Canberra: +61 2 6162 8300Contact OPC
You are here
Home ›OPC IT Acessibility Articles
by: Le Tong
on: 14 Jul 2011
PDF files provide a convenient way to preserve formatting and reduce file sizes. New versions of Adobe Acrobat now have various features included that can improve accessibility of PDF documents. They include:
by: Le Tong
on: 06 Jul 2011
Accessible Word documents are well structured and properly formatted documents. When properly formatted, it makes it easier to convert to accessible PDF or HTML formats. The PDF document should have retained some accessible elements and require minimum or no repair work to make it accessible.
by: Le Tong
on: 06 Jul 2011
Before content is created and while it is maintained it is important to understand the difference between writing for the web and writing in an offline mode. It is essential to identify the aim of the content, your intended audience as well as how they use the web and process information. In doing so, the content can be designed and developed that will enable access to information and maximise the user’s experience of your website.
Understanding user interaction with online content
The following are some web issues to keep in mind:
by: Glen Wallis
on: 24 Jan 2011
Clients often ask me to recommend tools for accessibility testing. I created a document for this purpose recently and I have provided it to a number of clients. I have decided that I probably should put this information online as there seems to be a need for something like this.
So, here are some tools I find useful. If you know of any others please let us know in the comments.
The Wave
The Wave is available as an online version that tests an individual URL, an uploaded file or direct HTML input.
The online version is available from the following URL:
by: Glen Wallis
on: 15 Dec 2010
On Thursday, December 2, my team leader Stephen Ollman and I had the pleasure of presenting at the Web Adaptability for Inclusion Conference 2010 in Melbourne.
It was the second day of the conference and the theme of the day was government. The venue was the excellent John Scott meeting house in a very charming part of the La Trobe university Bundoora campus.
Jacquie Begbie and Raven Calais from AGIMO opened proceedings with an explanation of the National Transition Strategy to WCAG 2.0. Conformance to WCAG 2.0 is mandatory for State and Territory government agencies.
by: Glen Wallis
on: 10 Nov 2010
Adobe InDesign is a popular software solution for creating professional layouts for print and digital publishing. A lot of my government clients use it for their publications.
As a web publisher I am often frustrated by the quality of the documents I receive, particularly those that begin life in InDesign. The documents are generally untagged PDF with no headings, no text alternatives for images, mystery meat reading order and numerous other problems.
by: Glen Wallis
on: 16 Sep 2010
Building an accessible website has numerous benefits, but one benefit that is often overlooked is that a highly accessible website is likely to get a better ranking in search engines.
A number of techniques that aid accessibility have obvious SEO benefits, including:
by: Glen Wallis
on: 06 Sep 2010
I recently conducted an accessibility audit on a rather innovative geospatial mapping application for a large government department.
The application uses the Google Maps API and data from various sources to present government initiatives based on location.
That in itself is not particularly innovative. Applications of this kind are becoming increasingly common. What is interesting about this one is that it passes WCAG 2.0 at Level AA.
by: Glen Wallis
on: 06 Sep 2010
I have been advising government agencies on accessibility for more than ten years. During that time the level of understanding has improved dramatically. However, some problems continue to crop up.
So here are 5 common accessibility problems with Australian government websites.
1. Images with no text equivalent
This is probably the most prevalent accessibility barrier on the web. Alt text on images often fails to provide equivalent information.
