[thelist] Site check required please

Andy Warwick mailing.lists at creed.co.uk
Mon Jun 17 18:11:00 CDT 2002


| On 2002/06/17, Martin Burns said:

> Also works very nicely in a range of text only browsers, which I guess
> is important for you.

It is indeed. I tested in Lynx but haven't got access to a screen reader (I'm on
a Mac...) so had to make a few educated guesses how it would work...

I had considered putting "[image]" at the start of the alt text for the photos,
but wasn't sure if screen readers - or other text browsers - indicated it was an
image's alt text anyway; lynx (at least the version I use) simply shows the alt
text as a line of type. The last thing I wanted was a stuttering screen reader
saying "image alt text: [image] ....". Any insight there?

The goal was/is to write to appropriate standards, and be as accessible as
possible, yet still look 'designed' for those browsers that can deal with it. I
think I have proved to myself that it can be done, and has been fairly
successful overall.

> I'm wondering - that side nav. It's essentially an unordered list.
> Thought of making it a <ul> with CSS styling?

No.

But I will think of it now.

> I *do* like the ><span class="hidden">&#160;|&#160;</span> separating
> the links, though. Very smart.

Yeah, I was kinda proud of that :)

Behind the scenes that navbar is an XML file that some PHP code renders into an
include, disabling the appropriate button for the page you're currently on.

To add an extra link I simply need to add an extra <entry></entry> tag in the
XML file, giving the text, the href, and the title text...

> You may want to put in <map> tags around repeated elements to enable
> people with appropriate screenreaders to skip past them and get to the
> main content:
> <map title="Navigation" id="navigation">
> [nav stuff]
> </map>
> http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10-HTML-TECHS/#group-bypass
> although your     <DIV CLASS="hidden" ID="accessibilitylinks"> does the
> job too

Well the <map> tag is a new one on me; I shall read up on it and add that in.

> Finally, some keyboard shortcuts to the main nav items would put the
> icing on the cake.

Again, a good idea, and another one I shall read up on.

Although this has gone over budget, it's been a great learning exercise and a
nice portfolio piece.

> Overall, *very* nicely done

Thanks a lot.

You've given me a fair few more things to consider.

Andy W



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