Our class has discussed website accessibility in terms of color blindness, fonts selection, font size, font clarity, and alt tags, but only touched on accessibility standards in the context of JavaScript**.
In-class exercises exposed accessibility compliance issues commonly found with JavaScript and other web scripting languages. JavaScript is fun, it allows developers to add increased interaction, information processing, and control to web pages. At the other spectrum, JavaScript can be a drawback to website users with accessibility issues.
Some of those accessibility issues can be:
- Web browser incapability
- Hidden content
- User control
A web page designer need not to remove all JavaScript from a web page for it to be accessible. There are ways to ensure the JavaScript is directly accessible and provide an accessible, non-JavaScript alternative. In fact, there are common uses of JavaScript that meet accessibility guidelines, such as image rollovers.
Designing a JavaScript accessible web page involves some forethought. Some accessibility issues to address in final design are:
- Avoid event handlers that are mouse-only use.
- Ensure content and functionality is accessible to assistive technologies.
- Ensure full navigation using only a keyboard.
- Do not cause confusion by using JavaScript to modify normal browser functionality.
- Put an Javascript alternative in place, for those whose browsers that may not support JavaScript natively.
Overall, accessibility needs to be discussed and incorporated into design of any website. Anyone should have an opportunity to fully enjoy the web!!
**JavaScript compliance is covered in Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act (in the United States) and the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 1.0.
