In-Class

Developing websites that are accessible can be a challenging task. Websites that get high traffic and wide audiences should take additional care to follow these guidelines to not isolate audiences. But how close is your favorite website following accessibility guidelines? Let's find out.

• Visit your favorite website.
  • Check out how compliant this website is with various standards using the following tool: achecker. Feel free to search for other automated tools!
  • Which standards does the website not follow?
  • Is it the case that the website actually does a better job than the standard?
    • Note that these tools essentially work by 'viewing the page source' and scanning the html, CSS, and javascript for various patterns.
    • How would you extend these tools to automate this compliance test?
• Next think about some of the guidelines, principles, and theories that we discussed in class.
• Pair up with those around you to discuss after you have had 5-10 minutes to explore.
• Report back to the class your findings for discussion--we will also assign a class scribe to help take some notes to be posted here later.

Grading

Note that in-class activities are part of your participation grade, and participating will help you perform well on your assignments. You do not have to formally submit anything, (however I take notes of who participated!).