Universal Design: One Site to Rule Them All
How semantically correct (X)HTML + CSS + accessibility = universal design.
How semantically correct (X)HTML + CSS + accessibility = universal design.
As someone who has been building websites for over 11 years, I can tell you the two areas that are the least understood and the most maligned are compliance and accessibility.
Seen as a type of website welfare, only for the few, they are often ignored as an “only if I have to” or “only if I’m sued” addition to most websites. But following W3C compliance and the WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) Level AA can help you reach an untapped $13 trillion market, and also reduce your IT costs, ready you for mobile, improve your Google quality score, and organic search engine placements.
Also, adding the accessibility guidelines would require only 2 percent more effort if you’re doing everything else right, so you could have just one website to meet all your needs. (Note: there are some sites where the functionality is so complex a mobile site will be necessary to present users with paired down functionality. However, most sites can be transformed to work with smart phones and dumb phone mobile devices without creating a second site.)
No way you say? Yep, way. Here’s how.
WCAG AA Guideline: Semantically Correct Valid (X)HTML and CSS
Step one is creating a semantically correct site with valid code. But what does it mean to be semantically correct? I like to use house building analogies.
OK, so that was the hard part! You’re almost there once your code is semantically correct, your presentation layer is separated from your structure, and your scripting files are external.
Choose Your Technologies Wisely
The WCAG AA standard requires that your site be accessible with scripting that isn’t keyboard dependent.
You can meet this standard easily for most functionality requirements if you choose your scripting languages and methods carefully. If not, you can offer alternatives, but this is a least desirable method. Good programmers can almost always come up with a better method, so let them flex their creative muscle and come up with compliant solutions.
Think about it. How nice would it be to only have to maintain your one site, instead of two? Remember, “universal design” is about “one site to rule them all!” No more dual site maintenance. Not only will this help you reach that untapped accessibility market, but also reach more and more mobile users as they come online in droves.
Finally: The Secret Ingredient! Adding your Accessibility Tagging
Accessibility tagging is simple. Here are the most common tagging items you need to add to your site:
While there is a bit more to it (for a complete list go to the W3C WCAG 2.0 Guidelines or to WebAim), this gives you an idea of just how easy it is to add the tagging once you have done the rest of the site right from the start. Pretty painless, right?
So Again, Why Are We Doing This?
While it’s most certainly the right thing (and, soon, possibly legal thing) to do, it’s also most certainly the smart thing to do.
So let’s review. Why are we doing this? Simply, it’s the smart thing to do.
However, if you have to make this argument to your manager or CEO, what can you tell them to help bring them on board? Why is it smart to do this semantically correct, universal design, accessibility thing? Let’s summarize.
And it just looks good! OK, I know only geeks like me look at site code for site validity, but I’ve used that as a deciding factor in site trust.
Why? Because changing out a CSS/XHTML controlled site layout and design is fairly simple as long as you don’t want to rebuild the house — and even then, it’s much easier in CSS. So while making your header purple and changing all your links to red may not be advisable, it will be simple. Or at least much simpler than before!
Doing all these things will reduce IT maintenance costs, increase your SEO presence, and make your site mobile ready. Now isn’t that worth just doing it right to begin with?
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