Good quality accessible HTML benefits all users, and also increases web site usability.

The following tips may be applied to any web site with particular emphasis on pages authored for students. There is also considerable overlap with the requirements for other file types, such as PDF files, WORD and Powerpoint. These tips are derived from the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Accessibility Initiative but are not intended to reinterpret them. Web developers are encouraged to access the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines Version 1.0, directly:

• Provide meaningful text equivalents for all non-text elements
• Provide text equivalents for multi-media elements - audio, video, images, animation, provide an auditory description of the visual track for multimedia presentations
• Ensure that HTML tables are properly constructed with reading order and navigation in mind
• Make all links informative, unique and as large as possible
• Don't rely on colour alone to convey important information
• Make images small in file size, relevant and informative
• Use text wherever possible, rather than pictures of text
• Create html content pages with a clear and simple structure and consistent layout
• Provide summaries, and keep file sizes small
• Don’t surprise or annoy users with elements that flicker, flash, or create new windows without warning
• Evaluate and validate your html pages
• Make sure pages are usable without scripting
• Design for Device Independence (W3C definition of device independence)
• Create Forms with correctly placed labels and logical tab order

[One Page Checklist of 'W3C Quick Tips' for Accessibility]