At 10:21 AM 11/16/2000 , Séverine Renard wrote:
>Hi listers,
>         We are updating our website at work. That means making it pretty and full
>of graphs and frames. It is going to be created using Dream Weaver. I would
>like that we have an equivalent site that would be text only versions of
>all the pages. There would be a button on the homepage that would say "With
>graphics" - "Text only" and if the people choose text only, they would have
>access to the same information as on each of the normal pages.
>         How can I do that? Where can I find information about it?
>         Thanks for your advice,
>
>                         Sincerely,
>                         Severine Renard

Hi, Severine:

There are several issues to consider here.  In many cases, you will
find that web designers concerned about accessibility consciously choose
to NOT have a text only page.  The reasons for this are as follows:

* The ability to embed accessibility/text browsing information into
   graphical web pages means that having two versions of the site is
   redundant.  You can produce one site which is accessible via text
   and graphical browsers.  For example, proper use of ALT text on
   images, testing your table layout, and trying out page designs in
   a non-graphical browser (such as Lynx) can produce a single version
   of the site which degrades gracefully.

* Many text-only sites are actually not any more accessible to text
   browsers (and screenreaders) than a well-done, gracefully degrading
   graphical site.  This is because often the people who are creating
   the text site don't understand the issues regarding web accessibility
   and don't realize what specifically they need to encode on a page in
   the HTML to produce _structured_ text.

* The world doesn't divide cleanly into "graphical" and "text-only"
   needs as easily as we'd like; often you will find users who can
   benefit from graphics but who still need textual cues at times.  For
   example, a user with low vision may increase the font size in her
   browser.  If your navigation system is graphical, her font size
   won't increase and the only way she will be able to navigate will be
   by using the text-only version.  However, she may still benefit from
   the layout, visual cues, and supplemental graphics found in the
   graphical version.

* Text-only sites may be more inaccessible to certain user groups, such
   as those with cognitive disabilities; it's important to remember that
   there are different needs out there.  Graphical vs. text-only is far
   too simple of a dichotomy to fit the real world.

* There have been serious problems with text-only versions of web sites
   in the past, leading some in the visually impaired web design community
   to label them as "separate but inequal" interfaces -- in other words,
   a text-only site may not provide full functionality of the main site.
   The reasons for this are most often procedural and technical -- many
   webmasters will forget that the text-only site exists, and will update
   it far less frequently.  In the absence of tools designed to keep the
   text-only version synchronized with the graphical version, the decision
   to provide a text-only site effectively means doubling the maintenance
   workload for the entire site.

As you can see, there may be good reasons to not create a text-only site.
With these in mind, I'll now tell you what you need to know about creating
a text-only version of a site:

* Whenever possible, use automated tools to generate and serve the
   text version of the site.  If you are generating the main graphical
   site from database, then you are already way ahead of the game; it
   should be relatively easy to create a textual version.  If you are
   not creating the site dynamically, then consider using Server Side
   Includes (a simple solution), PHP, or a content management system.

* Ensure that your text-only site is up to date and contains all the
   content available in the graphical version of the site.  Incorporate
   regular Q/A and testing of the text-only site into your existing
   site maintenance schedule.  Acquire and use non-graphical browsers,
   such as Lynx, pwWebSpeak, or a graphical browser with a screenreader.

* Make sure that your text-only site truly is more accessible than
   the graphical site; be sure to use valid, structured HTML, and
   provide a sensible non-graphical navigation scheme.

Hope this helps.

--Kynn

-- 
Kynn Bartlett  <[log in to unmask]>                    http://kynn.com/
Director of Accessibility, Edapta               http://www.edapta.com/
Chief Technologist, Idyll Mountain Internet   http://www.idyllmtn.com/
AWARE Center Director                      http://www.awarecenter.org/
What's on my bookshelf?                         http://kynn.com/books/


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