New Forum: Accessibility and Usability

[engine]

Welcome to our newest forum: Accessibility and Usability

This forum is about the challenges and rewards of building and maintaining accessible and usable websites.

Thank you to the WebmasterWorld moderators pageoneresults [webmasterworld.com], DrDoc [webmasterworld.com], encyclo [webmasterworld.com]

This forum will cover topics such as how to make it easier for everyone to access your site, as well as how to simplify ease of navigation and finding what they are looking for. Topics surrounding various unconventional browsing tools such as screen readers and pointer wands, to name a few, are welcome; as are various navigation layouts and methods for providing dynamic menus.

We will also discuss how to build and maintain a logical structure for your site, along with a logical and simplistic path of finding the information contained within. Topics surrounding WCAG/WAI and Section 508 are encouraged. We welcome comments and posts referencing usability studies by acclaimed sources.

Topics not covered
Specific issues with your page markup are better dealt with in their respective forums, HTML & Browsers and CSS. Note: we do NOT accept requests for site reviews, links to "test pages", "examples", screen shots or personal URLs of any nature. We prefer to educate by giving authoritative resources and thereby prevent any possible conflicts of interest.

Please take time to read through the Forum Charter before posting.

[edited by: engine at 9:43 pm (utc) on Feb. 16, 2006]

[jatar_k]

great addition and thnks to pageoneresults, DrDoc and encyclo for taking on extra duties

[mattglet]

Much thanks to pageoneresults, DrDoc, and encylo for taking on another forum. Looking forward to being helped by the best.

[bill]

This is an increasingly important topic for all of us so I'm glad we'll have a centralized place for these sorts of discussions. Thanks to pageoneresults, DrDoc, & encyclo for helping set this place up. I'm looking forward to learning a lot in here.

[stever]

Good to see this forum finally and look forward to participating. Perhaps a bit more publicity as I only came across it because of dg...?

[limbo]

Excellent Idea. :)

[benihana]

at last :)

[annej]

This forum is just what I am needing right now. Thanks for letting me know about it Suzy. I'm currently working on usability for my sites and might as well improve accessibility at the same time.

[victor]

I'm in two minds about this new forum....

In the one hemisphere, I am absolutely delighted that it exists. Accessibility is a vital topic for any webuser, and so giving the subject prominence will help every webmaster and every website user in the world.

In the other hemisphere, well some of us have known for years that an accessible site is also an easy to SEO site: spiders can read it and theme it with no possibility of confusion or making mistakes. As such, accessibility is a secret weapon in SEO work.....Or it was, until now. Now some of us may have to work harder :)