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Project

Web Accessibility Guidelines
City and County of Denver
Created: 2004

Goal

Draft a policy and a set of guidelines addressing usability and accessibility for the city's Web site.

Scope of Work

This internal project was initiated as part of an overall site-wide accessibility plan. Built as the companion site for the plan, it compiled and presented available industry resources and best practices for Web design; defined standards for page layout, design, multimedia, scripting and other page components; and outlined a testing process to identify accessible and non-accessible Web pages.

I researched many accessibility statements on the Web sites of other government and educational organizations and found that most had strong policies but they didn't delve much into technical guidelines. At the same time, I heard complaints from many people that they had trouble interpreting the technical requirements set forth by the W3C's Web Accessibility Initiative.

I realized that I was in a unique position to create a site that would break down some of that technical jargon and serve a large audience, including the city's Web developers and content experts, city management and elected officials, and the general public.

I relied on expert sources and my own knowledge to author a comprehensive site containing detailed information about how different Web design techniques impact the lives of people with disabilities. I also wanted to heavily promote awareness about assistive technology, and references were included throughout the text along with a "Tech Spotlight" section on each page containing rotating photos of AT devices.

Each section offered an essay to explain some of that topic's common issues and best practices followed by specific W3C or Section 508 requirements, concrete examples, and a related links area. I created and developed the site to serve as an example of clean, W3C-compliant XHTML and CSS table-free design.

Recognition

I was awarded the 2005 Assistive Technology Award by the Denver Mayor's Commission for People with Disabilities for my work on this project.

Sample Content

These are some pages from the "Usability Tips" section, one of six main categories for the site.

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