A. Why Should Websites Be Accessible?
The Internet has dramatically changed the way state and local governments do business. Today, government agencies routinely make much more information about their programs, activities, and services available to the public by posting it on their websites. As a result, many people can easily access this information seven days a week, 24 hours a day.
Many government services and activities are also provided on websites because the public is able to participate in them at any time of day and without the assistance of government personnel. Many government websites offer a low cost, quick, and convenient way of filing tax returns, paying bills, renewing licenses, signing up for programs, applying for permits or funding, submitting job applications, and performing a wide variety of other activities.
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and, if the government entities receive federal funding, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 generally require that state and local governments provide qualified individuals with disabilities equal access to their programs, services, or activities unless doing so would fundamentally alter the nature of their programs, services, or activities or would impose an undue burden.2 One way to help meet these requirements is to ensure that government websites have accessible features for people with disabilities, using the simple steps described in this document. An agency with an inaccessible website may also meet its legal obligations by providing an alternative accessible way for citizens to use the programs or services, such as a staffed telephone information line. These alternatives, however, are unlikely to provide an equal degree of access in terms of hours of operation and the range of options and programs available.
Example: Accessing Online Tax Forms
If posted on an accessible website, tax forms need to be available to people with disabilities in an accessible format on the same terms that they are available to other members of the public – 24 hours a day, seven days a week, without cost, inconvenience, or delay. A staffed telephone line that sent copies of tax forms to callers through the mail would not provide equal access to people with disabilities because of the delay involved in mailing the forms.
As you will see, making a website accessible means following a few relatively simple steps.
A Few Basic Terms
To understand the basics of website accessibility, you need to know a few terms:
webpage – an Internet-based document, usually in HTML format, that can contain a wide variety of information and multimedia content.
website – a collection of webpages that is hierarchically organized around a homepage.
web browser – a computer program that downloads webpages. It is the program installed on your computer that you use to access webpages on the Internet.
HTML – short for “hypertext mark-up language,” a common mark-up language used to present webpages. It tells the web browser how information should be structured and accessed.
screen reader – a computer program that speaks written text. It allows a person to listen to the written text on a webpage or in a computer program. Screen readers read only text; they cannot describe pictures or other images, even if the images are pictures of text.
HTML tags – specific instructions understood by a web browser or screen reader. One type of HTML tag, called an “alt” tag (short for “alternative text”), is used to provide brief text descriptions of images that screen readers can understand and speak. Another type of HTML tag, called a “longdesc” tag (short for “long description”), is used to provide long text descriptions that can be spoken by screen readers.
refreshable Braille display – an electronic device that translates standard text into Braille characters and uses devices such as rounded pins on a refreshable display to create Braille text that can be read by touch.
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