Website design for people with special needs. Internet access is a right for everyone
Design Guidelines for website design for people with special needs
During the construction of websites for people with the special needs the designers must comply with the instructions World Wide Web Consortium – W3C (Greek office) and the Web Accessibility Content in order to provide access to the information and the services of the web to everybody
HTML5
XHTML 1.0 is an annotations language, which combines the well known characteristics of HTML with the power of XML. The certification validation of the grammatical XHTML 1.0 according to the type of document (DTD) XHTML 1.0 Transitional means that the syntax and the grammar of XHTML in the website is in line with the guidelines set by World Wide Web Consortium and the content is presented in the same way from all navigators that follow the specificationsη.
CSS3
The shaping sheet (CSS ) is a simple styl addition mechanism ( for instance fonts, colour, letter distance) in documents on the web. The certification validation of the level 2 shaping sheets grammar means that the syntax and the grammar of the shaping sheets of a website complys with the guidelines set by World Wide Web Consortium for the web and the content is displayed in the same way from all navigators that follow the specifications.
WCAG
The compliance with the guidelines about web content accessibility of the World Wide Web Consortium is divided in 3 levels: A, AA and AAA (depending on which definitions are checked and their priority). Level AAA compliance means that all 1,2 and control level definitions are satisfied.
The website design compatability specificitations for people with special needs are descripted in the internationally w3c guidelines: http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/WAI-WEBCONTENT-19990505/.
These guidelines explain how it should and what it must a website’s or e-shop’s include content in order to be accessible to people with disabilities. The guidelines are to addressed to all web content constructors (webpage writers and website designers) and to website tools constructors. The main aim of the guidelines is to promote accessibility. However, the application will make the content in the internet more available to all users in the world, no matter what user agent they use (e.g. browser, voice-activated browser, mobile phone, personal computer etc) or the restrictions set by their environmanet (e.g. noise environment, underlighted or overlighted environment, working enviroment that requires free hands, etc.). The application of these guidelines will also help finding information on the internet faster. These guidelines do not discourage content constructors from using pictures, videos, etc, but explain how to make the multimedia content more accessible to a wider audience.
Priorities
for website construction for people with special needs
Every check point has a priority level that has been set by the working goup and is based on the impact that the check point has on the accessibility.
Priority 1
in the website design for people with special needs
A content developer for the web must satisfy that check point. Otherwise one or more users group will not have access in the document’s information. The satisfaction of this check is a basic requirement, so a few user groups can use documents on the internet.
Priority 2
in creating a website for people with special needs
A web developer for the website design for people with special needs should satisfy this check point. Otherwise one or more user groups will find it difficult the access in this document’s information. The satisfaction of this check point will eliminate important barriers in the web’s document access.
Priority 3
in developing a website for people with special needs
A web content developer can if he wants satisfy this check point. Otherwise one or more user groups will find it difficult the access in this document’s information. The satisfaction of this check point will improve the access for the documents on the web.
A few checkpoints set a priority level that can change under a few (certain) conditions
Compliance
In this section 3 compliance levels are set:
1. Compliance level «A»: all level 1 priorities check points are satisfied
2. Compliance level «Διπλό-A»: all level 1 and 2 priorities check points are satisfied
3. Compliance level «Τριπλό-A»: all level 1,2 and 2 priorities check points are satisfied
A website design for people with the special needs with level AAA compliance level (triple A) means that all users, no matter their disability, can access the website’s content. AAA level ensures the horizontal integration of the start of no discrimination and the accessibility of all people with special needs.
