Quick Accessibility Quiz - Now With Prizes! | July 1, 2004

Jonathan Snook said on June 30, 2004 8:32 PM

Q1 = ©. It seems unnecessary to create a text version of the site and navigation. Making functionality dependent on colour is definitely not a good idea.

Q2 = (d). I’d say all of the above, although <b> and <i> specifically are not deprecated (AFAIK).

Q3 = (a). The page should be semantically correct by using CSS instead of Tables but creating duplicate “alternate” links would actually make the page less accessible. And while it’s a good idea to have all pages follow a similar design, I’d be surprised to see it as a requirement.

Q4 = (b). I actually don’t know but I’m going to guess B. I’m pretty sure AA is better than A and I’d guess that 503 is close to A.

My guess is it’s probably time that I brush up on my accessibility guidelines.

Anne said on June 30, 2004 8:34 PM

Q1. Option one is a requirement for sure. If it isn’t, the guidelines are wrong :-). Option 2 is stupid. Plain text is less accessible than HTML. Option 3 is for AA I think, although it is a good guideline. Using markup to differentiate between importance of text is much better (and you can color that markup using CSS).

Q2. Option one isn’t really true, frames are accessible last time I spoke with Eric Velleman. Option 2 is probably correct, although it should be noticed that pixels aren’t absolute in terms of CSS. Option three is false, they are not deprecated.

Q3. FIELDSET is useful for a group of radio buttons, it isn’t always useful (1). Tables should contain enough markup to be understandable; the information they contain should not be expected readable when all markup is gone (2). JavaScript is perfectly accessible, just make sure you use it correctly (3).

Q4. You can use tables and still be accessible, it depends on how you use them (1). I think 2 is false as well, not really sure about it, but it seems a stupid guideline (2). Three is more usability, not accessibility.

Q5. Ratings are technical, a real accessible site is tested on it’s expected audience and passed with a 10/10 given by the people who tested it.

Eric said on June 30, 2004 8:43 PM

Without any knowledge about these guidelines (shame on me!) I will just guess:

1.a
Reason: Image-Navigation can’t be read by screenreaders.

2.a or b (or both?)
Reason: Frames are difficult to navigate through. Relative font sizes are important for IE-users only, so I am not sure, if that is so relevant.

2(again!).b
Reason: Another important point for screenreaders and alternate browsers (mobile phones ect.).

3.a
Reason: No tables - no problems. Presentation and Content are seperated.

5(where is four?).d
Reason: Well, I know that AA is mor accessible than A, but is 503 more accessible than AA? Don’t know.

Andy Budd said on June 30, 2004 9:02 PM

Doh!

Questions numbers have been corrected.

Tony B said on June 30, 2004 9:06 PM

You have two question 2s and no question 4 :-) I’ll take them from top to bottom.

Q1. 1. I’d say, though I’m not 100% sure what you mean by “image based navigation”. Text Versions are an exercise in pointlessness. If you use structured xhtml+css, and add accessibility enhancements, it shouldn’t be neccessary. Having said that I’ve done it myself in the past. You live and learn. Certainly Bobby makes comments about not using colour, so that is a factor, but not sure if it is an actual requirement.

Q2. Certainly avoid deprecated tags. I wouldn’t touch frames with a bargepole anyway. Is there a way of setting font sizes that works 100% of the time? I thought there were problems with all approaches? On the site I am working on at present I am using pixels, but including a widget to allow the user to switch to a stylesheet with larger fonts. So probably all of the above.

Q2. I thought fieldsets were just to group related elements (e.g. all address elements) ? It’s certainly neccessary to use them in such cases, but it may not apply to ALL forms. I’d say yes to 2. Is Javascript a no-no? I thought not, but you have to use it carefully.

Q3. I thought layout tables were ok if clearly marked as such (with a “summary”), but it may vary between levels I guess. Not sure on this one. Extra links sounds like it would confuse things.

Q5 - Section 508, at a guess.

Laura said on June 30, 2004 9:23 PM

Q1= 1. For A you must provide equivalent alternatives.

