Step One: Know the UW-Madison Policy
The UW-Madison Policy can be viewed online at http://www.wisc.edu/wiscinfo/policy/wwwap.php. Here is a summary of the major points:
- Point 1: The UW-Madison policy is based on Federal Rehabilitation Act Section 508, subsections 1194.22 and 1194.31. As of November 1, 2003, all new and existing web pages must comply with the UW-Madison policy.
- Point 2: Establishes update priorities based on page content and usage.
- Point 3: Requires contact information for requesting materials in alternative format. Date of publication or last update is no longer required.
- Point 4: Recommends testing procedures.
- Point 5: No longer in effect. Previous policy asked faculty to let students know what kinds of web based tools would be used in a course.
- Point 6: No longer in effect. Previous policy allowed text-only Web sites to be offered when extraordinary measures would be necessary to make a Website compliant.
- Point 7: Provides information about seeking exemptions from the campus policy. Also provides link to training, consulting, and other resources.
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to contentsStep Two: Know the Section 508 Web Standards
There are lots of resources for understanding the Section 508 Web standards. Here are a few essential links:
WebAIM Section 508
Web Accessibility Checklists
http://www.webaim.org/standards/508/checklist
This page provides brief explanations and pass/fail tests for standards 1194.22
a-p (HTML) and 1194.21 (Scripts, Plug-ins, Java, etc.) There is also a link
to a printer friendly (i.e., Adobe Acrobat) version of the checklists.
Section
508 Web Development Guidelines
http://helpdesk.wisc.edu/accessibility/guideline/508guidelines.html
This guide
was prepared by Blaire Bundy and Tim Dugdale of UW-Madison. It lists each of
the 1194.22 standards and provides helpful explanations, techniques and examples.
Section 508 Web Standards
and WCAG Priority 1 Checkpoints: A Side-by-side Comparison
http://www.jimthatcher.com/sidebyside.htm
This comparison may be useful if you are already familiar with the W3C guidelines,
which were the basis for the original UW-Madison Web Accessibility Policy.
Step Three: Check Your Web Site
UW-Madison students, faculty and staff use a variety of hardware and software to access web pages. Experienced web designers perform the following checks on all web based materials:
- View in both Internet Explorer and Netscape Composer
- View on both Macintosh and PC
- View on slow (28.8) modem connection (or use a tool which estimates download time)
- Print on black and white printer
- Navigate using only the keyboard
In addition, UW-Madison web pages must be checked for compliance with the UW-Madison policy (see Step One: Know the UW-Madison Policy, above, and the UW-Madison Web Accessibility Checklist ).
The DoIT helpdesk offers a free website evalaution service called The Web Doctor. The evaluation includes up to thirty minutes free consultation time.
Tools based on Section 508 standards are available from the following sites:
- Macromedia
Accessibility Tools
http://www.macromedia.com/macromedia/accessibility/
Download free Accessibility Starter Kit and 508 Accessibility Suite Extensions (for registered Dreamweaver users only). - Bobby
http://bobby.watchfire.com/bobby/html/en/index.jsp
At this web site you can enter the URL for a web page. You will receive a line by line report identifying possible problems and solutions. Also useful for checking download times. - WAVE 3.0 Accessibility
Tool
http://www.wave.webaim.org/index.jsp
At this web site you can enter the URL for a web page. Like Bobby, WAVE provides a report about your web site. It also shows read-order for tables and forms (must select "WAVE Complete" or "WCAG" standards). This is important for satisfying Section 1194.22 (g), (h), and (n) of the 508 standards.
Step Four: Be Resourceful!
Attend campus accessibility workshops and events
Web Accessibility for All is a federally funded project housed within the UW-Madison School of Education. The project offers free accessibility training, website evaluation, and other resources. http://www.cew.wisc.edu/accessibility/
Try online training
DoIT Professional & Technical Education (PTE) offers a free online tutorial called Web Accessibility 101: Policy, Standards and Design Techniques. You can follow lessons in order or choose only the topics you need to learn about. http://www.doit.wisc.edu/accessibility/online-course/index.htm
Web Accessibility for All offers free online tutorials on web site evaluation, descriptive text (D tags), alt text, PowerPoint and Adobe Acrobat. http://www.cew.wisc.edu/accessibility/tutorials/
Join the Access email list
The UW-Madison "Access" listserv addresses web accessibility issues with questions, solutions, and discussions about implementing the campus web accessibility policy. Here's how to subscribe:
- send email to listproc@relay.doit.wisc.edu
- no subject line
- in body of email insert subscribe access YourFirstName YourLastName
- no signature
Attend a User Group Meeting
- No meetings scheduled at this time.
Consult with McBurney Disability Resource Center
- UW-Madison McBurney
Disability Resource Center
http://jumpgate.acadsvcs.wisc.edu/~mcburney/
Bookmark These Online Resources
- DoIT Accessibility
Page
http://www.doit.wisc.edu/accessibility/ - Web Accessibility in Mind
http://www.webaim.org/