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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Comprehensive and Current, May 3, 2002
This book addresses a pressing need in the increasingly complex world of the Web: accessibility. From 15 to 30% of the general population has some functional limitation when using technology products. Nearly 10% of Internet users have a disability of some kind. That's tens of millions of people in the US and hundreds of millions of people worldwide. Seniors are joining the online throng in droves. All these numbers mean that addressing Web site accessibility issues is no longer an option, it's a necessity. But accessibility is not just about following standards and adding ALT tags. Everybody has the right to information on the Web, regardless of disability, location, language, or any other factor. This "access for all" viewpoint requires a different approach than the last-minute band-aid accessibility we've seen in the past. This book shows you how to integrate accessibility into your design process to improve your bottom line. As Vint Cerf said recently, "The Internet is for Everybody." This book is a team effort, written by a cast of eight experts, including Bob Regan of Macromedia. Regan, Senior Product Manager for Accessibility, talks about the new accessibility features of Flash MX, which was just released recently. Each author addresses topics in their areas of expertise. Glasshaus has got the formula down now, hire a bunch of experts, and crank out a book in record time. Everything from legal issues, assistive technology, accessible content, navigation, and data input to testing for Section 508 compliance are covered in this 415 page book. The authors rate Web development tools for compliance with the W3C's ATAG guidelines on a star system. While Dreamweaver MX, Frontpage, Golive, and BBEdit have improved, they still have a ways to go. The authors show you how to separate content from presentation with CSS, and test your code for standards and accessibility compliance. You'll learn how to assess and repair accessibility problems on your site with free evaluation and fix-up tools. Finally, the book closes with an in-depth chapter on US Web accessibility law.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Book Ensures Sites Reach for the Gold in Accessibility, July 26, 2002
Don't make the same mistakes the last two official Olympic sites made with regard to accessibility. With many sites overlooking the simple ALT in images, it's no question that many need educating on this important topic. Statistics shows that 15 to 30 percent of the population has a need for accessibility features on Web sites. Happily, people live longer and aging brings seeing and hearing challenges. Furthermore, seniors are responsible for over 25 percent of online purchases, neglecting this group can be costly to the company that abandons them. The number shoots up to 40 percent when including people over the age of 40. CEOs, CIOs, C-level whatevers, managers, designers, programmers, and anyone else who has a hand in a Web site will benefit from the book. Not only does it cover the how, but also the whats and whys by saying, "This is why we should do this and this is how to do it." Upper level management benefit from information on the Web accessibility laws, guidelines, reasons for creating accessible sites, and the accessibility organization strategy. If an executive wants to reach far and wide, then she can get that by reading and applying the knowledge found in the book. One unique chapter explains how to structure an organization to handle and support accessibility issues, a rarely addressed topic in the world of Web accessibility. The Internet has opened the gates for businesses to go global and there's information about the laws from countries other than the US. Designers and programmers get the tools and resources for creating, evaluating, and validating pages for accessibility compliance. Useful is a comparison and report card on Web design software explaining how each program meets or fails to meet in producing accessible code and features. The book echoes the latest cry in the world of Web design in encouraging designers to separate content from presentation. Having an accessible Web site doesn't mean boring looking pages with nothing but text. Quite the contrary, the authors encourage creating well-design sites while keeping accessibility in mind. As one who has written articles on Web design, the book offers insight into techniques that I hadn't encountered. With multiple authors, readers are assured they're hearing from the experts on each chapter topic. One notable expert is Bob Regan of Macromedia who discusses the tools and techniques of using Flash MX to make a site accessible. Any site that wants to be successful and reach the greatest number of people will invest in creating an accessible site. This well-rounded book covers it all from laws to code to help ensure the site does it right.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very Impressive!, April 25, 2002
I came into this book with some experience of commercial web programming and a knowledge of H.C.I, so I realised that it is important to make information on the web accessible to all, but had little idea on where to start. In the first pages I learnt something new about alt text for images, and realised that this book was going to teach me a lot of essential things about making web sites accessible! It starts with an insight into the legal area of accessibility and moves on to look at common myths such as having a text only alternative to a site. Then it shows you how you can present your content, navigation and data input in the most assessable way, and then shows you ways on how you test your site, making sure everyone can enjoy your online efforts! What I love about this book is the explanation behind it. Not only does it show you the practices, it backs them up with clear and concise reasons on why these techniques can make your web site easy to use for anyone, including those who may have disabilities. It is a major eye opener and it will be a book that sits on my desk day in, day out, whilst I program web sites. I can't recommend it highly enough, and it is an absolute must read for all those who program on the web and those who use the web to display and gather information."
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