Design Accessible Web Sites: 36 Keys to Creating Content for All Audiences and Platforms (Pragmatic Programmers) (Paperback)

by Jeremy Sydik (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
It's not a one-browser web anymore. You need to reach audiences that use cell phones, PDAs, game consoles, or other "alternative" browsers, as well as users with disabilities. Legal requirements for assistive technologies as well as a wide array of new browsing experiences means you need to concentrate on semantics, alternate access paths, and progressive enhancement.

Give your audience the power to interact with your content on their own terms. It's the right thing to do, and with a $100 billion a year market for accessible content, new laws and new technologies, you can't afford to ignore accessibility.

With this book, you'll learn basic principles and techniques for developing accessible HTML, audio, video, and multimedia content. In addition, you will understand how to apply the principles you learn in this book to new technologies when they emerge.

You'll learn how to:

Use best practices of accessibility to develop accessible web content

Build testing into projects to improve results and reduce costs

Create high quality alternative representations for your audience

Add accessibility features to external media like PDF and Flash

Negotiate the terrain of accessibility standards

Apply principles of accessiblity to new technologies as they emerge

About the Author
Jeremy J. Sladik is Director of Research Technology Development at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Center for Instructional Innovation. With a background in computer science and cognitive psychology, he has over ten years of experience in developing high-quality (accessible!) user interfaces to improve learning of abstract concepts.

Product Details

• Paperback: 328 pages
• Publisher: Pragmatic Bookshelf (November 5, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1934356026
• ISBN-13: 978-1934356029
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 7.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #575,687 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Practical Advice in a Readable Way for an Important Topic, February 3, 2008

By	J. J. Kwashnak "voracious reader" (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

As the world continues to march to information on the Internet, the issue of accessibility for Web sites has continued to grow in importance. Especially as glitz and flashy programming grow ever more popular in Web design, the chance of leaving those with special needs behind increases. What accessibility means also can be a murky area, though as lawsuits against Target and other stores over Web accessibility shows, this is still important. Sydik helps cut through the often vague standards to show the reader step-by-step things that are important for accessibility, but often are not major changes. He explains what accessibility entails, and looks at different solutions, and the pitfalls that some can produce making things worse for accessibility when it is trying to improve it. His chapters are grouped into thematic sections, but each chapter focuses on one item, keeping the information short and relevant to the topic. At the conclusion he walks through the current and proposed accessibility standards and gives practical advice and translation of what the sections mean, and what you can do about it (citing chapters that addressed the topic). This book is very readable, practical and sits on my desk for quick reference and advice. It is an excellent starting point for acquainting yourself with the issue of accessibility for Web sites and what you can do to help design them properly.

5.0 out of 5 stars The title and publisher say it all: Pragmatic + Accessibility, December 21, 2007

By	Jason Kunesh (chicago, il United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Jeremy's Design Accessible Web Sites provides practical advice alongside with the theoretical underpinnigs in upbeat style. This books covers actionable steps to take in fixing many common accessibility problems but it also does something more important. It gives the reader a theoretical framework for considering and solving accessibility issues for tricky scenarios.

Some other books are better on regulatory issues and others on multimedia items like Flash since the focus here is web site design. That said, it's a great read for web site design and web standards work. For that it's first rate, with modern techniques and consideration of the future of accessibility issues (AJAX, WCAG 2), and with a breadth and richness of subject matter.

5.0 out of 5 stars Accessibility for all!, December 7, 2007

By	Warren Werner - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

DESIGN ACCESSIBLE WEB SITES is an excellent guide to making your web site(s) usable by anyone, regardless of their access needs. It is also not the dry and unfriendly tome that others have put out in regards to this subject...that is to say, it is very readable, even fun in some places! There are plenty of code examples as well as lists of specific tools and references that can be used to make your site accessible to everyone.
It concentrates mainly on the U.S. accessibility requirements, but it also covers what you need around the world.
Most importantly, Jeremy stresses that making your web sites accessible makes them easier for EVERYONE to navigate, not just those individuals with special access needs, and that is a bonus for everyone!