Articles

The articles below address issues around web accessibility and its application in the real world. They look at what is best practice and how to create the optimum user experience for people with disabilities or accessing the Web on alternative platforms.

RNIB articles

• Instant accessibility: does it work?
  Donna Smillie (former Senior Web Accessibility Consultant, RNIB) looks at the claims made for software packages which create a text-only version from a graphic website, and assesses if they really work or not.
• Is justified text, err... justified?
  Why we advise against using justified text, with some links to useful background information on this issue. By Donna Smillie (former Senior Web Accessibility Consultant, RNIB).
• Place-holding text in form fields
  Why place-holding text is no longer needed, and a look at how it can affect a screen reader user's ability to use forms efficiently, and how to avoid this problem. By Bim Egan (Senior Web Accessibility Consultant, RNIB).
• GIS (Geographic Information Systems) and accessibility
  On 15 September 2005, Donna Smillie (former Senior Web Accessibility Consultant at RNIB) gave a presentation at a Public Sector Forums event on GIS for Local Government. In the presentation, Donna looked at the accessibility issues associated with putting GIS data on the web, and provided practical advice on how these issues can be addressed.
• Screen reader access to PDF: a users guide
  PDF documents are an integral part of nowadays web experience and if properly created they can be fairly accessible. Hugh Huddy, formerly of RNIB's Centre for Accessible Information, looked at the main accessibility issues affecting PDFs and wrote a useful guide for screen reader users.

Other articles

• EU Accessibility Report: eAccessibility is an issue for all of us
  On 24 November, the UK Cabinet Office published "eAccessibility of public sector services in the European Union", a comprehensive report on accessibility of government online services across the European Union (EU)
• The TITLE attribute - what is it good for?
  A look at the TITLE attribute and how to use it, by Steven Faulkner.
• Facts and opinions about PDF accessibility
  Joe Clark looks at how PDFs do and don't support accessibility.