This tutorial addresses three common myths about web accessibility.
- Web Accessibility Myths Video Tutorial
- Video Tutorial: Bigger Version (.mov, 5 MB)
- Directions (HTML)
- Print Directions (Tagged PDF)
There are three common myths about web accessibility:
Myth #1: Accessible websites are boring and ugly.
One needs only visit the gallery of sites available at Accessites.org (www.accessites.org) to see that websites designed according to web accessibility principles and web standards can be just as visually appealing as any other website.
Myth #2: We have a text-only page, our website is accessible. In the past, people with disabilities tended to distrust the text-only versions of websites because these text-only versions were not frequently updated to reflect the content on the main site. While there are now automated means for keeping the main site and its text-only version synchronized, the practice of using a text-only version to make a website accessible is now deprecated. This means that it is no longer a best practice for accessibility. A better option is to build accessibility into the main site from the start and make a text-only version unnecessary.
Myth #3: The 100% accessible website. Due to the wide range of disabilities that must be accommodated on the web, no website can be completely accessible. Instead, accessibility occurs on a continuum, and websites are neither 100% accessible nor 100% inaccessible. The goal, however, is to make each website as accessible as possible so that it can be used by the greatest number of people.
