[WEB4LIB] Bobby standards vs Flash and Fireworks

[Thomas Dowling]

At 05:12 PM 1/30/2003, you wrote:
>Our committee for web site review is considering having our site move
>toward Bobby accessibility standards compliance. I've looked at a few
>sites with the Bobby logo. Now I'm wondering, do some of you have
>conforming sites, and if so, could you share your URLs?
>
>Also, are Flash and Fireworks acceptable to Bobby?

My understanding is that accessibility with Flash is difficult, and 
basically impossible with versions before Flash MX.  Macromedia's MX 
versions took a big step forward in standards compliance, including 
accessibility.


>When using a plain
>graphic image, is it enough to have an alt tag describe the image, or
>does the tag have to explain what the user is supposed to see if he
>clicks on it?

Why not go all out:

   An alt attribute to provide a textual *alternative* to the graphic (which
     as discussed earlier should be alt="" where appropriate)
   A title attribute to *supplement* the image
   A longdesc URL to thoroughly *describe* the image


> From looking at some sites, it appears that font tags are out and linked
>style sheets or classes are used instead...

Only for the past five years or so.



>Any comments or advice? Do you think library sites, like federal sites,
>will soon be required to be Bobby approved? Thanks for your comments.


Not Bobby approved per se, but a lot of them are directly or indirectly 
required to meet accessibility standards.  Last time I checked, all U.S. 
state governments were taking money from a fund that carries an (unpoliced) 
requirement to support the Section 508 federal standard; that requirement 
in turn maybe/kinda/sorta/ask-a-lawyer  technically passes down to 
state-funded libraries.  And of course the wonderfully vague requirements 
that we may or may not have under the ADA could best be satisfied by 
complying with a published accessibility standard.

Take a deep breath, relax, and recognize that the Accessibility Police are 
not going to come knocking on your door in the middle of the night.  But it 
will take just one messy lawsuit in some library somewhere to have your 
boss knocking on your office door telling you to get the web site 
accessible by Monday morning.




Thomas Dowling
OhioLINK - Ohio Library and Information Network
tdowling at ohiolink.edu