Accessibility refers to making websites and web products usable for people with visual, auditory, motor, and other disabilities. Examples of accessibility features for software products and websites include screen reader support, text equivalents for graphics, keyboard shortcuts, change of display colors to high contrast, and so on.
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For more information about two significant accessibility initiatives, see the World Wide Web Consortium Web Accessibility Initiative (www.w3.org/wai) and Section 508 of the Federal Rehabilitation Act (www.section508.gov). |
Dreamweaver provides tools that make the product accessible and tools that help you author accessible content:
Using Dreamweaver accessibility features For Dreamweaver web designers who need to use accessibility features, Dreamweaver offers screen reader support, keyboard navigation, and operating system accessibility support.
For more information, see Using Dreamweaver accessibility features.
Authoring for accessibility For Dreamweaver web designers who need to create accessible content, Dreamweaver assists you in creating accessible pages that contain useful content for screen readers and comply with government guidelines.
Dreamweaver provides dialog boxes that prompt you to enter accessibility attributes when you insert page elements (see Optimizing the workspace for accessible page design). For example, the accessibility dialog box for images reminds you to add text equivalents for graphics. Then, when the image appears on a page for a user with visual disabilities, the screen reader reads the description.
Dreamweaver also provides sample web pages that were designed for accessibility (see Creating a document based on a Dreamweaver design file) and an accessibility report that you can run to test your page or site against the Section 508 accessibility guidelines (see Testing your site).
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Remember that no authoring tool can automate the development process. Designing accessible websites requires you to understand accessibility requirements and make many ongoing subjective decisions about how users with disabilities interact with web pages. The best way to ensure that a website is accessible is through deliberate planning, development, testing, and evaluation. |