This document discusses web standards and accessibility in SharePoint 2010. It provides an overview of key standards like HTML, XHTML, WCAG and WAI:ARIA. It also summarizes common validation issues in SharePoint 2010 like legacy markup, Silverlight and Rich Text Editor problems. Potential solutions and workarounds are presented. The document concludes with an emphasis on the importance of accessibility and standards compliance from the start of a SharePoint project. Resources for further information are also included.

1. Web standards & Accessibility Web Content Management

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3. Session objectives You understand the difference between and the importance of web standards and accessibility You can explain the web standards and accessibility investments in SharePoint 2010 You know the most common web standards and accessibility issues with SharePoint 2010 3

4. Web standards & accessibility 101 4

5. Web standards Grammatical correctness of markup Standards types HTML 4.01 XHTML 1.0/1.1 Standards levels Transitional Strict Frameset Quirks mode 5

6. Accessibility A way to guarantee interoperability of the website Any OS Any browser Any device Standards WCAG 1.0/2.0 WAI:ARIA Section 508 (US) Webrichtlijnen overheid (NL) Accessibility Levels 6

7. Accessibility in SharePoint 2010 7

8. SharePoint 2010 Web standards & accessibility facts Standards Well-formed XHTML 1.0 Strict WCAG 2.0 Level AA WAI:ARIA Implemented in SharePoint Foundation 2010 Except for Central Administration Settings UI 8

9. Well-formed vs. Valid XHTML Well-formed XHTML Lower-case tags Self-closing elements Attributes’ values wrapped in quotes In-line elements wrapped in block elements Doctypes everywhere SharePoint 2010 supports WAI:ARIA Markup for Accessible Rich Internet Applications Not in XHTML DTD! 9

10. Accessibility in SharePoint 2010 SharePoint aims at WCAG 2.0 AA WAI:ARIA Accessible Rich Internet Applications Supported by the latest browsers Implemented across the whole platform 10

11. Part I Web standards validation problem areas in SharePoint 2010 11

12. Validation problem areas Legacy markup Silverlight Web Part WebPartZone WebPartPage ImageField Rich Text Editor 12

13. Legacy markup Problem name attribute on the form element Solution Configure XHTML Conformance to Strict Per WebApp setting (web.config) <xhtmlConformancemode="Strict"/> 13

14. Silverlight Plugin Generator Problem SLPG doesn’t escape JavaScript code SLPG uses iframe to solve caching issue with Safari (?) Solution Add comments before loading the JavaScript <scripttype="text/javascript"> //<![CDATA[ //]]> </script> ...and get rid of the iframe 14

15. WebPartZone Problem Renders tables around Web Parts Adds non-existing attributes toWeb Part’s div(HasPers, allowDelete, etc.) Solution Custom Control Adapter Override the rendering Drawbacks Breaks WPSC!!! 15

16. WebPartPage Problem Renders hidden Web Part Zone using hidden input fields Input fields directly in the page insteadof wrapped in a div Solution Custom Page Adapter Wrap the contents in a div 16

17. ImageField Problem Uses HTML 4.01 to store the image value Solution In code: retrieve the value asImageFieldValue and write theimg tag yourself In XSLT: Good luck! 17

18. Rich Text Editor Problem WAI:ARIA markup not in XHTML DTD Solution Custom Control Adapter Regex replace Drawbacks Expensive on large pages 18

19. Part II Accessibility problem areas in SharePoint 2010 19

20. Webrichtlijnen overheid aka. WCAG 2.0 AA+ CSS styles In-line styles JavaScript links 20

21. CSS styles Problem CSS validation returns errors Solution Replacing with your own CSS Drawbacks Requires some serious tweaking 21

22. In-line styles Problem Using style attribute is not allowed Solution Custom Page Adapter Regex replace Drawbacks Very expensive Might loose branding/functionality 22

23. JavaScript links Problem Links with href="javascript:..." Solution Custom Page Adapter Regex rewrite of links Drawbacks Very expensive Might loose functionality 23

24. 24 Battle for checkmarks

25. Webrichtlijnen overheid Valid XHTML and CSS as prerequisites of being accessible Is it really necessary? Web standards vs. Accessibility:http://www.456bereastreet.com/archive/200506/web_standards_vs_accessibility/ 25

26. Key takeaways Implementing web standards and accessibility in SharePoint 2010 is easier than in MOSS 2007 Plan for accessibility from day #1 Accessible branding is the key to success Be careful what you promise Accessibility on the Internet does matter 26

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28. Resources:General Web standards & Accessibilityhttp://www.w3.org Web Accessibility Initiativehttp://www.w3.org/WAI/ Webrichtlijnen overheidhttp://www.webrichtlijnen.nl/ 28

29. Resources: Accessibility Evaluating website accessibility Part 1, Background and Preparationhttp://www.456bereastreet.com/archive/200603/evaluating_website_accessibility_part_1_background_and_preparation/ Part 2, Basic Checkpointshttp://www.456bereastreet.com/archive/200603/evaluating_website_accessibility_part_2_basic_checkpoints/ Part 3, Digging Deeperhttp://www.456bereastreet.com/archive/200603/evaluating_website_accessibility_part_3_digging_deeper/ 29

30. Resources:Accessibility in SharePoint Accessibility @ bloghttp://blog.mastykarz.nl/tag/accessibility/ Best Practices for developing accessible web sites in Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007http://blog.mastykarz.nl/go/best-practices-accessible-moss/ The impact of developing an accessible web site in SharePoint 2007http://blog.mastykarz.nl/the-impact-of-developing-an-accessible-web-site-in-sharepoint-2007/ 30