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About Our Accessibility Efforts
In order to best serve our widely varied user population, a number of steps have been taken to ensure the accessibility of the Vital Aging Network (VAN) Web site.
Accommodations for Users with Screen Readers
Special care has been taken to ensure accessibility of the VAN Web site for users with screen readers.
- Graphic navigation elements have alt tags and, where applicable, make use of the "longdesc" attribute.
- Other images have either an alt (and longdesc) description or use " " to ensure the screen reader skips spacers and images not needing a description.
- A "skip to main content" hidden button is used. It is invisible to the standard user, but a screen reader will read the alt text of a tiny spacer GIF, and the screen reader user can skip to the main content of the page.
- Hidden labels surrounding primary, secondary, and footer navigation use hidden spacer GIFs and are assigned alt attributes that alert screen reader users where navigation starts and ends.
Navigation
- Large bottons on the homepage and only slightly smaller buttons on sub-pages makes it easier to navigate through the site for people with vision problems, hand tremors, or difficulty controlling the mouse.
- Large type on primary navigation buttons.
- Rollover copy with brief overviews of each section gives users an indication of the information they'll find before they click, eliminating unnecessary navigation.
- Distinct colors for each section help users differentiate sections visually.
- Subtle progressive icons on primary navigation -- useful for color blind users -- are a visual cue and a good substitute for the color shift between primary sections that other users see.
- Use of "»" symbol on secondary navigation is a visual cue that the text that follows is clickable and is a small indication of the direction of the navigation. For example, "« Home Page" is used indicate backward navigation, "» Who Are We?" is used to indicate forward navigation.
- Use of :HOVER style gives the largest browser audience (Internet Explorer 4.0+) more visual feedback upon rollover of text links.
- Use of an alink color, for those unable to see the :HOVER property, gives some visual feedback on click.
- Use of stylesheets (CSS) to embolden and color text links differently from surrounding text.
Typography
- Large paragraph font size (15px) with generous line spacing (leading) makes it easier for people with learning and/or vision impairments to read and follow lines.
- The site uses sans-serif type, which has been proven to be more readable onscreen.
- Throughout the VAN site, a comfortable column width is used because columns too wide or narrow can be difficult to read, especially for people with learning and/or visual impairments.
- Large, distinct header style makes it easy to differentiate headers from other content and to skim through pages easily.
Colors
- Color is used to differentiate sections both in the primary navigation at the top of each page, and in the secondary navigation column on the left of each page. This combination of usage makes it easier for users to identify the section they are in and to find the secondary navigation.
- A light grey is used behind the main content area making it easier to read, especially for users with certain learning and/or visual impairments.
- The colors chosen for link, alink, and :HOVER elements help make links stand out without being alarming or overpowering.
