0:00:00.527,0:00:09.164 [♪♪] 0:00:09.164,0:00:11.776 You may have heard of [br]accessibility in the past 0:00:11.776,0:00:15.723 or maybe you heard somewhere [br]that your website should be accessible, 0:00:15.723,0:00:17.579 but what does that even mean? 0:00:17.579,0:00:22.090 The idea of anyone being able [br]to use a website sounds simple enough, 0:00:22.090,0:00:24.674 but it's more nuanced than that. 0:00:24.674,0:00:26.567 There are lots of people in the world, 0:00:26.567,0:00:29.997 and there's many considerations to be made. 0:00:29.997,0:00:31.044 In general though, 0:00:31.044,0:00:35.077 there is one guiding principle [br]that should make accessibility 0:00:35.077,0:00:38.259 a lot easier [br]for anyone to understand. 0:00:38.259,0:00:43.726 Web standards and best practices [br]tend to lead towards more accessible websites 0:00:43.726,0:00:45.395 and vice versa. 0:00:45.395,0:00:48.529 Designing a website to be [br]accessible tends to lead you 0:00:48.529,0:00:51.987 towards web standards [br]and best practices. 0:00:51.987,0:00:56.745 For example, screen reading software [br]that assists users with visual impairments 0:00:56.745,0:01:00.649 can sometimes have difficulty [br]when tables are used for layout 0:01:00.649,0:01:03.889 rather than being used [br]for tabular data. 0:01:03.889,0:01:06.763 There are many different types [br]of impairments that encompass 0:01:06.763,0:01:10.890 vision, hearing, motor skills, and more. 0:01:10.890,0:01:13.929 We'll learn about [br]specific techniques to accommodate 0:01:13.929,0:01:16.295 all these different types of users. 0:01:16.295,0:01:19.184 Before we get into [br]the technical details, 0:01:19.184,0:01:23.109 let's back up because sometimes [br]web developers and designers wonder 0:01:23.109,0:01:27.119 why they should be so concerned [br]with accessibility in the first place. 0:01:27.119,0:01:28.461 There are numerous reasons, 0:01:28.461,0:01:31.164 but here are three [br]really important ones. 0:01:31.164,0:01:34.889 First and most importantly, [br]it's just the right thing to do. 0:01:34.889,0:01:38.880 The web represents [br]a giant leap forward in the quality of life 0:01:38.880,0:01:40.679 for people with disabilities. 0:01:40.679,0:01:44.719 For example, before the advent [br]of online news and screen readers, 0:01:44.719,0:01:48.660 it was difficult, expensive, [br]and oftentimes impossible 0:01:48.660,0:01:53.482 for a person with visual impairments [br]to read a daily newspaper. 0:01:53.482,0:01:55.612 That alone should be reason enough. 0:01:55.612,0:01:57.913 Second, as I mentioned earlier, 0:01:57.913,0:02:02.359 building accessible websites [br]has a tendency to lead towards HTML markup 0:02:02.359,0:02:08.244 that is semantic and easy for everyone, [br]even computers, to understand and interpret. 0:02:08.244,0:02:12.229 Every designer and developer [br]should understand the importance of this. 0:02:12.229,0:02:15.968 Lastly, you can get into trouble legally [br]if you're not careful. 0:02:15.968,0:02:19.078 Many countries have laws [br]that require government agencies 0:02:19.078,0:02:23.507 along with public and private organizations [br]to maintain web content 0:02:23.507,0:02:27.622 that is accessible to people [br]of all abilities and disabilities. 0:02:27.622,0:02:32.005 In the year 2000, [br]a blind Australian man engaged in a court case 0:02:32.005,0:02:35.364 against the Sydney organizing committee [br]of the Olympic Games, 0:02:35.364,0:02:41.271 and he won the case because, [br]under the Australian Disability Discrimination Act of 1992, 0:02:41.271,0:02:44.207 the official website [br]of the Sydney Olympic Games 0:02:44.207,0:02:48.691 failed to provide [br]adequate accessibility to blind users. 0:02:48.691,0:02:51.459 Legal disputes of this nature [br]can be extremely costly, 0:02:51.459,0:02:56.996 but they're also so easily avoidable [br]by simply providing accessible content. 0:02:56.996,0:03:00.259 As we'll learn, [br]it's not as difficult as it might seem. 0:03:00.259,0:03:04.140 Whether you're creating a new website [br]or even if you're updating an old one, 0:03:04.140,0:03:08.554 you should familiarize yourself [br]with the local and federal laws 0:03:08.554,0:03:11.109 that the website [br]will be subjected to. 0:03:11.109,0:03:14.258 Here are a few documents [br]to help you get started. 0:03:14.258,0:03:17.793 The World Wide Web Consortium, [br]or W3C for short, 0:03:17.793,0:03:23.774 is an organization that sets the rules [br]for HTML, CSS, and many other standards. 0:03:23.774,0:03:29.094 A W3C project known as [br]the Web Accessibility Initiative, or WAI, 0:03:29.094,0:03:36.980 published the first version of the [br]Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, or WCAG, in 1999. 0:03:36.980,0:03:39.571 Since then [br]and especially in recent years, 0:03:39.571,0:03:44.268 it has been accepted as the gold standard [br]for creating accessible websites. 0:03:44.268,0:03:45.927 By the end of 2008, 0:03:45.927,0:03:52.905 the WCAG 2.0 had been released [br]by the WC3 as a recommendation. 0:03:52.905,0:03:57.302 I highly recommend that you take a look [br]at this document and read it over. 0:03:57.302,0:03:58.415 It is lengthy, 0:03:58.415,0:04:01.410 and we cover quite a bit [br]of the information it contains. 0:04:01.410,0:04:05.113 But even so, [br]you should at least look at it for reference. 0:04:05.113,0:04:11.070 In 1998, the United States Congress amended [br]The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 0:04:11.070,0:04:14.776 to include Section 508 [br]which requires federal agencies 0:04:14.776,0:04:19.088 to make electronic information accessible [br]to people with disabilities. 0:04:19.088,0:04:20.960 The portions regarding web technology 0:04:20.960,0:04:27.310 are based on the guidelines developed [br]by the Web Accessibility Initiative of the W3C, 0:04:27.310,0:04:31.215 and this is also the case for laws [br]and regulations around the world. 0:04:31.215,0:04:32.496 In the UK, for instance, 0:04:32.496,0:04:37.508 the Publicly Available Specification,[br]or PAS 78, published in 2006 0:04:37.508,0:04:41.475 also references the WAI guidelines. 0:04:41.475,0:04:45.740 This is also true in Canada, Spain, Japan,[br]and many other countries. 0:04:45.740,0:04:48.974 But even so, you should [br]study the laws that are local to your country 0:04:48.974,0:04:51.880 and strive to comply with them. 0:04:51.880,0:04:55.272 Accessibility might seem [br]difficult or confusing right now, 0:04:55.272,0:04:59.291 but we'll go through everything [br]one step at a time. 0:04:59.291,0:05:02.009 [♪♪]