Hello Phillip

You might find the following useful:

LightHouse's Making Text Legible Tips:
http://www.lighthouse.org/print_leg.htm.

The RNIB (Royal National Institute for the Blind) Hints for Designing
Accessible Websites: http://www.rnib.org.uk/digital/hints.htm which
provides a good list (in conjunction with the WAI (Web Accessibility
Initiative) Guidelines) of issues to take into account.

If you need guidelines on Section 508 compliance, try Jim Thatcher's free
online course on Web Accessibility for Section 508:
http://jimthatcher.com/webcourse1.htm.

Regarding testing tools, there is A-Prompt's Accessibility Verifier (free
to download)from http://www.aprompt.ca/
which evaluates web pages for
accessibility barriers.  WebAim's WAVE Web Accessibility Validator
(http://www.wave.webaim.org/) is similar.

If you are using Bobby (especially if you are not used to it), then it
might be worth reading Anthony Quinn's article on Why "Bobby Approved"
Does Not Always Mean Accessible
(http://infocentre.frontend.com/servlet/Infocentre?
access=no&page=article&rows=5&id=94), which discusses the merits and
limitations of using BOBBY to test for accessibility, and recommends that
usability testing in carried out in addition to using BOBBY.

If you're designing the website in Macromedia's Dreamweaver, there is now
a 508 Accessibility checker extension (available for version 4) free to
download if you have Dreamweaver:
http://dynamic.macromedia.com/bin/MM/exchange/extension_list.jsp?
BV_SessionID=@@@@2130370
698.1044440683@@@@&BV_EngineID=deadcggggghfjbeecgem
cgcgj.0&categoryIndex=0.  There may also be similar extensions for other
web design packages.

It's always worth getting a website checked by the people who may have the
most difficulty using it.  However, as a quick interim check, simulation
tools can be used such as Lynx Viewer
(http://www.delorie.com/web/lynxview.html), which gives an idea of how the
text will look or sound in text only mode; Vischeck
(http://www.vischeck.com/index.php) which shows how a page will look for
those who are colour blind; and the WebAim screen reader simulator
(http://www.webaim.org/simulations/screenreader).

Hope that helps and if you need further links, you could try
http://www.cetis.ac.uk/members/accessibility/index which is the
Accessibility website for CETIS, the Centre for Educational Technology
Interopera
bility Standards.

Sharon


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