Accomplishment As Artwork

Many people think the Internet and the web are the same thing.
In fact, the Internet is simply a global network of computers -
the web runs on top of the Internet, and makes it useful for us.
So how does the web work?

The Invention of the Web

The web was invented by a man named Tim Berners-Lee in 1989 -
that’s 20 years after the start of the Internet. People had been
trying to work out effective ways of sending information around
on the Internet for a while at that point (email was invented in
1971, for example), but there hadn’t been any systems that had
really harnessed the net’s potential.

The web changed everything. Berners-Lee’s big idea was to apply
the idea of links to the Internet: the web would be a mass of
pages that you could move between by clicking on links. He came
up with a format for these pages (HTML), and wrote the first web
browser to view them with, as well as the first web server for
sending them to other people’s web browsers.

Links might not seem like much now, but at the time they were
revolutionary. Imagine what the web would be like if you had to
keep typing long addresses every time you wanted to move from
one page to the next, or using long numbered menu systems that
work differently from one site to the next. Without the web,
having Internet access would be pretty useless.

Servers and Browsers

Any time you use a web browser (like Internet Explorer or
Mozilla Firefox), you’re using the web. How? Well, it works like
this:

1. You open your web browser, and it goes to your home page.
>From there, you can click links to other websites, or to other
parts of the same website. If your home page is a search engine,
then you can type in a search and click links in the search
results. If you know the address of a site you want to go to,
you can type it in, and then click more links from there to keep
going.

2. Each time you click a link, your browser looks at two things
about it: the name of the web server it links to, and the name
of the page it links to on that server. For example, the address
‘http://www.example.com/mypage.html’ tells the web browser to
get the page called mypage.html from the server at
www.example.com, using HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol). This
server is a real computer, connected to the Internet, that has
the page you want to read stored on its hard disk.

3. To find out where this server is, your web browser looks it
up using DNS (Domain Name System), which turns the text address
into a number. This IP (Internet Protocol) address consists of
four numbers between 0 and 255 - it looks like a phone number.
The Internet is set up to make it easy to find a server anywhere
in the world once you know its IP address, and it can easily
find the quickest route from your ISP (Internet Service
Provider) to the server, and establish communication. This whole
process, from DNS lookup to connection, will often take much
less than a second.

4. Your web browser then sends an HTTP request to that web
server, and the web server responds by sending back the HTML
(Hypertext Markup Language) code for that page. Your web browser
turns this code into a page that you can view. From there, you
can click more links to start the process over again.

Of course, all this is quite simplified: modern browsers and
servers send around much more than HTML code. You can use the
web to download anything now, from pictures to programs, but it
all works in basically the same way.

If something goes wrong somewhere in this process, then you’ll
get an error: ‘the page cannot be displayed’, for example,
usually means that the server’s name was wrong, or that it
doesn’t have the page you wanted. You might also see errors
saying that the server is currently too busy with other people’s
requests to respond, or that the page you wanted has moved. In
each case, the best thing to do is to follow the instructions on
the error page, which usually means checking the address and
trying again.

Making telephone calls over the Internet using voice over
Internet protocol (VOIP) is an efficient and cost saving
technology that is in a position to forever change telephone
communications. VOIP is not a new phenomenon, having been in use
in the business world for quite a few years. In the last couple
of years, though, it has begun to catch on with consumers as a
way to efficiently combine all their modes communication in
their homes, for either their work lives or personal lives, and
avoid paying high charges as they have with long distance
companies. With the many products and services available to
customers, it seems like a lucrative business to be a part of.
VOIP resellers have the opportunity to pass reasonably priced
products and services on to consumers while at the same time
making a great profit and being a part of a communications
revolution.

VOIP technology provides the customer with an exciting
opportunity to experience low priced telephone service.
Subscribers to VOIP services have a bevy of options from which
they can choose. The ability to subscribe to VOIP is dependent
on the customer having a reliable broadband Internet connection,
and will require the customer to either purchase a few new
pieces of equipment or software that will enable VOIP to work
from the home computer. Customers can choose to use a specially
equipped microphone hooked up to the computer, making the
experience like that of a speakerphone. The customer can use his
or her home telephone with the service, if he or she purchases
an analog telephone adapter that converts the analog audio into
digital data. They can also buy an IP phone that is plugs
directly into the computer and is ready for immediate use. There
is also a wireless option, and VOIP cell phones are beginning to
make an appearance on the market. It’s important for the
customer to be aware that VOIP phone service isn’t that
dissimilar to traditional telephone service, except that the
cabling has changed. Once the customer has the necessary
equipment for VOIP, he or she then needs to search for a
reliable, affordable, and dependable service provider. This is
where the VOIP reseller can step in. A VOIP reseller has an
opportunity to provide affordable phone service to customers
beyond the startup costs, while at the same time getting in on a
potential technology and business boom.

A VOIP reseller does just that, he or she resells minutes to
VOIP customers that have been purchased from a VOIP provider.
These resold minutes are marked up to allow the VOIP reseller a
reasonable profit. The reseller becomes the liaison between the
service provider and the customer, providing customer service
and resolving issues. It is important to note that for anyone
interested in becoming a VOIP reseller, there is often a
considerable investment in the beginning. A new reseller will
have to purchase software and equipment that will enable his or
her to provide service to his or her customers. However, there
are services available for the potential reseller that provide
their own gateways and servers while giving him or her the
opportunity to be their own business owner without the expensive
startup costs. These firms provide software that make it
possible for a VOIP reseller to establish and maintain a set
customer base. Customers can access their accounts, contact the
reseller with issues or questions, and view their bills. These
firms also help to alleviate the big startup cost by offering
not only their servers and gateways, but also billing systems
that would normally cost a hefty sum to purchase. All of this is
offered in a secured interface.

