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Standards Compliance
Accessibility and Standards Compliance
On the following pages we will talk a lot about Standards Compliance in relation to Accessibility. This is because the two are inseparable. Standards Compliance is at the heart of Accessibility and forms part of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.
Standards Compliance means writing code according to a given set of specifications. These specifications are agreed collectively and published. they are similar to a form of technical grammar We use the internationally recognised and by far the most commonly accepted standards issued by the World Wide Web consortium (W3C) . For the web that means writing web pages using valid XHTML and CSS.If you look at the bottom of this text you will see ‘valid XHTML’ and ‘valid CSS'. We include this to show that every page of this website conforms to the latest W3C standards.
WCAG standards
You will also notice "Triple A" conformance. This indicates that this page has achieved compliance with the WCAG 1.0 "Triple A" standard. This standard relates to disabled people accessing the web. The Pollen Shop has created a range of WCAG services that support help developers and project managers:
- WCAG Compliance - using automated validation and human evaluation of code to identifying access barriers
- WCAG Consulting - providing solutions for tricky access problems
- Beyond Standards - looking at how access can be improved outside standards framework
XHTML and CSS
Because complaint code follows strict rules and avoids non–standard markup, well written XHTML web pages are more accessible than older HTML pages. This greatly improves access for disabled users.
It also means that XHTML documents are far easier to transfer to other web technologies. From screen readers and Braille readers to mobile phones and PDA’s. XHTML is a bridge between HTML and the powerful XML.
Standards compliance is the best way to ensure forward compatibility. When the next generation of browsers are released they will (hopefully) be the most 'Standards Compliant' versions yet.
Developers of assistive technologies, like screen readers, need to program their software to read the code of a website. They do this by programming the software to follow the W3C standards. When web designers also follow the standards everything works fine. When they don’t, the software doesn't work as it should and this creates a barrier for disabled users.
Is my website Standards Compliant?
There is a quick and easy test to check if your website meets basic compliance. The W3C provide an on-line validator http://validator.w3.org. Enter the address of your website and check the results.
Please Note: A successful results means the page you checked is valid (X)HTML - it does not necessarily mean your website is accessible. Validating to formal, published grammars is only one of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.
