508 Legal Regulations
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HTML Writing Guide
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INDEX
1. Title in a <href> Link
2. Summary in a Table
3. Alternate Text to an Image
4. Skip Repetitive/Extraneous Information
5. Color Considerations
6. XHTML Coding

Follow these steps to ensure that each link, image and table comply with U.S. government 508 legal regulations. Attributes should be in lower case. Explanatory information seen within quotes can be in both upper and lower case. XHTML standards now mandate that all tags and attributes be written in lower case characters.
Correct:
   src="Title of Image"    OR    title="Link to an item"
Incorrect:
   SRC="Title of Image"    OR    Title="Link to an item"

1. Title in a <href> Link:
This occurs within open <a href=" "> and close </a> tags.
Use a title="" statement for each link in your web page. This allows the blind to understand what each link is. It also appears on screen as a pop-up type of message. Keep the statement short and specific.
Sample:
<a title="Organization Chart" href="orgchart.htm">Organization Chart</a>

2. Summary in a Table:
This occurs within open <table> and close </table> tags.
Include a summary="" statement for each table in your web page. This allows the blind to understand what each table is. Keep the statement short and specific.
Sample:
<table summary="POC Info" align="center" border="1">

3. Alternate Text to an Image:
This occurs within open <img> and close </img> tags.
Include an alt="" statement for each image in your web page. This allows the blind to understand what each image is. It also appears on screen if the image cannot be displayed on a monitor's screen. Keep the statement short and specific.
Sample:
<img src="icon1.gif" alt="Icon 1">

4. Skip Repetitive/Extraneous Information:
NOTE: This requires a START and STOP reference for this function to operate. Sample code for each is included below. Normally place the START immediately after your Title information in <body> (NOT the <title> tag in a <head>). Place the STOP just before the main content in your page.
START Sample: (Skip to Content)
<body bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000" background="gifs/bg_tan.jpg">
<table summary="main body" width="100%" border="1" bordercolor="#CCCC99">
<tr bordercolor="#CCCC66">
<td height="90" colspan="3" valign="top" background="background/bg_duane.gif">
<center>
<br>
<b><em><font size="+4">508 Legal Regulations</font></em></b>
</center>
</td>
</tr>
<a title="Skip to Content" href="#content"></a>

STOP Sample: (Begin to read Content)
<a id="content" name="content"></a>
Main content of web page begins here.

5. Color Considerations:
Some people have difficulty seeing red or another color. Therefore, it is a good practice to include an additional method to emphasize material. This includes: different size for text; bold; italics; quotation marks; underlined text; etc.
Sample: (There is no distinction to someone who cannot see RED.)
NOTE: Note is in red.
Alternatives:
A. NOTE: Note is in red and is a larger text size.
B. NOTE: Note is in red and is underlined.
C. NOTE: Note is in red and text is in italics.

6. XHTML Coding:
Extended Hyperlink Text Markup Language (XHTML) is the latest international convention for writing code for web pages. Most browsers support normal HTML, but it is a good idea to use the latest code. It includes such items as:
  • Attributes must be written within " "
  • Only use lower case characters for Tags and Attributes.
  • End each List item with the </li> tag.
  • Use of the following: <br /> <img /> <hr /> <meta />
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