Q2 = 2. For AA use relative rather than absolute units.

Q3 = 2. For AA tables need to make sense when linearized.

Q3 = 3. For AAA style and presentation need to be consistent across a site.

Q5 = 2 AA rating…what is 503? I’ve studied section 508 and parts of 504, but I haven’t heard
or 503. FYI…Jim Thatcher has a good
WCAG and Section 508 Comparison.

Andy Budd said on June 30, 2004 10:43 PM

God, I’m not doing well on this one. Obviously I meant 508.

Malarkey said on June 30, 2004 11:10 PM

What do we get if we win?

Chocolate perhaps, a free meal in a KFC of our choice, your old copy of the Flash 3 Bible?

Come on Mr. Budd, this ain’t the Daily Sport crossword!

Mike Pepper said on July 1, 2004 12:06 AM

I see your recent GAWDS membership got you all fired up, Andy. So where’s the badge?

Q6. What is generally accepted as the more difficult aspect of Triple-A compliance? Which checkpoint?

Randy Charles Morin said on July 1, 2004 2:12 AM

aacbb

Jeff Minard said on July 1, 2004 3:50 AM

Quick, type it before you read the other posts!

Ok:

Q1: 1 & 2
Reason A text version is overkill and not required it you can sucessfully use the site as it stands.

Q2: 4, All of them
Reason Frames are crap, relative allows for easier resize for sight impaired users, and using tags like strong and em allow for screen reader to infer meaning instead of styling.

Q3: 2
Reason Only 2 because you don’t need to wrap form sections in fieldsets. And you can use JS provided it will function in its absensce. Finally, tables can, and should be used, where appropriate.

Q4: 2
Reason 2 because I already agreed to this same sort of thing from Q1. In addition, a tables based site does not automatically exclude users - it simply requires much more careful planning to achive succesfully. Finally, a similiar design…well, not sure on that one…never hear about it.

Q:4 4
Reason Cant recall the difference between A and 508 - bummer.

Note I am no expert - some of this will be wrong. shrug learn.

Lewis Henshall said on July 1, 2004 6:03 AM

Q1.=c To get an A rating you need to avoid using colour for important information

Users viewing the site using a screen do so with varying brightness, colour and contrast settings. Users may be colour-blind. Certain medical conditions mean that particularly the colours green and red may be an issue.

Q2.=b To get a AA rating you must use relative rather than absolute units

What looks big enough to you may not be big enough, or may be too big, than the next user.

“strong”and “em” tags should be used respectively instead of “b” and “i” as they are semantic as opposed to presentational. Answer “c” has to automatically be incorrect, because tag deprecation relates to Document Type Definitions, and none was specified in the question.

Q3.=b To get a AA rating you must also make sure all tables make sense when linearized

If the correct answer is not d then it could only be b.

Q4.=a To get a AAA rating you must use CSS for layout instead of tables

Making sure all pages share a similar design is intrinsic to good Web page design. Triple A conformance would require that tables are only used for tabulated data and not for presentational layout.

Q5.=d Which site is more accessible? Don’t know.

I’m not sure. “508” refers to Section 508. This requires government Web sites to conform to a standard that covers various aspects of the Accessibility Guidelines.

In covering various aspects of those guidelines, Section 508 touches on issues at each level of conformance. So, although Section 508 includes points from Double A and Triple A conformance, a site conforming to Section 508 does not necessarily meet all requirements of AA.

I’ve confused myself now. Whenever I’ve validated a site for 508 it has already passed AA, so it’s always appeared to me as if 508 addresses fewer issues.

Rodrigo said on July 1, 2004 7:23 AM

Hmmm … Im not a web accesibility guru, but, here are my answers:

Q1) A: Cause none of the others seems usable to me. Option 2 can be done with a correct use of CSS. Color is not important for screen readers (in my opinion). So, I guess that option A, providing alternate text for images is definitely needed.

