On Wednesday I am off to the BlogHer conference in Chicago, and once again I am honored to be presenting on accessibility and blogging. I get the feeling that most of the people reading this blog are accessibility geeks, so I ask you, what are the key items I should be sharing with my fellow bloggers?
My session is flagged as appropriate for beginners, which is going to include some people who don't even know what HTML means, but I assume I'll also have some folks with some code knowledge wander in.
So far I've tried to take the best of the two previous presentations I've done, and the areas I'm focusing on are as follows - going for a mix of what's really important and other things that are helpful and easily doable:
- Breaking posts into paragraphs
- Real list markup
- Meaningful link text
- Not breaking the back button
- Alt attribute for images
- Sufficient contrast between text and background
- Using something other than color to designate links
- CAPTCHA avoidance
- Page title
- Music that plays automatically
What else is a burning issue that must be addressed?
HEADINGS! Using true headings and a good, logical document structure is one of the most important, yet most often overlooked aspects of blog accessibility.
Animated stuff that plays automatically (flash, animated GIFs) is also a problem for many, the same way that music can be.
Your list looks pretty great generally, with the adition of headings as Jared noted. Have a great time!
r
I just found your blog and I am loving it!
I think you should talk about META Tags as well. Many people find them confusing.
Couple items worth noting --
- Skip navigation/jump to content functionality, either hidden or visible
- prominent link focus: making it easier for those who tab through links to see which one is highlighted
I assume by "meaningful link text" that you mean not having vague, generic link text that leaves it uncertain where you are going by clicking on it?
All around great list!