Introduction to Designing Accessible Websites

Introduction to Designing Accessible Websites online course
Course Name

Introduction to Designing Accessible Websites

This course is designed for website developers who have an interest in incorporating accessible design features into their pages. Web accessibility benefits everyone - those with and those without disabilities, through increased usability and interoperability of web based materials. This class is structured to allow learners to explore the area of web accessibility using a hand-on, project-based approach, with an emphasis on learning by doing, and sharing information and experience with your class mates through online discussions. Students enrolled in this course will be expected to review assigned readings, apply what they have learned through coding projects and participate in class discussions. Evaluation will be based on weekly assignments consisting of 1 or 2 small projects together with review questions, and 1 final project tying it all together.

The required course textbook, Web Accessibility: Web Standards and Regulatory Compliance, has been authored by leading authorities in the field and covers such topics as What is Web Accessibility?; Assistive Technology; 508 Guidelines; Emerging Technology; and Using CSS to separate content from presentation. To round out our exploration of web accessibility some online sources will also be consulted.

Course Objectives:
  • Identify issues surrounding accessible web design
  • Describe why web accessibility is important
  • Recognize barriers to effective accessibility
  • Be able to apply relevant semantically correct HTML / XHTML coding to pages
  • Be able to apply CSS1 elements to separate style from content
  • Demonstrate ability to test pages for accessibility with the use of validators and WCAG 1.0 Checkpoints and Section 508 requirements.
  • Demonstrate ability to effectively locate and use or recommend tools
  • Demonstrate an understanding of WCAG 1 and Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act
  • Demonstrate a basic understanding of the (draft) updated Section 508 and the updated WCAG 1 as (draft) WCAG 2

Applicable Job Roles: webmasters, web programmers, and web application developers.

Outline
Week 1: Understanding Web Accessibility: Accessibility and Why It Matters
  • Why is accessibility on the web important?
  • Accessibility Myths.
  • Introduction to Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act and W3C's WCAG.
  • Activity - Identifying accessibility problems and using keyboard navigation.
Week 2: Assistive Technology
  • What are assistive technologies?
  • Accessibility is not just about screen readers.
  • Accessibility software and hardware.
  • Activity - Exploring assistive technology - Emulate the experience of a disability to test a web page for accessibility.
Week 3: Writing Valid, Well-formed, Semantically Correct Code
  • The importance of well-formed, semantically correct code.
  • Introduction to validation services: W3C HTML, W3C CSS, WAVE, and other accessibility evaluation tools.
  • Activity - Testing pages using validators, suggesting and making changes to code to promote validity.
Week 4: Creating Accessible Content: Images, Audio/Video, Navigation
  • Text alternatives for images, image maps and audio/video.
  • HTML accessibility elements and attributes, when and where to apply them.
  • Activity - Addressing accessibility issues by reviewing accessibility specific HTML, applying the ALT attribute, proper structure, and valid code.
Week 5: Creating Accessible Content - Tables
  • What makes a table accessible?
  • Content linearization: Data tables versus using tables for format.
  • Using tools to test the readability of tables.
  • Applying the scope, id, and headers attributes.
  • WAI WCAG Priority 1 and 2 checkpoints for tables.
  • Section 508 provisions for tables.
  • Activity - Design an accessible page based on WAI WCAG Priority 1 and 2 checkpoints and Section 508 sub-part 1194.22 (g and h) for tables.
Week 6: Creating Accessible Content - Forms and Frames
  • Accessibility issues surrounding forms and frames.
  • Using the Input and label, fieldset and legend elements, and with the id, for, title, and value attributes.
  • Activity - Creating and testing an accessible form.
Week 7: Separating Content from Presentation / Emerging Technologies
  • Progressive Enhancement - the concept, with CSS, with JavaScript.
  • Making websites accessible with CSS: Separating content and structure.
  • Browser support for CSS1 and CSS2.
  • CSS media types.
  • MIME types and CSS case sensitivity.
  • Activity - Design or retrofit an accessible page by applying CSS.
Week 8: Putting It All Together
  • Wrap up discussion
  • Activity - Completion of course project
Prerequisites
Students interested in signing up for this course should have successfully completed H101 or be familiar with HTML and CSS. This class will require hand-coding web pages using either HTML (or XHTML) and CSS.
Requirements
Students must have webspace where they can post their assignments. You need to avoid webspaces that support banner ads or popup adds as this adds code to your pages. If you do not have webspace, try your ISP first as many provide a small amount of space with your monthly fee. If yours does not, there are a number of free services that are available on the net. A good place to look for free webspace is FreeWebSpace.net at http://www.freewebspace.net/ or the Free Site at http://www.thefreesite.com
Course Books
Course Price
  • Member Price: $120 US
  • Non-Member Price: $220.00 US
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Additional Information:
Your place in the course is confirmed by your payment. Introductory courses are intended for students with no experience in the subject matter and are seeking beginner level training.

Refund Policy: Please read our "Terms and Refund Policy" before registering for this course.

Additional Cost: Book and software migh be required for the course. Read the Requirements and Book section for more information. Course fee does not include the book and software cost .

Start Date: Click on the Register Now button to process to the registration page. You will see the start date of the class on that page.

How eClasses Work:Instructors post lectures, reading selections, and hands-on assignments once a week in the online classroom. Students can discuss the assignments with the instructor and amongst themselves in the classroom area. This format has no set meeting time, which allows students to attend class at a time most convenient to them, yet still provides logically organized communication between class participants. Students can apply for the completion certificate after finishing the class. Web Study certificate is also available. Click on the Certificates link on the top navigation bar for more information.

 

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Before you register for this class, please read carefully the Outline, Prerequisites, Requirements, Books, and Refund Policy sections.


4 Web Study Certificates

 Valid XHTML 1.0!  Valid CSS1!  Level Triple-A conformance icon, W3C-WAI Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0

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