Q2) C: Definitely, option C is the right one. “b” tags are not the same like “strong” tags, specially for a screen reader.

Q3) Im doubting on this one. Maybe option A ?

Q4) Maybe A too ? The other options doesn’t make sense to me …

Q5) B.

Keith said on July 1, 2004 9:10 AM

Pop quiz? I hate pop quizzes, but here goes:

Q1) I think to get an A rating all you’d need to do is avoid using color for important info. You may need to include “text” equivalents for images, but not necessarily HTML. But maybe that’s just semantics. Anyway — I’ll go with C.

Q2) This is a tricky one. I never use frames, but I’m not sure they are an issue if done correctly, I do seem to remember something about using W3C standards though, but I’m not sure those tags are deprecated, even though I never use them because they carry no semantic value. I’ll go with B.

Q3) I’m going to go with A. Javascript is ok if done correctly and tables shouldn’t pose any major access problem.

Q4) Easy (I think) — This one is C. Why? It makes sense. CSS doesn’t ensure accessibility and neither does alternate navigation links at the bottom of the page. However, by keeping a consistent design you are eliminating all sorts of potential accessibility problems.

Q5) D. I don’t see how a rating could really tell you which is more accessible. I guess you could assume (and you know what that does) that a site with an AA rating is more accessible than a site with an A rating. But could you be 100% sure? Also, I’m not sure how you would compare a site that was 508 compliant to a site with an A rating….so I dunno.

Matt Pennell said on July 1, 2004 9:23 AM

Too many comments already, scrolling…up…and…down…

Q1. © mainly because a and b don’t make a lot of sense.

Q2. (b) is a guess - I don’t recall the guidelines referring to deprecated tags, and frames are fine if used properly (nice red herring, BTW)

Q3. (b) - another guess.

Q4. (a) - separate style and content.

Q5. (b)? Dunno, I’ve never read the 508 requirements, so I’ve got no idea which WCAG level they most closely relate to.

mike said on July 1, 2004 10:23 AM

Ha ha, very good, nearly tripped up.

1. d - not one is completly correct
2. b - though c is nearly true
3. b
4. c
5. b - Don’t know 508 that well but seem to remember it’s a reworking + of A.

Jeremy Keith said on July 1, 2004 11:47 AM

Let’s see…

“Q1. To get an A rating you need to”

Well, it’s not 1:
“Provide an HTML equivalent for image based navigation”
As long as you provide alt attributes, there’s nothing wrong with using image based navigation. There is a somewhat outdated guideline about using client-side rather than server-side image maps but the question doesn’t mention image maps.

I certainly hope it’s not 2:
“Create a text version of the site”
That smacks so much of “separate but equal”.

Being pedantic, it’s not 3:
“Avoid using colour for important information”
If the word “only” was inserted before colour, then it would be true but there’s nothing wrong with using colour in addition to other indicators.

So I’m going to go with 4:
“None of the above”

“Q2. To get a AA rating you must”

I’m going to go for number two:
“Use relative rather than absolute units”
although the way the question is phrased with “must” rather than “should” arouses my suspicions (remember everyone: Andy is a tricksy little imp…).

“Q3. To get a AA rating you must also”

I’m pretty sure it’s number two:
“Make sure all tables make sense when linearized”.

“Q4. To get a AAA rating you must”

Ooh! Triple-A: the tricky stuff.

Well, it’s not number one:
“Use CSS for layout instead of tables”
As long as the tables are marked up correctly, they’re a-okay.

I don’t think it’s two:
“Provide alternate navigation links at the bottom of the page”
This just doesn’t ring any bells for me.

So I think it’s three:
“Make sure all the pages share a similar design”
I don’t think the W3 use the words “share a similar design” but there’s definitely a reference to consistency in the guidelines somewhere.

“Q5. Which site is more accessible?”

This is easy. The correct answer is four:
“Don’t know”
By allowing an answer that is subjective rather than objective, this answer will always be correct until there is some scientifically provable way of impirically measuring accessibility. One of the other answers may well be correct but as long as I don’t know that then number four remains correct for me.

