A professional web graphic designer such as myself has the responsibility to make information accessible to all internet users, including those with visual disabilities or who cannot use a mouse to access and navigate web pages.

Most modern browsers and computer systems have adjustable accessibility settings. These can be modified by a user to turn off the style sheets that control the layout of a page; they can be set to change font size, colors, and links; and they can allow a user to jump from link to link with the tab key. A screen reader is another software program that can help someone visually impaired to listen to a web page, and can also reproduce the page’s content in braille. 

However, because of the way some web pages are designed or coded, it is sometimes difficult for these technologies to make sense of the content of a page or to skip over site navigation links that are not strictly necessary. Visit the WebAIM web site to learn more about web accessibility issues.

Accessibility Bar

On this web site, I have provided an Accessibility Bar that can be made visible at the top of each page by clicking on the wheel chair icon, or can be hidden by clicking again. Its purpose is to offer accessibility options to all my site’s users by providing the following accessibility supports:
 

Content structure and layout

The michelgodts.com web site follows proper usage of HTML structural tags—such as headings, paragraph breaks, and lists—to order the content structure of each page.

To allow maximum compatibility with screen readers, all pages have been programmed using Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) layout techniques that respect proper linearization of the content.
 

Navigation

Screen reader and keyboard

If you use a screen reader or keyboard to access my web site you can bypass the sitewide navigation links by using the “Skip to content” link at the top of each page or the relevant below-listed access key. This link is hidden from view by default but can be displayed onscreen (in the top left corner) by pressing the tab key.

Navigation links have been set as HTML lists that screen readers can easily read. In addition, the majority of the links on this site are in the form of text. The few image links use an alternate text to specify what they are.

External links open a second browser window and have been clearly labeled as such.

Access keys

You can use access keys as part of keystroke combinations (keyboard shortcuts) to jump to important parts of this site without using a mouse.  These access keys are listed at the beginning of each page and can be “seen” only by screen readers unless the Accessibility Bar has been turned on.

[ 1 ] Home page     [ 3 ] Site map     [ s ] Skip to content

(Please review your browser and/or operating system documentation to learn more about how to use access keys.)

Site map

I have provided a structural site map as an alternative to the page’s navigation system. This provides a list of links to all the main sections and pages of the site.
 

Visual display

Text and images

The design of this web site makes use of the latest web design standards. By using a CSS design implementation, you can adjust font sizes to your liking, which can be done through the “text size” option of your browser or by turning on the site’s Accessibility Bar to select one of three text size options.

This web site will appear as a plain text document for those who have style sheets disabled. Alternative text tags have also be added to all images on the site.

Screen vs. print layout

For a layout presentation more appropriate to a sheet of paper, a page on this site will print without the screen background and any of the navigation interfaces. You can preview this layout by clicking the “Print-friendly” button on the site’s Accessibility Bar.

Flash

To display my design work, I currently use Flash movies on the home page and inside the Portfolio section. These provide examples of my my web, print, and logo portfolios with a minimal description of the work done for each.

These Flash movies are created automatically by an off-the-shelf portfolio builder application, which unfortunately seems to create movie files with limited accessibility for screen readers and tab-key navigation. All my apologies. I am currently investigating a different approach.
 

Compliance with accessibility guidelines

I have attempted to design and program this web site to comply with the following guidelines:

• Priority 1 of the World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. Some features also contribute towards compliance with Priority 2 and Priority 3 guidelines.
• U.S. Federal Government Section 508 Guidelines for Web-based information.
   

Questions

If you have experienced any problems navigating or reading this web site, or have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Michel Godts