ARISE’s Web Site Accessibility Features
The ARISE web site is standards compliant. What’s interesting to note is that developing a standards compliant web site quite naturally increases its accessibility. The ARISE site incorporates the following standards:
Abbreviations & Acronyms
Acronyms and abbreviations are expanded the first time they are used in a document on our web site. As an added step in making the site as user friendly as possible, we also compiled an alphabetized list of abbreviations and acronyms used in the site.
Alt-Tags
Every image on the site has a brief alt-tag attached that describes the image or its function.
External Links
When a user clicks a link that will take them to another web site, the link does not open in a new window. The user can simply click the browser "back" button to return to the ARISE web site.
Clear & Simple Text
Text is written in friendly language. Sentences are short. Longer blocks of text are divided by headings, lists, bullets, and white space.
Color Contrast
The foreground and background color combinations provide contrast, and no important information is conveyed in color.
Consistent Presentation
The site’s design and style are consistent across all pages. The location of main navigation, sub navigation, and links to important information and functions are located in the same place on all pages.
Forms
We associate labels with their controls on all forms.
Hyper Links
Hyper links are descriptive and make sense when read out of context.
Navigation
Bread crumbs at the top of every page orient users; clear/consistent navigation is located in the same place on every page; the header on every page provides a link to the site map and a search function; the footer on every page provides contact information and repeats main navigation links.
New Windows
Links to other web sites do not open in a new browser window. Users can simply click their browser “back button” to return to the ARISE site.
Search Tool
The site contains a search function at the top of each page that scans the entire web site for information based on the words entered in the text box.
Separated Structure from Presentation
We did not construct the site using tables, instead we used Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). We also separated the site’s structure from presentation, and CSS is used entirely to control how the document is presented.
Note that the site does contain some pages generated by outside sources (such as Capwiz & FreeFind) that are constructed using tables. We are doing all we can to ensure the tables are constructed in a way that ensures they are accessible. In addition, directions are provided using Yahoo maps. We also provide a phone number for those who find the maps inaccessible.
Site Map
We provide a site map that is accessible from every page header and quickly orients the user to the site’s layout.
Skip Navigation
A “skip navigation link” is at the top of each page, allowing users to go directly to the content on the page and avoid repetitive navigation links.