ADA compliance recommendations   Test examples , Tables , W3C HTML techniques, listen to languages

Priority 1 must,  Priority 2 should,  Priority 3 may be in compliance with W3C checklist 
and a - p 508 checklist from WebAim


Priority 2 Use a public text identifier in a DOCTYPE statement Public text ids
	<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">

Priority 3 Identify the language of the text with 3 & 2 characters or 3 characters
	<html lang="en">   or  <html lang="eng"> 

Priority 1, a Image tags should always have a descriptive alt="" attribute. 
If the attribute is left empty (alt="") jaws will read it as "blank". 
If image is only a spacer, shim or bullet use alt="spacer" or whatever.
Keep alt attribute brief but descriptive. Use longdesc="" if more than 150 characters.

Priority 2 Background and foreground colors (images & text) must have sufficent contrast,
when viewed on a black and white screen or by someone with color-blindness. 
Color Contrast Analyser: Juciy Studio 

Priority 1, g, h Tables with data should identify headers <th> for rows and columns.
Tables with two or more rows or columns that serve as headers 
should have scope="", id="", axis="" attributes. 508, W3C

Priority 3 Tables with data should have summary="" attribute that briefly  
describes the table structure and purpose, as well as a caption. 
Captions provide a table title, they are displayed and assist in 
understanding the table.
	<table summary="This data table displays the ...">
	<caption>Title description of table</caption>

Priority 3 Tables for layout only should not have a summary="".

Priority 1, n Form control input fields should have <label for=""> </label>. Test
The for="" corresponds with the input tag's id="" for non-visual users. (Jaws screen reader)
Place <label> for form elements consistently before (preferred) or after <input/> through out a page. 
A group of radio buttons, or checkboxes should be within a <fieldset> with <legend> for Jaws.  

Priority 3 Form control input fields that are not in a prefered or logical order 
should include the tabindex="" attribute. People using access devices 
often navigate with the tab key instead of the mouse. Specifying a tab 
order (different than the HTML order) allows them to access these 
items in an logical order. 
***Works in Explorer only, not Netscape 4.      
	<input tabindex="2" type="text" name="field1"> 
  	<input tabindex="3" type="text" name="field2">
  	<input tabindex="4" type="submit" name="submit">
  	<a href="#top" tabindex="1">Return to top of page</a>


Priority 3 Acronym or Abbreviation element tags can surround a group of letters and  
make them more meaningful to screen readers or other access devices. 
	<acroynm title="World Wide Web">WWW</acroynm>
	<abbr title="California">CA</abbr>

Priority 2 Map element tag will group a set of links such as a navigation bar 
at the top or side of every page.   W3C grouping links  	
	<map title="Navigation Bar">    
	   [<a href="#how">Bypass navigation bar</a>]
	   [<a href="cats.html">Cats</a>]
	   [<a href="dogs.html">Dogs</a>]
	   [<a href="fish.html">Fish</a>]
	</map>
	<a name="how">How to use our site</a>

Priority 3, o A method should be provided to permit client/user to skip repetitive navigation links. 
To do this you could just add an anchor tag to where you want the skip to go to 
and at the top or beginning of the repetitive navigation just add a link to the anchor... 
	<a href="#skipnav"></a>   will skip to   <a name="skipnav"> 
I like to have an image shim/spacer between <a href></a> tags, so I can test it. 
Then I can also add an alt="Skip navigation" to the image. 
	<img src="images/shim.gif" alt="Skip navigation">

Priority 3 Some screen readers will incorrectly read adjacent links as a single link.
Separate adjacent links with more than whitespace, use  | ,  || ,  ][  
Cats | Dogs | Fish ,  Cats || Dogs || Fish ,  [Cats] [Dogs] [Fish] 

or  <ul><li >	<ol ><li >
  • Cats
  • Dogs
  • Fish
  1. Cats
  2. Dogs
  3. Fish


Priority 3, m When a web page has for example a PDF page, which requires a plug-in (Adobe Acrobat Reader)
or (Flash Player) or other application be present on the client system to interpret page content, 
the page must provide a link to that plug-in or application...

Priority 2 Avoid deprecated features of W3C technologies, see W3C list of HTML tags


Other links to ADA information :   W3C validator ,   W3C checklist