VOIP is primed to take the place of the traditional telephone
system. There are tremendous moneymaking opportunities to be
sought for someone that is good at marketing and selling a
product. There are opportunities to provide service and support
to customers while being self-employed. For a VOIP reseller, the
opportunities are tremendous.

An automated accessibility tool is a piece of software which can test a web page, or even an entire website, for accessibility. Automated accessibility tools are useful because they can save you a huge amount of time. Don’t want to check images for alt text on each and every page on your website? Run the site through an automated tester and it’ll do it all for you!

Automated accessibility testing tools have been around for a long time and have historically been a useful way of checking websites for accessibility. Bobby, one of the first and most well-known automated accessibility testing tools, is now almost 10 years, and although is no longer freely available, plenty of other free tools such as WebXact (http://webxact.watchfire.com/) and Wave (http://wave.webaim.org/index.jsp)do exist.

But are these tools a little too good to be true? Can you test a website for accessibility so easily? Unfortunately the answer is a resounding no. There are a number of underlying problems associated with using just automated tools to test for accessibility:

Literal interpretation of guidelines

Any automated accessibility testing tool, being a piece of software, doesn’t have very much in the way of common sense. It will interpret each and every accessibility guideline literally, without bearing any other thought to what else is on the page.

The definition of the word guideline, according to Dictionary.com, is “a rule or principle that provides guidance to appropriate behaviour”. A guideline simply offers guidance to what the best practice is - it shouldn’t just be applied without regard to other factors.

For example, one of the W3C accessibility guidelines states that a table summary should be provided for all tables. (This summary doesn’t appear on the screen, but it’s read aloud to screen reader users before reading through the table content.) Table summaries are useful as they tell screen reader users what to expect in the table. However, there may be a heading directly before the table and it describes what the table is about. In this instance, this summary is essentially useless as it will just repeat what the previous heading said.

Can’t check any content issues

The way that content is structured both on the page and across the website is a massive part of accessibility. A website may be perfectly coded and conform to the highest coding standards. If its content is poorly structured though, the site will prove difficult to impossible for some special needs web users.

There are a number of important accessible content considerations, none of which automated accessibility testing tools can check for. Some of these important considerations include:

- Front-loading content so that each paragraph begins with the conclusion
- Ensuring content has been broken down into manageable chunks with descriptive sub-headings
- Using lists wherever appropriate
- Ensuring that plain and simple language is used

Can’t check many coding issues

The vast number of accessibility guidelines tend to be related to how the site is coded. Automated accessibility testing tools are unfortunately unable to test for many of these too. Examples of HTML-related accessibility considerations which these tools can’t check for include:

- Ensuring that text is real text and isn’t embedded within images
- Making sure that the site functions without the use of JavaScript or Flash
- Providing equivalent text links if using server-side image maps
- Ensuring that the structure within the HTML reflects the visual appearance (e.g. headings are labelled as headings within the HTML code)

Outdated guidelines are used

Automated accessibility testing tools generally use the W3C accessibility guidelines, which by now are over five years old. As such, a number of these guidelines are outdated and don’t apply anymore. In fact, some of them are now thought to hinder accessibility rather than help, so it’s best to totally ignore these guidelines.

For example, an automated accessibility testing tool will probably insist that form items contain default place holding text. It may also insist that links need to be separated by non-link text. Neither of these guidelines are relevant anymore and their implementation could make accessibility worse rather than better.

Most guidelines aren’t properly checked

Automated accessibility tools can check for a number of guidelines, and can tell you when a guideline isn’t being adhered to. However, when the tool claims that a guideline is being fulfilled this may in fact be a false truth.

For example, if all images contain alt text then the software will report a pass for this guideline. But what if the alt text isn’t descriptive of its image? What if alt text is crammed full of nonsensical keywords for search engines? How can an automated accessibility tool possibly know this?

Warnings may be misinterpreted

The reports generated by automated accessibility tools provide warnings, as well as errors. These warnings are basically guidelines that the automated tool can’t check for, but which may be errors. Often they’re not, and in fact they’re often not even relevant. However, some people reading a report may try to get rid of these warning messages by making the appropriate changes to their site. By doing so, they may be implementing guidelines that needn’t be implemented and inadvertently lowering the website’s accessibility.

Conclusion

Automated accessibility testing tools can be useful as they can save a large amount of time in performing some very basic checks for accessibility. However, they must be used with caution and they cannot be used as a stand-alone guide for accessibility checking. Indeed, some expert accessibility knowledge should always be applied in evaluating a site accessibility, perhaps in conjunction with the fantastic web accessibility toolbar (http://www.nils.org.au/ais/web/resources/toolbar/) to help dramatically speed up manual checks.

This article was written by Trenton Moss. He’s crazy about web usability and accessibility - so crazy that he went and started his own web usability and accessibility consultancy (Webcredible - www.webcredible.co.uk) to help make the Internet a better place for everyone.