The basic rule is providing HTML code that can be read by text-only browsers and screen readers or providing alternate text and descriptions. Advertisement Testing the Sites Web accessibility is a major concern at phone companies. At the human factors laboratory of SBC Technology Resources, a subsidiary of Southwestern Bell, computer users with disabilities put phone company Web sites to the test. Dr. Elizabeth Gibson, a senior member of the technical staff, says people with disabilities, including hearing, vision, and mobility impairments, are asked to perform a simple task on a Web site. We want to find out if the assistive technologies that they use are compatible with our site.
Testers also try Web pages from their homes and offices.
We learned where people had trouble performing certain tasks. For example, some menu labels and titles were not intuitive. Sometimes the problem can be as simple as the way we're constructing a data-entry field. Teaching Web Authors Siemens has been adding accessibility features to both its external Web sites and its company intranet for three years. Stephen Berger, manager of standards and regulations in Siemens' communication mobile group, says the greatest challenge is teaching accessibility coding to the company's many Web page authors, who are scattered in 120 countries.