By Michael G. Paciello
Review by: Alex
[attachment=2314]attachment[/attachment]
One of the questions I get asked with this book is... There are two already well established books on web accessibility ("Web Standards Solutions" and "Designing with Web Standards") both of which are by well known standards followers and both of the books are considered among the best in the business of website design. What I get asked? Why this book. Its a fair enough question, the book itself is actually slightly out of date in areas and some of the information in its content no longer applies however it discusses in great depth something that no other accessibility book I have seen covers nearly a quarter as well. The tools in which visually impaired or disabled users actually use to browse the internet. Where as this books details on how to make your website accessible may be slightly outdated with newer standards one thing that most accessibility books seem to no touch is what tools the users actually use. These books tend to give a generic look on "you should do this and then users can view your site". Web Accessibility for People with Disabilities however dismisses the heuristic view of other books and goes in depth to look at the tools used by disabled users such as text and GUI browsers, telephony systems, voice activation, web readers, and focuses on each individual tool which is used to give a generalised view on how it works and how you can make your site as accessible as possible to that individual application. It does seem like a lot of work and the generic way of doing certain things for each browser or type of user works in the real world more effectively but to have a good knowledge of WHAT other users use and HOW those browsers view YOUR site gives you an understanding of what it is like to be one of the users of the software, and this can only be a good thing. For this books pitfall, what it does cover in terms of the disabled person’s point of view is second to none and it makes this book worth every penny for any concerned website developer who wishes to embrace accessibility standards.
The chapters in this book include the following... Chapter 1 introduces web accessibility and its implications on website design. Chapter 2 discusses the legal requirements and policies which govern website design. Chapter 3 explains how to use the standards and guidelines established by the web accessibility initiative (WAI). Chapter 4 identifies the barriers which affect web accessibility and any pitfalls which may affect site development. Chapter 5 shows you how to implement accessible design into HTML 4.0. Chapter 6 explains the details of validators and how to make sure your sites code validates with the World Wide Web consortium (W3C). Chapter 7 is where this book really picks off, it explains the types of browsers which exist, this chapter goes through each browser and tells you its benefits and how it works (though modern browsers such as Firefox are not mentioned). Chapter 8 gives you information about the types of publishing tools which are available and how much those tools take into account for accessibility. Chapter 9 explains website programming and how you can make it accessible. Chapter 10 goes further from Chapter 7 and explains the types of specialist tools such as screen readers which are available and how they interpret pages and you code. Chapter 11 takes a generalised view of the future and how the web may look in future years. Chapter 12 gives a list of resources for accessibility fans who wish to read more on the subject on the internet or get in contact with organisations who promote accessibility. Chapter 13 gives resources for disabled users and how they can be actively involved in accessibility on the internet. Chapter 14 details the specification set out by the WAI and gives a step by step guide to helping you meet the basic standards and finally Chapter 15 explains the CSS specification and how this helps make your website more accessible.
This book is suitable for the following types of people interested in website development:
- Accessibility fans that understand guidelines but wish to know about the tools disabled users use.
- Beginners to accessibility who want to have a generalised view of what accessibility means.
- Website developers who wish to embrace accessibility for the very first time in their websites.
poor class