Solutions

• But first the problem

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Data Table Simple Example

• University by Gender Enrollment (in )

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Data Table The Problem

• Screen readers read left to right, then down a
  row, then left to right again.
• So, screen reader would read males, females, KSU,
  52, 48, OSU 55, 45
• Beyond a simple table and get become meaningless

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Data Tables, Correct Order

• The objective is to have each number within the
  cells correspond verbally to the correct
  combination of rows and columns.
• So, it would be preferable for the table to read
  Title University by Gender Enrollment in
  Percents,
• Then KSU Males 52 KSU Females 48
• Then OSU Males 55 OSU Females 45

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Data Tables Fixing The Problem

• Requires
• Addition of column and row headers using scope
  attribute in code.
• A brief description in text, of how the table is
  organized (rows by columns) and what the basic
  points the table represent. This description is
  then attached directly to the data table via the
  internal/hidden code (html).
• Table generator can help - http//dept.kent.edu/mp
  a/tablegenerator.htm

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Solutions for Drop Downs Image Map

• Wayfinding / directions site needed repairs to
• Drop downs
• Image map

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Drop Down Error Before Repairs

• Note
• Drop down wont work as no submit button or go
  button exists

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Drop Down After Repairs

• Note
• Drop down is made functional with the addition
  of a go button

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Image Map Error Before Repairs

• Note
• An image map is an image that has links embedded
  within it, here each building links to a new Web
  page

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Image Map Error Before Repairs How It Appears
in Lift

• Note
• The buildings were numbered, not named so the
  links were meaningless in this format.

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Image Map After Repairs How It Appears in Lift

• Note
• Each hot spot (link) was given an alt tag that
  labeled the each building so now a user would
  know which link to choose to find an the building
  in question.

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Solutions to Forms

• Coming through Lift annotations for CommonSpot
  users
• Other developers can reference Accessify.com
  (found in resources later)

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Testimonial About Flash and PDFs
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Solutions to Flash

• Based on the testimonial, dont use it
• If you must, offer several options to skip

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Solutions to PDFs

• Include
• Proper tagging
• Additional format (html, .txt., .doc)

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Average User
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Average User
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(No Transcript)
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Make It Accessible

• By offering a PDF and text version of your
  document (.doc or .txt)
• By tagging your existing PDFs using the simple
  tagging manual available through UCM
• By tagging your PDFs when you initially create
  them

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Tagging Done Easy

• In Word, select Adobe PDF gt Convert to Adobe PDF.
  Save PDF file.
• In Adobe Acrobat, select File gt Document
  Properties. Select a language on Advanced tab.
  Fill out file details on Description tab.

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Tagging Done Easy
3. On the Pages tab, select all pages in the
document by pressing CtrlA. 4. Select Options gt
Page Properties. Choose Use Document
Structure. 5. Select Advanced gt Accessibility gt
Full Check to run an accessibility check.
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Where We Will Grow Closing the Gap
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Campuswide Awareness and Cooperation

• Additional CommonSpot clients (resolves problem)
• School of Art
• Gearing up to approach Webmasters With Jaws and
  Lift analysis - http//ada.kent.edu/tt/)
• Athletics vendor making progress

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What We See
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What Some Users See
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What Some Users See
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In-progress Solutions

• Athletics now
• http//demott.usablenet.com/tt/http//www.kentstat
  esports.com/index.php?schange_well_id2url_arti
  cle_id837

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Advancing Lift Solution

• All Webmasters should provide link to Lift for
  transcoding of sites
• Code for departmental sites not using .asp or
  .cfm (replacing with respective url)
• lta hrefhttp//ada.kent.edu/tt/http//www.kent.
  edugtText Onlylt/agtlta hrefhttp//ada.kent.edu/tt/h
  ttp//www.kent.edugtltimgsrchttp//cms.kent.edu/im
  ages/home/keyhole.gifgtlt/agt

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Lift Solution for .asp Pages

• All Webmasters should provide link to Lift for
  transcoding of sites
• For ASP pages
• Text-only versionltahrefhttp//ada.kent.edu/tt/
  http//ltResponse.Write(Request.ServerVariables("s
  erver_name"))gtltResponse.Write(Request.ServerVar
  iables("script_name"))gtgtText Versionlt/agt
• Image versionltahrefhttp//ada.kent.edu/tt/http
  //ltResponse.Write(Request.ServerVariables("serve
  r_name"))gtltResponse.Write(Request.ServerVariabl
  es("script_name"))gtgtltimg srchttp//cms.kent.edu
  /images/home/keyhole.gifgtlt/agt
• Download the http//cms.kent.edu/images/home/keyho
  le.gif toserver site is housed on and link to it
  vs. above url

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Lift Solutions for .cfm Pages

• All Webmasters should provide link to Lift for
  transcoding of sites
• Code for Coldfusion pages
• Text Only versionltahref"http//ada.kent.edu/tt
  /http//ltcfoutputgtcgi.server_namecgi.script_nam
  elt/cfoutputgt"gtTextOnlylt/agt
• Image Versionltahref"http//ada.kent.edu/tt/htt
  p//ltcfoutputgtcgi.server_namecgi.script_namelt/
  cfoutputgt"gtltimg srchttp//cms.kent.edu/images/ho
  me/keyhole.gifgtlt/agt

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Remaining a Competitor

• Continue to advance effort
• Expand to include forms, frames, javascript
  solutions
• SRWC (time permitting frames)
• http//www.recservices.kent.edu/index.asp
• http//ada.kent.edu/tt/http//www.recservices.kent
  .edu/index.asp
• Redesign of www.kent.edu will keep accessibility
  top of mind
• Clemson example time permitting demo in jaws
  and lift vs. Residence Services in Jaws

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Resources

• Tools, wizards, articles and tutorials on Web
  Accessibility for the conscientious web developer
  
• Accessify.com - http//www.accessify.com/tools-and
  -wizards/accessibility-tools/
• Trial version of Jaws
• http//www.freedomscientific.com/
• Designing for People With Partial Site and Color
  Deficiences
• http//www.lighthouse.org/color_contrast.htm
• Guide to Web Standards (has section on 508
  issues)
• http//www.kent.edu/ucm/PoliciesStandards/Web.cfm
• Research on Accessibility in Higher Education
• http//www.rit.edu/easi/itd/itdv09n2/thompson.htm
  

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