ACCESSIBILITY STATEMENT

Welcome to DistanceFrontier.com. Since this website has recently made its debut on the web, it seems appropriate to discuss the issue of accessibility. Although accessibility initiatives have originally been implemented for the benefit of users with disabilities who may be using assistive technologies to access the web, there are also advantages for all users. For instance, this site uses ALT tags for images. Individuals using screen reading software will be able to hear a description of the graphics on the page as the ALT tag is read if he or she has trouble viewing it. Some people prefer to view web pages without graphics since they may have slow bandwidth connections and images can take a long time to download. Also, users of portable electronic devices that can connect to the Internet will often prefer to access just text in order to conserve battery power and screen space.

Another decision that was made for increasing the accessibility of this website was in regard to the visual elements. Colors were chosen that contrasted with one another for easier reading. Larger text was also chosen for the same purpose. The text size is scalable according to the user's browser settings or resolution. Additionally, the site does not use color alone to convey information for the benefit of individuals who may be colorblind.

The issue of scalability is an important point mentioned above which will be discussed further here. This website uses cascading style sheets (CSS) for the layout and positioning of elements on the page in order to create a liquid layout. This means that the design of the website and content will conform to the user's screen size. Additionally, the website can be viewed without the styles and graphics if the user prefers to access just text. With cell phones and other devices becoming smaller and smaller, this can make a significant difference in accessibility for people on-the-go.

These are just some of the steps that were taken to improve the accessibility and usability of distancefrontier.com. The process of making this website accessible is ongoing. It is regularly tested by users and testing tools for improvement. Thus, user comments are always welcome.

May, 2007