ADA Requirements for University of Arkansas Web Pages

ADA is the Americans with Disabilities Act, a comprehensive civil rights law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability; it says that people with disabilities should have access to and use of information and data that is comparable to the access and use by people who do not have disabilities. Web sites should be accessible to people who are blind, visually impaired, color blind, deaf, hearing impaired, manually impaired, and/or cognitively impaired. People with these disabilities might only be able to use the keyboard (no mouse) or require the ability to enlarge type; they might use a text-to-speech reader such as JAWS or a braille keypad. They might require transcripts or closed captioning for audio and video. Over 54 million Americans are disabled; over 750 million worldwide. 10% of the online population is disabled. Being ADA compliant also helps a site be listed higher in search engines as they are text-only. An accessible site will also be easier viewed with a mobile device or cell phone.

To make sure your web site is accessible, you must test the pages. A good way to begin is to check to confirm that the entire page can be navigated and all information is available using only the keyboard (no mouse). You can also check your page for accessibility using an online ADA checker such as WAVE or Cynthia Says. You can also download the Firefox Web Developer Toolbar (WebAIM has information on using the Firefox Web Developer Toolbar). Another way to test the page is using a text only web browser such as Lynx. Also, the Opera web browser's settings can easily set so that it can work as a text only browser for testing (WebAIM has a page with ADA information on Opera). The best way to check your page for accessibility is using an actual screen reader such as JAWS from Freedom Scientific. You can download a JAWS demo (requires a reboot after 40 minutes) that you can use to check pages. See our Common JAWS Commands page for help. You can use an HTML validator such as the W3C's Markup Validation Service to determine if the proper HTML is being used.

WebAIM, WAI Resources , and Accessify have lots of information regarding ADA accessibility and compliancy.

Federal (Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1998, Section 508) and state (Arkansas Act 1227 of 1999) laws governing ADA accessibility are based on the World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C) Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) guidelines. The guidelines are:

1. Provide equivalent alternatives to auditory and visual content.
   This means that you will need a good ALT tag for every image which conveys any information in the image; use the LONGDESC tag if the text is over 150 characters. Image maps must also have an ALT tag for the map and ALT tags for each area. Provide synchronized textual transcripts for the audio in videos and a synchronized auditory description of the visual track for multimedia presentations.
2. Don't rely on color alone.
   All information should be available without using color to convey the information. There should also be sufficient contrast between colors.
3. Use markup and style sheets and do so properly.
   Use style sheets for page layout, but make sure that the page will still be usable without the styles. Do not use styles that generate text; do not use ! important rules (which override user styles). This also means that every page should have a DOCTYPE declaration. Sizes in the HTML should be relative, not absolute. The page should use heading tags properly and use ordered or unordered lists for bullet or numbered lists. You should not use the BLOCKQUOTE tag for indenting (without an actual quote) nor the PRE tag. STRONG tags should be used instead of bold tags, and every page should have a TITLE. Deprecated tags such as CENTER and FONT should not be used.
4. Clarify natural language usage.
   Identify the primary language of the page, identify any changes in language, and use the ABBR and ACRONYM tags when needed.
5. Create tables that transform gracefully.
   Do not use tables for layout. Make sure that all data tables have identified header cells, use SCOPE or ID, and have a SUMMARY and a CAPTION.
6. Ensure that pages featuring new technologies transform gracefully.
   Pages must still be usable when scripts, applets, or other programmatic objects are turned off or not supported. Make sure that pages using style sheets will still be usable without the styles.
7. Ensure user control of time-sensitive content changes.
   When a timed response is required, the user must be alerted and given sufficient time to indicate more time is required. Do not create periodically auto-refreshing pages. Do not use markup to redirect pages automatically; configure the server to perform redirects. The screen should never flicker; do not use BLINK, MARQUEE, nor animated GIF images that flicker.
8. Ensure direct accessibility of embedded user interfaces.
   Make sure that any link requiring a plug-in such as Acrobat Reader, RealPlayer, Flash Player has a link to the download of that plug-in next to the original link, or use the PLUGINSPAGE or PLUGINURL attibute of the EMBED object.
   Make sure that PDFs and Flash movies use all accessibility options.
9. Design for device-independence.
   A mouse should never be required to view or navigate any web page or access any information. Use the NOSCRIPT tag with scripts. Check all scripts and forms for accessibility. Use the LABEL tag with all forms (or the LABEL, FOR, and ID tags if necessary); always use the FIELDSET and LEGEND tags when appropriate. Never use Javascript jump menus. Create a logical tab order through links, form controls, and objects.
10. Use interim solutions.
    Do not cause pop-ups or other windows to appear automatically and do not change the current window without informing the user.
11. Use W3C technologies and guidelines.
    If, after best efforts, you cannot create an accessible page, provide a link to an alternative page that uses W3C technologies, is accessible, has equivalent information (and/or functionality), and is updated as often as the inaccessible (original) page.
12. Provide context and orientation information.
    Frames must include the TITLE and NAME attributes, and the NOFRAMES tag must be used. Each frame should have a TITLE.
13. Provide clear navigation mechanisms.
    A "skipnav" is required for pages with a navigation bar so that the user can skip over the repetitive navigation bar. Clearly identify the target of each link; link text should make sense out of context (don't use only "click here" for a link). Different links require different text. Links should always reference a web page, not just an image or object. Use a character other than a space between links.
14. Ensure that documents are clear and simple.
    Use the clearest and simplest language appropriate for a site's content, and create a style of presentation that is consistent across pages. Include a title on every web page, and group related links.