To sum up:

Q.1: 4
Q.2: 2
Q.3: 2
Q.4: 3
Q.5: 4

In my answers I’ve made the assumption that only one answer of the four options provided is correct. This assumption might bite me on the ass.

Minz Meyer said on July 1, 2004 12:01 PM

Question 1:
4 - None of the above. Closest thing would have been 3, but you can use color for important information, you just have to make sure that you mark it up in some other way as well.

Question 2:
2 - The only one that is correct here. 3 is close here again, (would be correct) if it weren’t for b and i, which aren’t deprecated.

Question 3:
4 - Really tricky. I first was tempted to go with 2, but then it says “all” tables here. If I remember correctly this guideline applies only to tables that are used for layout, not to all tables.

Question 4:
3 - One of the toughest, most subjective and debatable guidelines, but it’s in there, I think.

Question 5:
Arrrgh, how can I tell. A site with AA should be in theory more accessible than a 508 site, but then 508 covers some things that aren’t mentioned in the WCAG at all. So I have a tendency to AA but in the end have to say:
4 - I don’t know.

Mordechai said on July 1, 2004 12:09 PM

Q1. A - After reading Keith’s answer I was thinking of switching to C, but then I noticed the qusetion is about navagation, and not images in general. Since screen reader can’t read image text, and links have a tendency to be somewhat cryptic, if not totaly incomprehensible, it’s important to provide meaningful navigational.

Q2. B - It’s importantant for people with poor vision, as well as those who for technical reasons have problems with small text, to be able to resize text to a more legible size.

Q3. B - Since screen readers linearize tabels, if tables aren’t set up to linearize correctly, at best the page would be read in a confusing order, or worse, labels for form elements could be associated with the wrong element (label tags can be used to avoid this problem).

Q4. C - I thought this one was the hardest. “A” is wrong since CSS only deals with presentation and not semantic flow. In fact, it is ofter used ro replace the semantic flow with other clues. “B” is only needed for long pages. Which leaves “C”. (“D” would only come into play if “C” were also eliminated.) For starter, we’re talking about “AAA”, which is the most optional level. While violating “C”, in most cases, won’t make a site inaccessible, following it will almost always make a site more accessible to ALL users.

Q5. D - The question asked “more accessible”, not “more accessible rating.” These are guidelines, not rules, and should be treated as such. Every situation is different, and as such, discretion must be used. Sometime to make a site more accessible you may need to violate a guideline.

Nathan Pitman said on July 1, 2004 12:55 PM

Q1. To get an A rating you need to
3. Avoid using colour for important information

Q2. To get a AA rating you must
2. Use relative rather than absolute units

Q3. To get a AA rating you must also
2. Make sure all tables make sense when linearized

Q4. To get a AAA rating you must
1. Use CSS for layout instead of tables

Q5. Which site is more accessible?
4. Don’t know

Susan said on July 1, 2004 2:22 PM

#1 - a) provide an html equivilant so there is still navigation flow for readers

#2 - d) All of the above should be the answer, though they aren’t all required it’s good practice - The real answer is c) using em instead of and other deprecated tags.

#3 - b) Tables should be linearized - JavaScript is OK - should be using onClicks though since they’re device independent.

#4 - b) Provide alternate navigation - not dependent on images, javascript, DHTML, etc.

#5 - b) 508 doesn’t go far enough - we shoot for priority level 1 & 2 (AA) and some pieces of 3.

Robert Lofthouse said on July 1, 2004 3:09 PM

Q1 - 4

Those are very tricks choices, as I believe you need to make the content of your web site accesible no matter what. Hmmm, text only version when stylesheets are turned off? - possibly. Number three doesn’t apply and number 1 can be rectified via the ALT attribute.

Q2 - 3

I can’t see why they’d include relative positioning for AA, instead of absolute. With absolute positioning you can modify the structure so that the necessary items come out at the top when stylesheets are turned off.
As far as I can remember you need to replace deprecated elements with things like em and strong.

