Category: accessibility

Why colleges should stop teaching Fireworks as a primary web design tool

Here’s a recurring scenario in my life. Someone who took some college classes to learn to make web sites has decided to try to implement CSS and to make their sites accessible. The classes taught them to make web sites by using Fireworks to slice an image and to export the resulting table-based HTML to Dreamweaver. Now this person, who–I admit–does beautiful graphics in Fireworks, comes to me or to some discussion list I participate in and asks for help in making their Fireworks generated HTML work with CSS or fulfill some accessibility need. This question is like asking how to get a tricycle to go from zero to 60 in under 6 seconds—it demonstrates a gap in the basic knowledge of what is involved.

Some college has given this poor person a difficult handicap to overcome. That handicap is the belief that what they are doing is a best practice that will adapt to every requirement. Yes, Fireworks can generate HTML. No, learning to generate HTML with Fireworks is not the best way to learn to make web sites.

In terms of best practice, students should be learning how to structure an HTML document intelligently so that it can be presented with CSS based enhancements (including, perhaps, lovely images created in Fireworks). An intelligently structured HTML document can adapt to every requirement: CSS/accessibility for screen, print, handheld, etc.

A sliced image exported from Fireworks as a table full of empty cells, spacer gifs, images and almost no text is not the web design solution that some college classes lead students to believe it is. Classes should teach HTML, CSS, and then how to apply that knowledge with a tool like Dreamweaver.

Fireworks does have its place: to create graphics. It should be taught as a graphics design tool, not as a web design tool. Students who use Fireworks to create exportable HTML should know how to adapt it in Dreamweaver to make it meet their other requirements.

There are many options available to an instructor who wants to teach students to think in terms of building structure with HTML that will support CSS and accessibility. My own book is written in these terms, and other books I have reviewed here such as Web Standards Solutions by Dan Cederholm are as well.

No Child Left Behind, except with internet-based curricula

WebAIM’s response to the National Education Technology Plan “WebAIM applauds the plan with the exception of one prominent omission. The plan does not mention the critical need for accessible technology for millions of students with disabilities. Because this need is not identified, nor addressed, there are no apparent plans to remedy this ever-increasing digital divide. Perhaps there was a lack of input from the disability, or technology access, community. It appears that these stakeholders were not included in the work of the committee.”

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 Working Draft

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0: “The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) published the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 (WCAG 1.0) as a Recommendation in May 1999. This Working Draft for version 2.0 builds on WCAG 1.0. It has the same aim: to explain how to make Web content accessible to people with disabilities and to define target levels of accessibility. Incorporating feedback on WCAG 1.0, this Working Draft of version 2.0 focuses on guidelines. It attempts to apply guidelines to a wider range of technologies and to use wording that may be understood by a more varied audience.”

Accessibility and Apple

Apple – Mac OS X – VoiceOver Spoken Interface: “VoiceOver is a fully integrated, built-in enhancement to the Mac OS X Aqua user interface, providing an additional and equal way to access the Macintosh. It reads aloud the contents of documents such as Web pages, Mail messages and word processing files. It provides a comprehensive audible description of your workspace and all the activities taking place on your computer.”

I’m eager to see reviews as to how this compares with JAWS or Home Page Reader. Anybody know?

New York and a web site accessibility law

Spitzer Agreement to Make Web Sites Accessible to the Blind and Visually Impaired The NY Attorney General opined that the Americans With Disabilities Act requires that private web sites be accessible to blind and visually impaired Internet users. The ADA generally dictates that all “places of public accommodation” and all “goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations” of places of public accommodation, must be made accessible to disabled citizens, absent undue hardship.

This is a change from the attitude in the past, which was that only government sponsored web sites had to comply with ADA requirements. While it only applies to New York, it may spread to other states as well as time passes.

Big Blue offers free disability simulator

IBM’s alphaWorks: aDesigner: “The aDesigner is a disability simulator that helps Web designers ensure that their pages are accessible and usable by the visually impaired.

Voice browsers and screen readers read aloud the text on Web pages and are used by visually impaired people. However, these devices are less effective with certain kinds of content, such as highly graphical material. Web developers can use aDesigner to test the accessibility and usability of Web pages for low-vision and blind people.”

This is a free tool and works only on Windows XP and 2000.