Copyright © 2009 Round Table on Information Access for People with Print Disabilities
Email: RoundtableAdmn@bigpond.com
These guidelines are available from Round Table in accessible formats.
Introduction to these guidelines – Page 1
About these guidelines - Page 1
Who these guidelines are for - Page 3
1. Equivalent to print - Page 5
3. Clear visual style - Page 10
4. Standards, Guidelines and Best Practice - Page 11
Rich Text Format (RTF) - Page 13
Appendix 1: A note about PDF - Page 17
Appendix 2: Glossary - Page 18
Appendix 3: Round Table markup - Page 21
Appendix 4: Tips for working in Word - Page 23
Appendix 5: Tips for using Scanners and OCR - Page 25
An accessible e-text document must be fully usable by a person with a print disability, in the sense of perceivable, operable, understandable and robust ( http://www.webaim.org/articles/pour/ )
elements like <h1> and control the visual appearance with stylesheets, rather than <font size=+2>.
Some general guidelines for verbalising images are:
Identify the key concepts conveyed in the image and explain these.
Describe the overall image first, then provide further detail as necessary.
<h1>This is a top level heading</h1>
Use a semantic approach to writing HTML:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTML#Semantic_HTML
Ensure documents are valid to the HTML standard: http://validator.w3.org/
Use valid style sheets to control layout and presentation:
http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/
Conform with the latest version of the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines:
http://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/wcag.php
Different conventions exist for formatting plain text documents.
Markdown is a human-readable markup system based on plain text email conventions: http://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/
Project Gutenberg has developed formatting guidelines based on internet conventions ( http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Gutenberg:Volunteers%27_FAQ ).
HREOC's position is: "Despite considerable work done by Adobe, PDF remains a relatively inaccessible format to people who are blind or vision-impaired. Software exists to provide some access to the text of some PDF documents, but for a PDF document to be accessible to this software, it must be prepared in accordance with the guidelines that Adobe have developed. Even when these guidelines are followed, the resulting document will only be accessible to those people who have the required software and the skills to use it. The Commission's view is that organisations who distribute content only in PDF format, and who do not also make this content available in another format such as RTF, HTML, or plain text, are liable for complaints under the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA). Where an alternative file format is provided, care should be taken to ensure that it is the same version of the content as the PDF version, and that it is downloadable by the user as a single document, just as the PDF version is downloaded as a single file." Source: Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (August 2002). World Wide Web Access: Disability Discrimination Act Advisory Notes [Electronic Version 3.2]. Retrieved 29 August 2007 from http://www.hreoc.gov.au/disability_rights/standards/www_3/www_3.html#s2_3
Where several alternative formats of a document are provided, the best practice approach is:
Accessible: Usable by a person with a print disability, in the sense of perceivable, operable, understandable and robust. http://www.webaim.org/articles/pour/
Caption: Written description that normally accompanies a picture, chart or diagram
Colour Contrast: The contrast between the brightness and hue of text and background colours.
DAISY: An open standard for accessible digital books. http://www.daisy.org
Markdown: A human-readable markup system based on plain text email conventions: http://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/
MathML: Mathematical Markup Language (MathML) is an application of XML developed by the W3C for describing mathematical notations and capturing both its structure and content. It aims at integrating mathematical formulae into text documents. http://www.w3.org/Math/
Producer: Someone responsible for the production of alternate format material
Project Gutenberg: Project Gutenberg is the first and largest single online collection of free electronic books, or eBooks. http://www.gutenberg.org
Semantic Markup: using the most meaningful tag to describe the type of content.
W3C: World Wide Web Consortium. The main international standards organisation for the World Wide Web. http://www.w3.org/
WCAG: Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are published by the W3C's Web Accessibility Initiative. They give guidance on making content accessible, primarily for disabled users, but also for all user agents, including highly limited devices, such as mobile phones. http://www.w3.org/WAI/
Page numbers: conventions include:
<opp> # (for original print page)
Headings: <h#> where # is the level of heading (up to <h6>)
<other> for other types of emphasis e.g. small caps.
<row # col #> where each cell needs separate markup
<diagram>, <graph>, <photograph>, <picture>, <map>, <cartoon>
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