Q3 - 2

It would correspond with the first guideline which i’m sure is “make sure your content is accesible no matter what”, which you need to achieve to become AA.

Q4 - 3

That should be the general rule of design anyways. Always make sure that there is consitency in the design. I wouldn’t say it is 1 as CSS is just becoming accepted.

Q5 - 2

The AA guidlelines are far stricter than the 508 guidelines from what I can remember. So although the website may not look as pretty design wise, it will certainly be more accessible if it’s AA compliant.

hmmm, not sure if i’m right at all there, but i’ve been doing more design based work for the past month, so the guidelines aren’t fresh in my memory.

Mel P. said on July 1, 2004 4:49 PM

Q1. Ans:4. None of the above

You have to provide a text equivalent for all images (so that would mean using the alt attribute for things like button images and image maps etc.) not an HTML equivalent. Trick question! ;-)

Text versions of sites should be avoided if at all possible. They always end up being the poor relation to the graphical site, in my opinion. Plus not all users with disabilities beneifit from text-only sites. Dyslexics, for example, find graphical elements extremely useful.

You can use colour for anything you want provided you’ve also made use of good semnatic markup - although it might be an idea to have an additonal distinguishing ‘feature’ (eg. underlining on links) in situations where colour blindness could be an issue.

Q2. Ans: both 2 and 3 are correct.
There’s no specific problem regarding the use of frames providing you markup them up properly and clearly identify each frame’s purpose in the overall frame set. So that rules answer 4 out too!

Q3. Ans: 2
Fieldsets should be used appropriately - especially on large forms but on short forms (eg. a quick search box) they may not be necessary.

Nor is there anything wrong with Javascript although it would be a good idea to make sure that users who do not have access to JS, or do not have it enabled, can also use the site effectively. Oh - and ‘onclick’, ‘onmouseover’ etc should be avoided and ‘onselect’ or ‘onfocus’ used as alternatives when appropriate. Not everybody uses a mouse to navigate.

Q4. Ans: 3 Your pages should share a similar design and layout. Users can get easily confused if page design alters radically from page to page. This is especially true of those of users who cannot ‘see’ the page or those who have cognitive problems.

CSS for layout instead of tables is always a Good Idea™ in my opinion as some of the older screen readers render tables by column instead of by row but it’s not an AAA requirement providing your tabled page still makes sense when linearized.

Alternate navigation links at the bottom of the page? It’s an idea that many accessible designers favour as a method of improving usability for screen reader users and those who navigate by keyboard but it’s not an AAA requirement.

Q5. Ans: 2

One of these days, I’ll run a side-by-side comparison of Level ‘A’ and 508 compliancy and pin down exactly what the differences are but until then it remain on my ToDo list.

I’ll shut up now. :-)

elfin said on July 1, 2004 4:59 PM

Q1. To get an A rating you need to :
None of the above

Q2. To get a AA rating you must
Avoid deprecated tags like and

though it should be pointed out that and ,i. aren’t deprecated…

Q3. To get a AA rating you must also
Make sure all tables make sense when linearized

Q4. To get a AAA rating you must
Make sure all the pages share a similar design

Q5. Which site is more accessible?
Don’t know

As you have said ‘accessible’ then this depends on the user accessing the site, if you had said ‘accessible compliant’ my answer would have been different.

Mel P. said on July 1, 2004 5:08 PM

Additional comment:

Question 2 c) ‘Avoid deprecated tags like <b> and <i> is badly phrased or rather <b> and <i> are bad examples.

The Level AA Checkpoints specifically mention the avoidance of deprecated technology which would include tags like <basefont> and <center> and attributes such as <align> but <b> and <i> aren’t deprecated elements.

And Q5. ‘Which site is more accessible?’ could have done with an additional option along the lines of ‘It depends who’s using it’ otherwise you’re stuck with making assumptions based on parsing engines rather than real people.

Andy Budd said on July 1, 2004 7:50 PM

Hi folks, hope you’re enjoying my little quiz. So far only one person has got all the questions right, with another 2 or 3 people getting very close. That means there are still 2 more GMail accounts for the taking.

