Web 2.0
Web 2.0 and Navigation Difficulties for the Blind
Originally posted August 15, 2008
SECTION 508 – Web page navigation can be an issue for the visually impaired. Clutter nad repetitive navigation links can keep the visually impaired from finding the main content of a web page. Section 508 calls for the web page designer to use a skip navigation link to help the blind reader find the page main content. Jim Thatcher’s blog post provides samples of how to design a web page for screen reader navigation. By placing a link at the top of a page, the blind reader can find the navigation link quickly and bypass listening to clutter, advertising and repetitive navigation information.
<a href=”#Main”>
<img alt=”Skip to main content” src=”1.gif” width=”1″>
</a>
… Search form, select menus, left navigation
… Right navigation content
<a name=”Main”></a>
… Main content
This works great for static, text oriented web pages. But what about?
- dynamic web pages that have content that is generated based on user triggered events? Can the “skip to main content link” access the dynamic content? The web page programmer should provide skip links based on the content generated.
- dynamic Web 2.0 pages that have ajax, dynamic HTML or java scripts? Alternative text information can help, but the screen reader cannot consume some of this information. The 508 and WCAG 2.0 standards call for the web page designer to provide an equivalent experience for the disabled. If possible, the web page designer could provide an alternative web page for the screen reader to consume. This would be at great expense to the web page provider and would most likely not be acceptable to the accessibility standards purest.
- web pages with multiple “main content areas”? When possible, web pages should be designed with a single purpose. The web designer should provide multiple links to the multiple task areas on the page.
- web pages with mashups or content from other web sites? As with dynamically generated content, the web page designer can provide skip navigation links to mashup content. The web page designer should try not to include non-accessible content from other sites.
Providing alternative content paths to offer an equivalent experience may not satisfy the purest, but I would swallow my pride and accept it if I could use the web site. More research is needed to see what others are doing to improve navigation within a page. Any comments or ideas?