Worldwide Web Consortium sets new accessibility standards

New tools available

W3C's Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) has released new tools to enable web site developers to design sites that can be used by people with disabilities.

There has been an explosion in technologies that make Web content more informative, more responsive and richer, but the number of people who are excluded by these technologies is growing, says Rich Schwerdtfeger, IBM Distinguished Engineer and author of the WAI-ARIA Roadmap

The new suite of documents will help developers gain access to the tools needed to support persons with disabilities on the Web. "[This] is our first step to bring the richer, dynamic Web content experience to all users of the Web, by providing technology enhancements and examples for better, more accessible implementations," says Schwertfeger.

The tools will enable disability aids such as screen readers, speech dictation software, and on-screen keyboards to be integrated with rich Internet content.

Web sites are increasingly delivering applications with capabilities comparable to locally installed software. These rich Internet applications make heavy use of scripting, and developers often improvise hybrids of existing technologies, including AJAX, DHTML, JavaScript, and SVG. These applications do not always provide the semantics needed to support disability aids.

The Roadmap for Accessible Rich Internet Applications (WAI-ARIA Roadmap) describes an overall approach for ensuring interoperability between rich Internet applications and disability aids.

"We see a tremendous opportunity for Web developers in ARIA," explained Lisa Seeman of UB Access and editor of WAI-ARIA Roles and WAI-ARIA States. "By providing a system and techniques for making dynamic Web content more accessible, we can give content developers what they need to improve the Web experience for a broader range of people."