As it’s proving to be quite difficult I’m going to let you have a look at the WAI Guidelines if you want. Remember to read the questions carefully as they are quite tricksy. Oh and you can only choose between one of the 4 available options so you cant say a and b are both right.

Robert Lofthouse said on July 1, 2004 7:56 PM

Shouldn’t you say who has got it right so far, so that one person can go back to their work/drinking session/bed? :P

Robert Lofthouse said on July 1, 2004 7:57 PM

Don’t mind me, I just realised that would mean giving away the answers lol

pixeldiva said on July 1, 2004 8:00 PM

Q1. To get an A rating you need to

d: none of the above

Reasoning:

a) there doesn’t necessarily need to be an HTML equivalent for image based navigation so long as it’s properly marked up with appropriate alt text, doesn’t have flashing or animated graphics that would cause a distraction and can function without javascript being enabled.

b) a text only version should only be provided if there is no other way to make that information accessible. It is not the preferred method of providing accessibility and should not be the only way information can be accessed.

c) colour may be used for important information, and in some cases it may actualy enhance the way the information is presented, but it should not be the only way of providing that inforamtion.

Q2. To get a AA rating you must

b) Use relative rather than absolute units.

Reasoning:

a) frames can be accessible so long as they are marked up correctly and appropriate noframes content is provided.
c) and are not deprecated.

Q3. To get a AA rating you must also

b) Make sure all tables make sense when linearized.

Reasoning:

a) fieldsets should be used to group related information together within the form.
c) javascript can be used, but the site should still function when javascript is not present or has been disabled. Alternative content should be provided using the tag.

Q4. To get a AAA rating you must

c) make sure all the pages share a similar design.

Reasoning:

a) tables, while not ideal for layout, can be used if they are marked up properly (i.e., not using tags for layout tables) and so long as the layout makes sense when linearised.
b) additional navigation at the bottom of the page is not a requirement, although in some cases, it may add to the usability of the page.

Q5. Which site is more accessible?

d) don’t know.

Reasoning:

Should actually have been d) it depends.

Theoretically AA should be more accessible, but as accessibility is not a “check the boxes” kind of thing, it becomes subjective in many ways, not least because of the myriad of technologies used to access the web, and the individual’s impairment (or lack thereof), combined with their experience level with their chosen technology, and their personal preferences.

One man’s meat is another man’s poisson, or something :)

In the unlikely event that I’ve got all these right, I don’t need a gmail account, as I’ve got one already. Just did this for the fun of it really.

pixeldiva said on July 1, 2004 8:03 PM

Drat. Just realised that it’s translated the html which I forgot to wrap in [] tags.

My answer to 2 should read that [b] and [i] tags are not deprecated.

and my answer to 3 should read that alternative content should be provided using [noscript] tags.

Robert Lofthouse said on July 1, 2004 8:06 PM

hmmm, just noticed that it’s “absolute and relative units” not “positioning”.

I still stand by my answers.

If that is a trick saying i and b are deprecated tags (because they’re not), then fair enough but in the guidelines it states you can’t use deprecated tags if you want to get AA.

The last question is the only one I think I may have got wrong, but from an accesibility point of view AA is better/stricter than 508.

Adam said on July 2, 2004 3:08 PM

CBBAB? Sorry for not contributing to the discussion, instead i’m just recording my ‘gut instinct’ answers so I can go to bed.

David Phillips said on July 2, 2004 3:35 PM

Q1 = a (For A rating)
We must provide means for visually-impaired to navigate site, providing text equivalents for visual elements. HTML (tags and text) cleanly and easily satisfy this.
Though a text version of the site could suffice, it generally affords a second class, less accessible rendition to a well designed site, and it will generally fall behind the primary site as far as updates.
We need not avoid use of color so long as we provide text equivalents to indicate the same information.

