How to program for a target audience of handicapped or older people?

Question

Does anybody know about guide lines, web sites, etc. that describe, what one should keep in mind, if one is programming for a target audience that includes handicapped or older people? Or should one make no difference?

Answer 1

Here's a place to start: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_accessibility

And if you're a .net or other MS developer, msdn has all sorts of links with guidelines:

http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Search/en-US?query=accessibility%20guidelines&ac=3

And here's my favorit place to start:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa350483.aspx

Answer 2

The keyword you are looking for is Accessibility: From the website:

The first and perhaps the most important rule of web accessibility. Not everyone is using the latest version of Internet Explorer, with all the plug-ins and programs that you may require them to have for your website. Different browsing technologies, each with their own accessibility requirements, can include:

• Lynx browser - Text-only browser with no support for tables, CSS, images, JavaScript, Flash or audio and video content
• WebTV - 560px in width with horizontal scrolling not available
• Screen reader - Page content read aloud in the order it appears in the HTML document
• Handheld device - Very small screen with limited support for JavaScript and large images
• Screen magnifier - As few as three to four words may be able to appear on the screen at any one time
• Slow connection (below 56kb) - Users may turn off images to enable a faster download time
• 1600px screen width - Very wide screen

This basically means that to ensure your website is accessible to everyone you must provide alternatives to:

• Images - in the form of ALT text
• JavaScript - through the tag
• Flash - with HTML equivalents
• Audio & video - by using subtitles or written transcripts