The Bottom Line
Pros
- Very up-to-date.
- Good coverage of Web technologies beyond just XHTML.
- More than just simple solutions, complete coverage of making various Web page parts accessible.
- Shows how to make Flash, JavaScript, and PDF accessible.
- Covers laws in more countries than just the United States.
Cons
- None.
Description
- The first section explains why you should make your pages accessible.
- The second and largest section teaches you all the methods for accessibility, including:
- Creating accessible content, navigation, and data input;
- Creating accessible CSS, JavaScript, Flash and PDFs;
- And testing your pages for accessibility with the WCAG.
- There is also a case study in the second section to help show how it's done.
- The third section covers laws and policy in the US and more than 20 other countries.
Guide Review - Web Accessibility: Web Standards and Regulatory Compliance by Jim Thatcher et al
When I first got this book I was scared. 624 pages plus index is not a short book. I knew there was a lot about accessibility, but I was concerned that it would be boring or hard to read or just repeat all the things that I already knew.
I was pleasantly surprised. For one thing, this book is very easy to read. There are a lot of authors, but they did a great job of toning the voice and style of the book so that it all comes together. Plus, it covers a lot more about accessibility than just how to do it.
What I really liked
I really liked how the authors spent a lot of time explaining how someone with a screen reader or other accessibility browser might experience different pages. This, more than anything else made it very apparent how important accessibility can be.
I also liked how they did not advocate absolutes in accessibility. In other words, the authors recognized that, for example, alt text can be left out (or just use a space) when nothing is improved by reading something where the image is - such as with bullets in bulletted lists.
Finally, I really liked that this book covered more than just United States accessibility policy and law. Even though I am based in the U.S. I need to understand how accessibility is viewed in many other countries, because the Web is global.
This is a great book.
If you are a professional in the Web industry, you should pick up this book. It will help you understand what you are sacrificing if you choose to make a site inaccessible, as well as how to make it accessible with less cost.
Even if you're already a usability expert, there is something for you in this book. It is very comprehensive and easy to read.