Q2 = b (For AA rating)
Using relative units allows the user agent to scale the size of text to make it more readable.
We need not avoid frames when describe/label them properly.
Yes, we want to avoid deprecated tags, but the bold and italic tags don’t fall under this consideration.

Q3 = b (For AA rating)
If tables don’t make sense when linearized it can result in gibberish when read by an automated tool.
We do want to group elements, though we need not use fiedset for that purpose.
We need not avoid using Javascript.

Q4 = c (For AAA rating)
Consistent page design provides users with a model of how to use a site, and it is a priority 3 requirement.
One can make an accessible site using properly marked up tables.
Navigation links at the bottom, while handy, aren’t necessary for accessibility.

Q5 = b (More accessible site)
A site with AA rating includes A rating requirements.
I am unaware of Section 508 ratings. A site is either compliant or not.

Jason Robbins said on July 2, 2004 4:00 PM

Q1 - d) none of the above
a) using alt text for images is ok image maps
b) no needed good code will allow the site to be viewed by a text only browser with out the need for another site
c) as long as the colours are contrasting it is fine.

Q2 - a) avoid using frames
Seperating formatting from content is a good idea but little tags such as and add that little bit of formatting to a text document that highlights the point a bit more. Relative units again make life easier but there is still use for absolute units, esspecially around pictures.

Q3 - b) Make sure all tables make sense when linearized
Tables will not always be viewed as tables - they should work what ever. Whilst javascript is often used for visual tricks it can perform usefull funcions such as acting as a calculator. And wrapping all table elements in a field set im not even going to start on!

Q4 - c) make sure pages share simular design
CSS whilst very help full, it is still understood that CSS does not offer all the answers and still has limited support. Alternative navigation links although usefull are not always required. Pages with sumular designs make it easier to find your way around a site because you get used to it’s layout rather than having to study each page in detail before you find what you want.

Q5 - a) A rating
508’s a law (for lack of better word) that encorages web based documents to be of suitable standard for disabilitied person, whilst level A covers as many of the problems a disabilitied persons may have.

Sorry for all the spelling mistakes and all the wrong answers!

Louise Dade said on July 2, 2004 4:52 PM

Q1. To get an A rating you need to

Answer:
3. Avoid using colour for important information

Reasoning:
For some people, colour is meaningless - such as people using screen readers, people using text-only browsers and people with low vision or types of colour blindness - and therefore, any important information that is only conveyed using colour will be lost. Colour should not be the only way of conveying information.

Q2. To get a AA rating you must

Answer:
2. Use relative rather than absolute units

Reasoning:
Relative units allow users to resize things to their own liking. For example, relative font sizes can be made bigger in the users browser for people who have low vision (not just visual impaired users, but also the growing numbers of elderly users), or, as you don’t specify just text, relative units for boxes (divs, etc) on the page mean the screen will fit into any monitor size (PDAs, anybody?) or window size preference (folk who shrink windows to have multiple apps visible at once, for example).

Q3. To get a AA rating you must also

Answer:
2. Make sure all tables make sense when linearized

Reasoning:
For browsers, and screen readers, that render the page from left to right, tables can appear all jumbled up. This can especially happen when the tables are used for layout, rather than data, resulting in a visual or audio mess (or sometimes interesting surrealist poetry…).

Q4. To get a AAA rating you must

Answer:
3. Make sure all the pages share a similar design

Reasoning:
Having related pages share a similar design increases the usability of the pages because users do not have to relearn the working of the site every time they visit a new page. This can be important for people with cognitive or learning disabilities, where umpteen different ways of laying out the same information is just plain confusing (ie, on one page the navigation is at the top, on next page it’s down the side, then… doh, I’ve lost it, oh no, there it is at the bottom!)

Q5. Which site is more accessible?

Answer:
2. A site with a AA rating

Reasoning:
An AA rating includes all A rating checkpoints, but although Section 508 includes some AAA rating checkpoints, it also does NOT include some A an AA rating, so on the whole, I feel that an AA rating - when the checkpoints applied correctly! - can be more accessible. Note that I said “when applied correctly”.

