The Benefits of Accessible Design From: SD Times - 02/15/2003 - page 28 By: Mary Elges, a Web designer at Pinnacle Decision Systems Inc. As a Web designer, I’ve seen a lot of changes in the past few years on the Internet. A standardization has developed for what a Web site is expected to have and what it shouldn’t have. However, part of my job is not only to design pages that meet the current standard, but to look ahead and try to see what standards may be developing. I think the next big change we’ll see in Web design will center around building sites for accessibility. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has put forth a list of suggestions for Web designers to follow to fully optimize sites for accessibility: Guideline 1: Provide Equivalent Alternative to Auditory and Visual Content Guideline 2: Don't Rely on Color Alone Guideline 3: Use Markup and Stylesheets and Do It Properly Guideline 4: Clarify Natural Language Usage Guideline 5: Create Tables That Transform Gracefully Guideline 6: Ensure That Pages Featuring New Technologies Transform Gracefully Guideline 7: Ensure User Control of Time-Sensitive Content Guideline 8: Ensure Direct Accessibility of Embedded User Interfaces Guideline 9: Design for Device Independence Guideline 10: Use Interim Solutions Guideline 11: Use W3C Technologies and Guidelines Guideline 12: Provide Context and Orientation Information Guideline 13: Provide Clear Navigation Mechanisms Guideline 14: Ensure That Documents Are Clear and Simple Read the full story at: http://www.sdtimes.com/opinions/guestview.htm Links: HTML Writers Guild's AWARE Center: http://aware.hwg.org