WorldEnable - Accessibility on the Internet

Internet Accessibility - an ASEAN Perspective

Creating Accessible Web Pages,
Part 2

In this page:

Introduction
Working with Tables
Discussion Points

Introduction

Frames are not accessible, though many web sites use them for navigation bars. With this in mind, many web designers are using more automated means for keeping web pages consistent, such as CGI scripts or Active Server Pages.

Most startup web developers cannot afford to put a lot of time into programming these features. Fortunately, new web programs make it easy to use these features.

Tables, previously used for displaying data in tabular form, is now widely used for formatting pages. Here's an example of a table that is used to format pages.

Table 1: Formatted page with table (borders shown)

* Schedule

* Presentations

* Exercises

This project is sponsored by the ASEAN Secretariat in cooperation with the National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA)

Here's that same table with the border set to "0".

Table 2: Formatted Table with borders set to zero

* Schedule

* Presentations

* Exercises

This project is sponsored by the ASEAN Secretariat in cooperation with the National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA)

Without the borders, it is possible to use tables as frameworks for accessible web pages.

Working with Tables

Here's the HTML code for a web page that uses a table. Note that the table begins with <TABLE> and ends with </TABLE>. Each new row is designated by <TR> and ends in </TR>. Each cell uses <TD> and ends in </TD>. This code is for the example above.

Table 3: Table codes.

<html>

<head>
<title>My Accessibility Project</title>
</head>

<body>

</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="30%" valign="top">

* <a href="iaaseanschedule.htm">Schedule</a> <p>
* <a href="iaaseanmaterials.htm">Presentations</a> </p> <p>
* <a href="iaaseanexercises.htm">Exercises</a>

</td>
<td width="70%" valign="top">

This project is sponsored by the ASEAN Secretariat in cooperation with the National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA)

</td>
</tr>
</table>
</body>
</html>

Exercise:

Draw a thumbnail of a table format showing how your web page will be laid out.
Create a web page using your chosen topic and employing the table features above.

Discussion Point

Tables are read by text-only browsers and screen readers in a row-by-row fashion. For example, the left cell is read first, followed by the right, before the next row is read. Knowing this, discuss how a poor design of a table can also be inaccessible.

	Accessibility on the Internet
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Creating Accessible Web Pages, Part 2

Introduction

Table 1: Formatted page with table (borders shown)

Table 2: Formatted Table with borders set to zero

Working with Tables

Table 3: Table codes.

Exercise:

Discussion Point

Creating Accessible Web Pages,
Part 2