Web Standards and
Accessibility
Nick DeNardis
http://nickdenardis.com
@nickdenardis
Saturday, March 7, 2009

About Myself
• Associate Director of Web Communications
• Host of EDU Checkup
• Staff Writer at .eduGuru
• Officer for Refresh Detroit
Saturday, March 7, 2009

• What are Web Standards
• Standards in the Real World
• What is Accessibility
• Accessibility in the Real World
Saturday, March 7, 2009

What are Web Standards?
• Philosophy of Web Design
• Best Practices
• Validation
• Semantics
• Three Main Layers
Saturday, March 7, 2009

Three Layers
Javascript / Behavior
CSS / Design
HTML / Content
Saturday, March 7, 2009

HTML / Content
• Describe Content (semantic)
• Validation (W3C)
• Reduce Meaningless Markup
• Reduce Download Speed
• Tables for Tabular Data (only)
Saturday, March 7, 2009

<ul class=”skip”>
<fieldset id=”login”>
Content
<h1>
<h2>
<ul id=”navigation”>
Saturday, March 7, 2009

CSS / Design
• Images that don’t have meaning to the doc
• Positioning
• Global Changes
• Establishing Rules
• ID’s and Class Naming Conventions
• Cross Browser Support
Saturday, March 7, 2009

Design
Saturday, March 7, 2009

Javascript / Behavior
• Progressive Enhancement
• Graceful Degradation
• AJAX
• Javascript Libraries
• Cross Browser Support
Saturday, March 7, 2009

Behavior
Saturday, March 7, 2009

Pitching to the Boss
• Less Bandwidth
• Less Server Load
• Bring more people (less obstruction)
• Ease of Maintenance
• SEO Built In
• Future Proofing
• Save Money
Saturday, March 7, 2009

The Ugly Reality
• Rushed Timelines
• Too Many Developers
• Lack of Communication
• WYSIWYG Editors
• Scope Creep
• Slow Erosion
• !important
Saturday, March 7, 2009

What Can You Do?
• Defensive Development
• Flexible Design/Code
• Plan for the worst case
• No pixel perfect layouts
• Establishing Rules/Habits
Saturday, March 7, 2009

What is Accessibility
• Beyond the Blind
• Universal Access
• Just Using Mouse/Keyboard
• Lockdown Situations (IE 6)
• Slow Connections
• Mobile Browsers
Saturday, March 7, 2009

Accessibility Rules
• It’s The Right Thing To Do
• Progressive Enhancement
• ADA (Section 508)
• Screen Readers
• Search Engines
Saturday, March 7, 2009

The Ugly Reality
• Last Thing On The List
• Progressive Enhancement Turns to
Graceful Degradation
• Time Constraints
• No User Testing
Saturday, March 7, 2009

Its Up To You
• Get in the Routine
• Advocate
• Care
• Opera Web Standards Curriculum
Saturday, March 7, 2009

Questions?
Saturday, March 7, 2009

Thank You
Nick DeNardis
http://nickdenardis.com
@nickdenardis
Saturday, March 7, 2009

Links
• http://validator.w3.org/
• http://section508.gov/
• http://jquery.com/
• http://tinyurl.com/ietester
• http://opera.com/company/education/
curriculum/
• http://www.cynthiasays.com/
Saturday, March 7, 2009