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Accessibility - Design Standards

The UCEDD incorporates webpage design standards that ensure access to information for a broad base of users. The standards are influenced by those recommended by the W3C and Access Board, groups responsible for developing the standards outlined by the amended Rehabilitation Act of 1998.

The UCEDD has adopted standards that increase accessibility to users with disabilities to meet the objectives of universal access. We hold to these standards in an effort to increase the opportunity for all individuals to access information over the Internet. If you have any suggestions for improving the accessibility features of the site, please contact us. Access contact

Accessibility Resources at CDRC links to the law, helpful articles and tools for ensuring an accessible web site.

Our webpage design standards are:

Every graphic image or region of an impagemap will have ALT tags with short, intuitive descriptions. When a short description does not suffice, a detailed caption or link to a separate page the fully described the element is provided.
Images that have no meaning of their own will be notated as ALT="" so that screen readers avoid reading the image and its source.
All links will have descriptive, intuitive text that avoids the use of vague references such as "click," "here," "link," or "this." This convention enables the user to navigate quickly based on a link's meaning without needing the surrounding context.
When a page uses repetitive navigational elements, a link will be provided at the top of the page allowing users with screenreaders to skip directly to the page's contents.
Online forms will be constructed with accessibility in mind. Alternative ways to provide information will be made available, such as email address links and phone numbers.
The use of frames will be avoided since they cannot be read intelligently by screen readers, create navigation problems and are not supported by all browsers.
Tables are intended primarily for tabular data. Textual information displayed in a linear form across the table, as well as cells, will be named to aid as reference. Tables will only be used for layout purposes when the contents of each column can be read meaningfully in a linear fashion.
Sufficient contrast between foreground and background colors will be used to maintain readability.
Meaning will not be conveyed using color alone.
Multiple browser testing will be conducted using current versions of Netscape Navigator, Internet Explorer, Lynx and Opera.