Accessibility and Usability Guide
by TomAtack
- Contents
- Introduction
- Further Guidance
Introduction
A guide to ensure web content providers meet accessibility and usability standards when adding or editing webpages
Who is this for?
This guide is for anyone creating or editing portable document format (PDF) files, images, forms or web pages for a local government organisation. Web content providers will use:
- Adobe Acrobat to create or modify PDF documents.
- Adobe Photoshop to create or modify images.
- Adobe LiveCycle to create or modify forms.
- Adobe Dreamweaver to create or modify webpages.
What will I learn?
This guide will show web content providers how to create accessible and easy to use web content. You will learn about:
- Using valid Hyper Text Mark-up Language (HTML).
- Meeting accessibility standards.
- Meeting usability standards.
You will be shown how to:
- Create proper metadata.
- Create useful keywords.
- Write in an appropriate style.
- Check your text.
- Add hyperlinks and attachments to your webpages.
- Add images to your webpages.
Please note: This guide will not teach you how to add or edit webpages! This guide will not teach you how to use Adobe Acrobat, Photoshop, LiveCycle Designer or Dreamweaver! It will explain why accessibly and usable content is necessary, and show you how to make new content accessible and usable.
If I get stuck?
Tip: If you find yourself struggling:
- Find something similar, copy it, then alter your version.
- Run an online evaluation, then fix any errors reported.
- Just ask someone.
Please note: These guidelines assume you have read the relevant instruction manuals.
A word of caution
You must only add accessible and usable content to the website:
- Convert information from non-HTML files into accessible HTML or PDF files.
- Avoid placing Microsoft documents online. (Office documents such as Word and Excel are inaccessible to users and search engines. They cannot be easily found and cannot be easily read.)
- Do not place PDF forms online. Use forms software to write forms.
How can I learn more?
Follow up references used in this guide.