Images | Cross browser compatibility | Frames | Javascript | Flash | Best viewed with . . .
Images are the biggest source of problems for web site accessibility. They are often used not just for pictures, but also to convey textual information. Some browsers cannot display images (and some surfers turn images off to speed up downloads), so you need to provide an alternative way of making the text available. What would you make of a web page that to a screen reader consists of "Image...image...image..."?
Not all browsers display things in the same way, even when they are implementing the same code. Text sizes and the thickness of borders may be different, and colours may not be the same. But although the appearance of your site may change between different browsers, as long as it still functions it will be OK. Remember that the users of older or non-graphical browsers are used to sites being like that.
Some browsers, especially older ones, text-only browsers and text-to-speech browsers cannot deal well with framed web sites. A properly-constructed framed web site will include a no-frames section which will allow such browsers to use the site. Most, however, currently do not. A message like "This site uses frames, but your browser doesn't support them" is not going to get you any business. "Please upgrade your browser" is unlikely to win you any friends, and the all-too-common blank white screen is not very smart either.
Some browsers cannot run scripts, and some surfers turn javascript off in their browsers, so if there are functions on your site that depend on javascript, they will not work for everyone. If the javascript functions are essential, rather than cosmetic or an enhancement, you will need to provide an alternative method as well.
Flash is a powerful piece of software which facilitates the production of animated web pages. In particular it is frequently used to create animated logos and intro screens for web sites. Unfortunately, such animations generally have no content which can be viewed by text browsers, and viewing them requires a plug-in (an extra piece of software) to be installed on the visitor's computer. In my experience many sites using Flash ask you to download the software, even when it is already present on your computer!
Many Flash animations seem to have been created to impress the people commissioning the site, rather than to help visitors. Think about the sites you visit - do you bother with Flash, or do you always click on the link that says "Skip Intro"? Which sites do you find most frustrating, and which ones do you prefer when you are searching for something? Chances are you will find non-Flash sites much more rewarding - and so will your customers.
Animations created with Flash, especially those for "splash" screens, are often quite large and take a while to download. Since most surfers just click past them immediately, what was the point in having that expensive animation made in the first place? It just put an advert between the visitor and the content they were looking for. Remember - very few people actually choose to watch adverts.
Telling the visitor that your site is best viewed at a certain resolution is a good way of admitting that it is poorly designed. Who are you to tell your visitors what their screen settings should be? What are you going to do about it if they are different anyway? Did you ever see a TV programme which told you it was "Best viewed on a 52cm screen from a distance of 2 metres"?
Suggesting that your site is best viewed with Internet Explorer 5+ or Netscape 6+ implies that the design fails to take into account other browsers or visitors. What message is this giving to blind or partially-sighted visitors? What about people who are using text browsers? Your site may indeed look its best with these browsers - but telling people that implies it looks rotten in anything else. It is often the sign of a site which has been coded to accommodate the bugs in a particular version of a specific browser.
The beauty of the web is that properly-coded pages can be used by any browser, and that the information is available in any browsing situation, with any software, on any machine.
Back to home page | Access introduction | How can I test my web site?
| Home | Design | Hosting | Domains | Access Audit | Contact |
© 2004 Red Badge Web Design : Dunbar · East Lothian · Scotland