Andre Czausov said on July 5, 2004 3:24 AM

q1 - A. At the real world level, it is at least likely to get Alt text supplied by professional web developers without any dedicated accessibility effort, and therefore a reasonable criteria for a first-cut standard.

q2 - A. Frames are advantageous only for the most able bodied, sighted users — and then only when they’re not thinking =^,

q3 - C. Javascript is likely to obscure accessible content at all the wrong moments, and I think is probably advised against at this point. I don’t recall ever seeing a requirement for linearization of tables, but my memory is on the blink anyway…

q4 - D. All of these are AAA I’d reckon. The only one I’m a bit unsure of is the requirement “of alternate links at the bottom of the page” which would seem to be a little redundant in an otherwise well-designed fully accessible page (which an AAA would be).

q5 - D. Really I don’t know…. ?! Relatively speaking.

martin said on July 5, 2004 8:53 AM

Q1. To get an A rating you need to
4. None of the above

Q2. To get a AA rating you must
2. Use relative rather than absolute units

Q3. To get a AA rating you must also
2. Make sure all tables make sense when linearized

Q4. To get a AAA rating you must
1. Use CSS for layout instead of tables

Q5. Which site is more accessible?
4. Don’t know

Nice quiz.
/ m a r t i n

Isofarro said on July 5, 2004 1:10 PM

Q1. d (by elimination)

No need to provide an HTML alternative to image based navigation, since images require alt attributes.
No need to create a text version of the site since there are other better accessible solutions
No need to avoid using colour for important information. Better provide colour PLUS another method.

Q2. b (by elimination)
For AA frames require descriptions of their purpose and how they relate to each other.
Deprecated markup, per se, is not invalid. Deprecated means that an element may be removed in later versions.

Q3. d (by elimination)
Forms require explicit labels in AA. No mention of fieldsets.
Making sure tables abused (*duck*) for layout make sense when linearised - not all tables.
Scripting must be device independant for AA.

Q4. d
Since AA is more accessible than A, and Section 508 doesn’t contain all the Level A guidelines, from a technical perspective AA should result in a higher accessible level of site. The accessibility guidelines are best practice / best guidance we have for accessibility, slavishly following them does not guarantee accessibility. But only proper testing can prove that a website is indeed accessible. So I’m going for D.

Isofarro said on July 5, 2004 1:17 PM

Doh, missed question 4!

Q4. C - consistency of design is the only one clearly documented as a AAA checkpoint

Q1.d
Q2.b
Q3.d
Q4.c
Q5.d

dusoft said on July 5, 2004 3:48 PM

Yes, this is a important quiz, however as I do not validate against WAI, I do not know the answers. BTW: It’s not that important anyway. Just use common sense and I you are through.

Andy Budd said on July 5, 2004 6:39 PM

Thanks for everybody who participated. The competition to win the GMail accounts has now been closed and I’ll be letting everybody know the correct answers shortly. However please feel free to keep your comments/answers coming, just don’t expect to win anything :-)

Mordechai said on July 5, 2004 7:55 PM

For question 1, many people ruled out A saying alt isn’t part of HTML. Since when is a tags attribute not part of the tag, and therefor, not part of HTML?

Tim Wouters said on July 6, 2004 1:01 PM

I’ve never read the guidelines, but here goes my guess :

Q1: d. None of the above
Q2: d. All of the above
Q3: d. None of the above
Q4: d. All of the above
Q5: d. Don’t know. Does anybody? Yes, the physically impaired user does, and he doesn’t know the first thing about A or AA or AAA or 508 ratings.

Bernard said on July 7, 2004 12:35 PM

I go for
Q1: b.
not a: some hot sites use images-only
not b: only a very distinct target group has text only nowadys
not c: the use of color is very important
Q2: d same kind of reasons as above
Q3: d, the same
Q4: both a and c, b is not true. alternate links are useful if the ‘normal’ links are not text-based. And they don’t have to be at the bottom.
Q5: d, don’t know.