Customer Reviews

Web Accessibility: Web Standards and Regulatory Compliance

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Reading Web Accessibility: Web Standards and Regulatory Compliance is like attending a five-day conference on web accessibility, featuring almost every master of the subject now writing in English. The authors include a passionate user advocate who helps the W3C craft its internationally recognized accessibility standards; a web developer who guided Macromedia in its efforts to bring accessibility to Flash; and the accessibility expert who lent her name to the leading web service that tests for accessible site development.

The book is deep and vast. It covers aspects of accessibility you might not even have known were possible. There's big-picture stuff, and hands-on, dirty code. There are smart, insightful tips on working with users, and there is detailed information about complying with accessibility laws. It's a concept book and a code book, a book filled with detailed guidelines, and also one that encourages you to think for yourself as you interpret those guidelines.

I bought the first edition of this book and have given it to clients and colleagues. The new edition is even more useful. If you want your site to be accessible, you need this book.

Web Accessibility: Web Standards and Regulatory Compliance was one of the more hefty books I have read in the past few months, weighing in at approximately 648 pages. The book spanned many different topics (accessible javascript, CSS, accessible PDF, accessible Flash, etc). This book was not a CSS Mastery, DOM Scripting, or The Flash Bible - but it covered each topic in relation to accessibility. Each chapter did a great job of covering all of the basics as well as giving extra resources if you wanted to find out more.

The book was split up into three parts:

* Part 1: The Impact of Web Accessibility was initially a tough section to get through. This is a very important section, and sets the foundation for the rest of the book, but I was initially overwhelmed by all of the terms presented (some of which I was unfamiliar with related to standards). This section was full of great information, as well as links to discover even more information.

* Part 2: Implementing Accessible Websites covers a broad range of topics (listed above). This was the lengthiest part of the book, but well worth the read. Much of what was discussed in these chapters has been discussed in other books I have read lately. Each chapter goes in-depth on creating accessible websites and using the technology at hand. The chapter related to assistive devices confirmed what Nathan Smith said, "I mean, I always thought browser differences were bad, but compared to the many screen reader quirks, wow." Overall, it discusses best practices for web development.

* Part 3: Accessibility Law and Policy wraps up the entire book. This section covers the legal information in an array of different countries as they relate to websites. Again, I was worried that this section might be dry - but I found it easy to read and learned much.

Most of this book could be summed up by Cynthia Waddell at the end of Chapter 16 where she states:

"The economic, political, and ethical benefits far outweigh the cost of this effort. The cost of being inaccessible - missing the boat on the coming age of thin clients, failing to serve our most needful citizens and employees, and legal liability - can be incalculable.

This millennium offers unprecedented opportunities for efficient, effective governance. The Internet should be accessible to all. It is the right thing to do."

This book is a must have for any serious web developer. Don't be intimated by the size, it is well worth the read (and chock full of extra resources).

Web Accessibility: Web Standards and Regulatory Compliance is the
perfect reference for any site development team. Everything you've
wanted to know about Accessibility and the Web is here in a single text.
Each member of the team will find necessary information and practical
solutions in one or more of the thorough discussions here. For the
designer/developer who works alone, Web Accessibility: Web Standards and
Regulatory Compliance is the all-in-one reference with the most
up-to-date information and techniques. Thanks to the clear organization,
two tables of contents, and index, all information is easy to find as
well.

For those of us who like background and theory, the book contains lively
discussions of accessibility standards, of the intent of the standards,
and suggestions for using the standards. For me, though, the heart of
the text is in the practical discussions and how-to guides in order to
improve accessibility of every common web technology -- from PDF to
Flash, from javascript to data forms. In addition, we finds clear
descriptions of the law and web accessibility. Importantly, these
discussions are international in scope.

The collective experience of the authors of this text is impressive.
These are the experts to whom we've turned to assist us with accessible
design and development for years. In this text, we have a collection of
the most knowledgeable voices on the subject of accessibility, who speak from a real-world
perspective. They share freely their best techniques, so that we can
create the "best possible experience for the greatest number of
visitors."

For me, Web Accessibility: Web Standards and Regularory Compliance is a
must-have.

Web Accessibility: Web Standards and Regulatory Compliance, written by eleven experts and released in July of 2006 by friends of Ed, is one of very few books about web accessibility. It is also the best. The writers include luminaries and pioneers in accessibility - Jim Thatcher, Cynthia Waddell; and technical experts - Christian Heilmann and Andrew Kirkpatrick, to name a few.

The book is an overview of accessible best practices in web technology, and the legal landscape it inhabits. It was compiled with several target audiences in mind.

Certainly, it is intended for developers - newcomers as well as veterans. This is the group that most needs to understand the technology, and unfortunately, seems to "get it" the least.

Another audience is the managers and administrators; that group that should be most adverse to risk and whose responsibility is to keep their government and corporate employers out of the courts and headlines (like those that have embarrassed [Target retailer]). Covered in some detail are the ADA section 504 and section 508 requirements, and in lesser detail international laws.

The technical information is very current. There is a chapter on accessible JavaScript (most would consider that term an oxymoron) even though it has only recently seen coverage in articles and blogs online. Likewise, there is good information on making Flash content accessible.

A book assembled as a compendium of contributions begs to be updated frequently. The next release, for example, could add much needed chapters on AJAX and Web 2.0, podcasting, and learning management technologies. Regardless, all practitioners of accessibility will find this book valuable.

It's excellent to have one more book on the subject of accessibility to refer people to. And this is not just another book on the subject - Web Accessibility: Web Standards and Regulatory Compliance is, despite the awkward title, an excellent and very well-written book that explains the various aspects of Web accessibility.

