Accessible Web Design

10% of all Internet users have some form of disability. This includes people with impaired vision or hearing, those who have difficulty using a mouse or keyboard, or those who must work under challenging conditions. 

For rockIT, validated accessibility using state-of-the-art technology is more than just following W3C guidelines: we participate in the broader discourse and implement current recommendations from advocacy groups (e.g., BIENE) that are based on practical research. 

Designing a website to be accessible requires many measures that a non-disabled user without a screen reader (browser reads text aloud) or without visual impairments (Braille display) would not even notice—and should not notice. 

With intelligently designed accessibility, the page’s design is not restricted in any way, and the site can be navigated intuitively (usability).

Accessibility - Technical Implementation

• Screen reader compatibility
• Ability to navigate via keyboard (e.g., all menu items must expand when the TAB key is pressed; active links must be clearly highlighted)
• Validated XHTML and CSS as a basic requirement
• A linear and well-thought-out page structure
• Enable font scalability in all browsers
• Menus and navigation should be in the form of a numbered list (not visible in the design), each entry should end with a period (not visible, but important for screen readers), and of course they should still function even when JavaScript and CSS are disabled
• Media files should have an alternative text description.

rockIT always strives to implement state-of-the-art accessibility, testing its products against international guidelines, with screen readers (NVDA), and with all scripts and CSS disabled in all major browsers (Chrome, Windows Edge, Firefox, Safari).

Further Reading

• Laws / Guidelines
• einfach-fuer-alle.de
• Accessible Menus