Pay particular attention to the word easily. A recent conversation with a web person for a youth organization (email of course) revealed that he had been informed that he had to write a text only mirror page and then keep it updated also. There are some pages that are entirely frames and show nothing when you access them with a text browser. It is still possible to provide accessibility without a mirror page but a little more work.
A mirror site is not recommeded in any accessibility document that I have seen. First of all it is not necessary as providing text information is so easy and secondly, you will never keep up a mirror site. Web pages are always under construction, this is a state of being if you care about your page at all (this means you can save yourself some memory and not brother with those tacky under construction signs). And if you are a volunteer, either for a group or just doing your own page, time is limited. Some of us try to have a life away from our keyboards.
Use a simple consistent layout. Keep your menu's and logo's in the same place on every page. Give people a way to contact you, email or form, preferrable email although some people can fill out a form but they can't send email. On my museum page I have provided access to both.
Keep the backgrounds simple. The background color should be pale enough so that the text is easily readable. Check the contrast. And Use Standard html. Non standard html is treated differently by different browsers and may render your page invisable or unreadable.
Use "alt" tags with all your graphics. The visually impaired like to know what others are seeing. The alt description should be ten words or less but sometimes I use more. I normally use a text browser myself and am really tired of those tacky "unusable unless you have xxx, upgrade your modem and go fast enough" message that so many page masters feel the need to post these days. Visit my pages with a text browser and you may learn even more than with a graphics browser (I feel text people deserve a little extra information).
Look for color, readability, page width, and font size. How would your page "read" if you were listening to it?
Test with as many different browsers as possible.
Many of the graphic browsers use non standard html.
They each look at a page differently.
By all means look at your page with a text browser.
Does your page make any sense if you can't see the graphics?
Lynx is a preferred browser by many differently abled but you can also
get an idea of what your page would look like
by just turning off the graphics on your usual browser.
Don't forget to test with a black and white moniter as well as color.
You may find that a black and white moniter renders your page unreadable also.
I recently learned that on a really large moniter my pages looked
really strange, this doesn't effect text browsers but may be something
else for you to think about.
Check your links. It is easy to make a typo or forget to copy/paste one simple little character that renders the desired link unaccessible.
Look at your graphics carefully. Recently my brother sent me a message that my graphics were scrolling horizonally forever rather than being placed vertically as I thought they were when I tested with my browser. This also meant that the alt tags were scrolling forever as well.
Disclaimer
I am not a professional. I learned these hints from many sources and just want to share them with you. There is something else you should consider when picking your page name and url. Keep it simple. Some keys are very difficult to enter if you have finger problems. I would never have chosen "telmuseum" as the name of my museum page if I had known how many times I would have to type it. And tilti's are very difficult for people with limited finger usage. Function keys can be programmed but why make it hard for people in the first place.
This is the Telephone Pioneer Vintage Telephone Equipment Museum page, my first page, written with my own little fingers, not with a web page program. Learning html was not difficult although my UNIX background did help. Go to Vintage Telephone Equipment Museum Home Page. I volunteer at the museum also and am a member of the Telephone Pioneers of America.
My second page was done for my church and is always under construction since things change every week and sometimes oftener. Go to University Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) Home Page. Notice on the front page I limited the use of graphics greatly.
I started this page and then decided that I had a lot of references in my personal bookmark file, so I built another page with just bookmarks. That too has grown and now has links to almost all the important things in my life. There are accessibility reference links as well as some horrid examples of inaccessible pages. Go to my reference page.
You can capture a page's html code to a file when you find one your really like and see how it's done. Different browser's capture and open differently, look in your browser's help.
I welcome any comments or questions - ljbeedle@scn.org