The book is based on Constructing Accessible Websites, which was published in 2002. That is four years ago - a very long time in the fields of design, development, and accessibility for the Web, so a lot has happened since then. The book's authors explain modern and up-to-date accessibility tools, techniques, and technology, as well as other aspects such as laws and regulations in various parts of the world, and how content published in formats such as Flash and PDF can be made as accessible as possible.

There are 650 pages in this book, so when I started reading it I was a little worried that it would be too much to get through in a reasonable amount of time. It turned out that I had no reason to worry about that since the book is written in a clear and easy-to-understand language that makes it very hard to put down.

This is a must-have, even if you already have a good grasp on Web accessibility.

This text book is of very high quality and an engaging read. Apart from the expected target audience of web developers, I will suggest that website owners and non-developers should consider getting hold of this vital textbook.

The fact that it leaves you wanting more is a compliment to its quality. Even though it is bulky, I wished it had covered certain areas in more detail.

One small criticism relates to the javascript examples. The discussion of events refers to techniques that are questionable in terms of robustness and re-usability, issues that, to be fair, the author does point out. [Background; search for "addEvent considered harmful" in your favorite search engine.] Yet no definitive solution is given, and the reader is left hanging. More serious is the very poor quality javascript code sample given for the cssjs() utility function, which is poorly designed (needs to be repackaged, should be a class), is inefficient, and is fragile as it contains (at least) two immediately apparent critical bugs.

But such small gripes should on no account not put you off buying this text. The overall verdict, "Outstanding."

Anyway, the numerous authors are to be congratulated. Indeed, given the size of the field and the rapid pace of developments, a second "part II - advanced" volume would be a very good idea indeed.

This book of over 600 pages will become tattered and worn as I refer to it in the future as a reference in developing Web pages that will be accessible to disabled people. I learned that is required by law not to discriminate against disabled people if a site provides some kind of goods or services.

"Disabled people account for up to 15 percent of the population". This large number also makes it economically worthwhile to bring a Web site up to standards to be used by a disabled person.

A site that has been designed to be accessible will also be a site that everyone will find easier to navigate and will be usable to all. Download times will decrease and there should be an increase in Google's ranking. This book points out that research has shown an increase in search-engine traffic and user satisfaction for sites that are designed with Web accessibility as a goal.

This book gives you a foundation for understanding Web accessibility, an overview of the law and guidelines, and ways to accomplish designing or re-designing a Web site. The chapter on using CSS was very helpful for me and will assist you in improving the accessibility of your Web site.

A result of reading this book should be in the development of a Web site that will be a clean, organized, sharp, quick to download and useable. In helping 15% of the population 100% will find the Web accessibility of your Web site user friendly.

Five years after this book was published, it's still packed with useful information for people who work with the Web. If you're really interested in accessibility compliance, I think this book provides plenty of meat. If you want to get a clearer picture of why you should design for accessibility and when, read this book. That is the real value it provides.

That said, it is sorely in need of an update.

When Web Accessibility was published, Internet Explorer 7 had not yet been released, nor had Firefox 2. Netscape was still hanging around, and Gmail was still in beta. XHTML 2.0 was supposed to herald a golden age of Web standards.

All that seems like centuries ago in the timeline of the Internet, and portions of this book provide examples of the best practices and techniques from that time. Having come through that era of Web development and emerged on the other side, I can say that some of the techniques might still be useful; most are not. And that's where, today, with no new edition of this book available (and no clear successor), I have to dock it at least one star. The outdated code samples put an unnecessary burden on today's reader to know enough about past techniques to know when to reject them, and enough about today's best practices to know what has replaced them.

There are a number of books on the topic of accessibility and many focus on web accessibility or if not, dedicate many pages to the topic. Accessibility is often, as in this book explained in terms of why it should be done and provides overviews of technology closely tied to the reasons for accessibility. The ties to usability in general are secondary. Yet, for the programmer and designer, there comes that point in wading through all those pages where there is a need to know the methods and practices. In this book, one should be willing to skim the chapters first to become aware of where this break occurs, the break between exploring and exposing reasons and actually digging into the meat of methods and practices. Be forgiving, in that no book on this topic can cover all the bases. In particular, to evaluate for example, a reader or some other prosthetic or assistive device, no general book on accessibility is apparently going to cut it. The nice thing is that this book like others on accessibility, does provide web references to sources of info and expounded detail on those devices and other sources of info that the book cannot practically go into detail to cover. So, the book is a good reference, if one does not just read it cover to cover and chuck it on a shelf. The trick in these books is to actually make an exercise of looking up those references and researching the material provided by those sites.

Accessibility is such a diverse and important topic, that one actually should not rely on any single book. This is a good book, but supplement it with a couple others to get contrasting viewpoints and info covered that this book lacks. Check out all the references. Be willing to dig and dig and dig and try out the methods and practices. It has been notable to me after reading through about four different books on Accessibility that one is not enough. If one starts with this book, absorb the material, but radiate outward; check out the referenced materials and read some additional books, whether those compliment or expound upon the valuable material you'll find in this one. Dig into some other related topic books, like Human Factors, HCI and books regarding Usability, User Interfaces and User Experience. The topic of accessibility really is much larger than one might expect. Surely it larger than just coding alt text into web pages.

This book and others are valuable sources, but if one exposes themselves to several concurrently, the variation of viewpoints, methods and practices will quickly become evident.

Get the big picture. This book is a great reference source, but it is recommended to supplement it, supplement it and engage in practicing what it and other books preach.

Excellent service. Received the item really quickly and it is in perfect condition. Would definitely order from this vendor again! Thanks!