Understanding accessibility
If you are new to accessibility, review "Understanding accessibility" before completing the checklist or contacting the Human Ability and Accessibility Center for help.
IBM Web accessibility checklist
Use this checklist for:
- Web sites
- Web applications
Last updated 06 August 2004. Techniques pages, accessed via the link in each checkpoint, may contain more recent updates. Be sure to review the techniques pages for the latest accessibility guidance.
For information on the relationship of the IBM Web Accessibility checklist to Web accessibility standards, see IBM Web Accessibility Checklist, W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, and US Section 508.
| Checkpoint | Yes No Planned N/A |
Comments | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Images and animations. Use the alt="text" attribute to provide text equivalents for images. Use alt="" for images that do not convey important information or convey redundant information. | ||
| 2 | Image maps. Use client-side image maps and alternative text for image map hot spots. If a server-side map is needed, provide equivalent text links. | ||
| 3 | Graphs and charts. Summarize the content of each graph and chart, or use the longdesc attribute to link to the description or data. | ||
| 4 | Multimedia. Provide captions or transcripts of important audio content. Provide transcripts or audio descriptions of important video content. | ||
| 5 | Scripts. Ensure the functionality of scripts is keyboard accessible. If the content affected by scripting is not accessible, provide an alternative. | ||
| 6 | Applets, plug-ins, and non-HTML content. When an applet, plug-in or other application is required to be present, provide a link to one that is directly accessible, or provide alternate content for those which are not directly accessible. | ||
| 7 | Forms. Make forms accessible to assistive technology. | ||
| 8 | Skip to main content. Provide methods for skipping over navigation links to get to main content of page. | ||
| 9 | Frames. Provide a title for each FRAME element and frame page. Provide an accessible source for each frame. | ||
| 10 | Table headers. Use the TH element to mark up table heading cells. Use the headers attribute on cells of complex data tables. | ||
| 11 | Cascading style sheets. Web pages should be readable without requiring style sheets. | ||
| 12 | Color & contrast. Ensure that all information conveyed with color is also conveyed in the absence of color. | ||
| 13 | Blinking, moving or flickering content. Avoid causing content to blink, flicker, or move. | ||
| 14 | Timed responses. When a timed response is required, alert the user, and give sufficient time to indicate more time is required. | ||
| 15 | Text-only page. If accessibility cannot be accomplished in any other way, provide a text-only page with equivalent information or functionality. Update the content of the text-only page whenever the primary page changes. | ||
| 16 | Verify accessibility. Test the accessibility using available tools. | ||
©2007 IBM Corporation
References
- Some additional references on Web accessibility
- Additional recommended Web accessibility checkpoints:
- Use descriptive hypertext links so they make sense out of context.
- Use correct mark-up to convey presentation and structure.