When talking about web sites, the term "accessibility" describes how simply and straightforwardly it (and its content) can be connected to, read and understood. The whole process is complicated buy the web site being "published" in only the most basic sense of the word, like a book whose every reader interprets the page design and type layout differently. This simile reminds us that humans are the second readers of a web site, their browsers being the first, and those browsers can "see" the site in different ways-even the same browser on different platforms (Safari, Firefox and earlier versions of Internet Explorer are all cross-platform).


Although read in a visual manner and with publishing-like components, web sites are not printed pieces, and can be accessed even without reading by speech browsers and the ever-present indexing robots ("bots"). Therefore, the most honest definition of a web "page" is a series of text-based statements that, when interpreted correctly by browsers, will link to, assemble and display various data such as graphics, movie clips, sound files and, of course, text in a readable layout.


Accessibility is the target, the goal that makes a web page usable by as many people as possible, on as many different browsers as are in current or anticipated use. This, of course, is a moving target, as various browsers with a range of capabilities interpret web pages differently. In addition, HTML is a constantly evolving language (currently at HTML 5, see below). However, the keys to making accessible web pages remain standards compliance, intelligent organization, fast loading and what the supporters of a non-browser-specific World Wide Web call "graceful degradation." The benefits of choosing to design in HTML for browser compatibility cannot be overstated.


"Graceful degradation" defined


HTML is always changing and improving. What's more, the various browsers still support different elements in different ways, so the key to ensuring that web pages are accessible in all of them is the concept of "graceful degradation."


If a browser encounters tags it cannot display (or even understand), degradation tales place. It is a matter of some importance to you, if it's your web page we're talking about, to know whether some of your content will be "lost," displayed as gibberish or still accessed in an understandable way. When the latter occurs, we are talking about "graceful degradation," which is accomplished best by designing pages directly in HTML.


The graphical web page applications are not put out to pasture because of the decision to do this, since the best ones have multiple views of the work. One can even use the graphical interface to place and manipulate page elements. However, the bottom line is HTML, and that is the view that should be used the most and always used the last. The code has to be exactly right, so the sooner you get used to working with it directly the better your overall browser compatibility will be.


HTML standards have been developed with this concept of graceful degradation in mind. Older tags with new attributes are ignored so that the rest of the tag can function as designed, and new tags will default to alternative displays in browsers that don't support them. Images, java and frames are elements of HTML that may not be displayed, or may be turned off, in some browsers created with knowledge of these components. Providing alternative messages to those who have turned them off, or otherwise cannot see them, is among the ways one can design with graceful degradation in mind.



If you construct your pages with an eye toward graceful degradation and use the built-in components of current HTML standards, along with good advice from accessibility supporters, your pages should degrade gracefully in the various browsers and remain fully accessible. This is an overwhelmingly powerful reason for learning HTML!


Standards and compliance


Of course, to make your web pages universally accessible (or as much as possible), you must focus on complying with the HTML standards. If you "write to" the standards-rather than to browser-specific features, hacks and extensions-you will ensure that your sites will display properly on the browsers that support those standards. Your pages will work on more than just the browser or two that you had time to test against, and they will continue working when new browsers are introduced, based on those same standards.


HTML tags that are vetted through the standards process receive a more thorough evaluation, and are now designed specifically to offer that graceful degradation on older browsers. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is the group that manages and administers the web standards, which have proceeded from the original HTML through HTML 2.0 in 1995, HTML 3.2 in early 1997 and HTML 4.0 in December 1997. A draft of HTML 5 was published in January 2008 as a Working Draft by the W3C.


State of the HTML art


You can use any of the foregoing HTML standards, and should pick the one most suited to your project's needs. If you expect many visitors with older browsers-as in some foreign countries, among certain groups or associations, etc.-and don't need the extended features, you might want to stay with HTML 2.0 compliance. HTML 3.2 has been around long enough to be supported by every major browser, of course, and is the best "next step up" for most web page designers.


However, HTML 4.0 has also been around now for a decade and is universally supported, too. Although you can create simple sites with previous version, if you need frames and other extended features, HTML 4.0 is the way to go. Whatever version you use, remember to plan for graceful degradation as you aim for total browser compatibility. The best way to do this is by designing in HTML.

About The Author

Moonrise Productions is a full services San Francisco website design company. They offer complete design services, web application development, ecommerce development and more. With New York, San Diego, San Francisco and a Los Angeles presence no matter where you are, we've got people to serve you.