Americans w/Disabilities Act and Website Designs

[Stella]

What is up with these RFP's coming in at the 11th hour?!

I'm looking at one for a website project.  "The goal of the redesign is to refresh and reposition our online presence."

It then asks "Describe how the final design will meet and/or exceed the requirements established by the Americans with Disabilities Act..."

I'm somewhat familiar with building codes and the ADA but websites?  Do we need a design option using 70 pt font for the visually impaired?   

I'm searching ada.gov now but not finding anything.  Can anyone point me in the right direction on that site?  I'll call their toll-free # now but I'm fearful I'll just get the voice prompts that lead me nowhere.

Thanks!   

[Gator]

It means you can not use flash to display text, and your css must allow programs to display you text in high contrast ect...

In short if you are coding using a Xhtlm/css or using a CMS you are fine.

[Stella]

Thank you, 13!

[Slide Panda]

Look up 'section 508'
http://www.section508.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=content&ID=12

Some of the other stuff that needs done is alt and title tags for visual elements, table structures etc.

Beyond the solid HTML which is a necessity, some sites will have alternate style sheets that can be user changed for high contrast etc.

[somegirl]

Avoid tables, stick with css, imagine that you have to listen to the entire webpage being read out loud and that will give you an idea what works and what doesn't.  Definitely use alt tags and don't rely on images (or flash) for navigation.  Use relative fonts instead of fixed fonts so that readers can resize them, etc. etc.

There are some online webpage validators which can be helpful.

This website has lots of useful links.
http://trace.wisc.edu/world/web/