Making the web accessible
It is important that everyone has equal access to the web. There are tools that can make web surfing easier for those with disabilities, but it is also up to those who build and run websites to take responsibility for meeting accessibility standards.
This means making websites usable by everyone, even if they have different ways of accessing and enjoying the content.
Accessible websites
Browsealoud
Easier web surfing
Making the BT Inclusion website accessible
Advice for web developers
Useful websites
Accessible websites
The web is a fantastic resource, but there are many different ways and standards for creating the content for web pages. It is very important that websites are 'accessible' - that means designed with all users in mind, including older and disabled users.
For example, some blind and partially sighted people look at websites with screen readers, which convert what is shown on the screen into either speech or Braille. For conditions such as dyslexia, being able to adjust the text and background colours make a site more accessible.
At BT, we are committed to developing products and services that can be used by all our customers, regardless of ability, and this includes our websites.
We are also working to improve levels of accessibility on our bt.com website and our internal websites for employees. The RNIB hasincluded our work as an example of best practice - read the case study on its website.
While accessibility standards can make developing a website more complex and costly, they mean that the many millions of older and disabled people can have full access to the content, products and services on show.
Accessible websites are also a legal requirement under the Disability Discrimination Act.
Browsealoud
Browsealoud is free software that will read out the text on a website as words, as long as the website has been 'speech enabled'. This website is one of many that works with Browsealoud. The software can be easily downloaded and installed as a free plug-in from the Browsealoud website. This is intended to enable people with dyslexia or mild visual impairments and those who do not speak English as their first language to access the website.
Easier web surfing
If your impairment or condition makes it difficult normally to look at websites, it is possible to make viewing web pages easier.
Advice for web users who are blind or partially sighted
Further information for anyone with a visual impairment is on this helpful factsheet about 'Using the internet' from the RNIB.
Some websites, such as this one, include a style changer, making it easy to change how it appears for easier reading.
If a website does not have this option, most popular browsers, such as Internet Explorer or Firefox, have settings to change the look of web pages. This includes size and style of fonts, colours of the text and background, and the magnification level. More details can be found in the Help menu of your browser.
Screen magnifiers - If you have low vision and cannot read on a normal screen, screen magnifiers can magnify a portion of the content on your screen to take up the full size of the screen. You can view all the content by scrolling using the mouse or the keyboard.
Screen readers - For those unable to read a screen at all, or anyone with dyslexia, a screen reader can read the contents of web pages, either out loud or to a Braille display. As well as the text, the screen reader will also interpret the other content of the page, identifying elements such as links, headings and subheadings. This allows the user to understand the structure of the page and to navigate to other pages.
There are also text only browsers, which strip out graphics and present the user with only the text from the web pages.
Keyboard shortcuts
If you find using a mouse difficult then you can use your keyboard to move around a page, as well as trigger many common functions using shortcuts.
The Tab key will move between links. Pressing SHIFT and Tab, will move you to the previous link
The Backspace key is the same as clicking on BACK, moving you to the web page you were looking at previously. Pressing Alt and the right arrow is the same as clicking on FORWARD.
Shortcuts include Control plus P for Print and Control plus F for Find in this page. Consult your browser Help section for further examples.
Use auto-complete
When you are typing web addresses or completing entries on web pages, this displays a list of previous matching entries as you type. To turn AutoComplete on or off:
On the Tools menu - click Internet Options - click the Content tab - click the AutoComplete button.
If you have cognitive disabilities, you might want to clear the check boxes to avoid distractions. If you use a blind-access utility, you might want to clear the check boxes if your accessibility aid reads the suggestions as they appear, making typing difficult.
Making the BT Inclusion website accessible
Accessibility has been a key part of this website from the very earliest stages of its development. Our developers all have good understanding of the WAI's accessibility guidelines.
Accessibility features and design decisions include:
Font - We have used a non-serif font, which is easier to read on a screen. The chosen text colours give good contrast with the background colours. Colours, font style and size can all be altered.
Paragraphs - Paragraphs are kept short with spaces between paragraphs.
Column widths - Wide pages can make text hard to read for conditions such as dyslexia so the width of the column displaying the content of the site is narrow.
Style changer - Although our site will allow you to alter your browser settings to change the way it looks, we have also included a Style Changer for users with JavaScript enabled web browsers. The Style Changer makes it easy to change the size of text and colours used. You can do this on any page by clicking on the link "Change the appearance of this site" near the top of the page.
Structure and behaviour - We have not used frames. We do not have links opening new windows, which some users find confusing.
Graphics/ Pictures - Graphics and pictures include text descriptions (Alt-Tags), following the recommendations of the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) and the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB)
Language - We hope this website is easy to read and understand.
Consistent layout - All the menus use proper text rather than images of words for links, which means that the words can be made larger if necessary.
Useful websites
The websites listed below can offer further help and advice on creating accessible sites and improving your content.
The W3c's Web Accessibility Initiative offers the definitive guidelines on accessible websites.
Dr. Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox on Current Issues in Web Usability. Sign up for a free e-mail newsletter from the "King of usability"
Accessify.com. "Tools, wizards, articles and tutorials on Web Accessibility for the conscientious web developer"
RNIB Web Access Centre, Design and Build section, gives details on techniques to design, build and test sites for accessibility.