Fresno State Clean Up the Web Support Site

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It is a legal requirement that all Fresno State websites are accessible by people with disabilities.

Implementing the new University Web Standard will make it easy for you to meet this requirement.

Accessibility

The University Web Standard was built with accessibility as a central focus and was released in August 2006, prior to the Accessible Technology Initiative (ATI) from the Chancellor's Office. The new Web standard put our campus well ahead of the pack with regards to the ATI. Any sites that were created prior to the ATI, do not need any special updating. Sites that adopt the University Web Standard are utilizing "best practices" when it comes to Web accessibility.

The following items have been implemented University Web Standard specifically for accessibility:

  • The Web standard is "XHTML 1.0 Transitional" compliant and WC3 CSS 2.1 compliant
  • All sample layouts are div-based (not table-based) and use semantic markup.
  • The menu structure is restricted to text only that can be read by screen readers and other adaptive technologies (no JavaScript, flash or image rollovers can be used in the navigation).
  • There is a “skip to main content” anchor in the beginning of the <body> tag that allows screen readers or keyboard navigators to immediately pass all navigation and go directly to the main page content. (Rule 1194.22 (o) in Section 508 and Checkpoint 13.6 in WCAG)
  • Font size is specified in % so that font resizing by way of the browser menu is functional across various browser applications. This includes all menus.
  • Accessible table styles and sample code are included so Web developers can create tables readable by screen readers.
  • "Clean Up the Web" University Web Standard Specification, Appendix D: Page Division Annotated Reference identifies each individual <div> (area of the layout) and its accessibility requirements.
  • The training curriculum covers how to implement accessible content.

By adopting the University Web Standard when building a campus website, 90% of Web accessibility concerns are already addressed. A Web developer is only responsible for insuring accessible content, such as adding <alt> tags to images, ensuring accessible tables and forms are constructed, and captioning any video and audio content.

Information on how to make your website accessibile is covered in the "Clean Up the Web" Training Program.