www.inclusivechildcare.org || Concordia University, College of Education
Cindy Croft, Director || croft@csp.edu || 651.603.6265
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CICC E-News, Issue #2. September 2007
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Printing newsletter pages from Firefox, Safari, and Netscape will display link addresses in print.
Website Accessibility
Website 508 Compliance and Accessibility check
- For section 508 compliance go to http://www.cynthiasays.com . Enter your web address then "test your site." Section 508 is the first result displayed. It will say "yes" "no" or "N/A". If it says "no" you can scroll down to view errors. If you receive federal funds and you are not in compliance with section 508 you are in violation of the law.
- Check cross platform compatibility by viewing your site on different browsers, on both PC and MAC, and on portable devices like a Blackberry. Is it readable on all of those?
- Testing for assistive technology is more difficult as it requires the installation of software or a browser plugin. But many free options are available. A quick internet search on "screen reader" will yield plenty of results.
- Printing: check print preview on your website. Is the preview page formatted like a good word processing document or is it a poor representation of the website including menus and possibly missing columns? Hint: check this page for print preview and notice the difference.
Web Standards insure accessibility for all. Inherent in these best practices is maximum search engine optimization (SEO), so it's a win win situation for your users and your organization. Happy surfing.