CODEWITHSUNDEEP
asp.net-mvcasp.net-mvc-3accessibilitysection508
photo_tom
photo_tom

Reputation: 7342

Asp.Net and Accessablity

I'm working on a brand new project for a state government agency that we are going to be using Asp.Net MVC3 as our framework.

My question is I cannot find any guidance on how to make our web app Section 508 (and similar accessibly requirements). This is my first project where this is a requirment. So to implement this do I - For example -

Any suggestions would be appreciated. We don't really care about how this is implemented as long as it is clean in our Razor view.

Upvotes: 2

Views: 226

Answers (3)

Saqib
Saqib

Reputation: 7422

Web accessibility is too broad a subject to cover in a single answer, but it is all to do with your HTML markup - regardless fo controls, or anything else you use. What really matters is the HTML rendered - even if you use some components to assist with this.

You can find a lot more information by searching for "web accessibility" in your favorite search engine, but my high level suggestions would be:

  • Be proud of your markup, and make it semantic. Use headings only when you actually intend there to be a heading. Within a table, use instead of if the cell is a table header. Use bulleted/numbered lists when that's semantically what you want. Don't miss-use tags to fake appearance.
  • Then layer on CSS to provide any visual look that you want. Check out http://www.CSSZenGarden.com to see how this is possible.
  • Finally, add on your behavior using Javascript. Don't mix these three up - with Javascript you can add in event handlers in the jQuery $(document).ready() function; leaving your markup behavior-free.
  • If you wish to use lots of Javascript libraries and controls, then beware that this is likely to decrease your compliance unless you specifically look for accessible controls which promote progressive enhancement. For a government site, someone without Javascript should still get a good experience, and a blind screen reader user should be able to use your Javascript controls as most screen reader users still have Javascript on.
  • There are various good articles on choosing your color contrasts, avoiding rapidly changing content, spacing - too much to cover here :-)

Upvotes: 1

Khepri
Khepri

Reputation: 9627

Section 508 compliance doesn't have so much to do with the technology as it does the implementation of that technology. If you look at the guidelines, they're (for the most part) implementation details:

  • Having alt tags for images
  • Captioning audio presentations
  • Verifying that information is displayed with cues beyond just color
  • Documents readable without a stylesheet
  • Having row and column headers for your tables
  • Frames (if you're really still using them) must be titled and labelled
  • Don't add any content that flashes or flickers
  • When using javascript have descriptive information that identifiers to the user what is happening

The rules go on a bit more, but you get the gist of it. It's not in the technology, it's in the implementation details. You can do all of these things with standard HTML (captioning videos may be a bit trickier)

One other thing I can recommend: The Web Developer toolbar for Firefox (and I'm guessing the Chrome version as well) has a 508 validator option built right in. It will get your up and running on what the reqs really are.

enter image description here

Upvotes: 1

Andy
Andy

Reputation: 8562

No, you need to write your html to be follow the 508 requirements. MVC doesn't do anything special in that regard.

Upvotes: 0

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