On May 5, 1999, the W3C came out with a recommendation on Web Content Accessibility. This recommendation explains how to create Web content that is accessible to people with disabilities.

But why create accessible HTML? As long as most people can read your page, who really cares, right? Well, if you're trying to make money on the Web, perhaps now you aren't having any trouble , but what's going to happen when the hype dies down and there are so many e-commerce pages on the Web that your little domain is just one of millions? If your site is accessible now, you will have loyal buyers later.

Some things to note about writing Web pages that meet the accessibility guidelines:

• These guidelines are not difficult. The hardest part about them is remembering them.

• As the W3C says

  "following them will also make Web content more available to all users"

1. Provide equivalent alternatives to auditory and visual content.
   While some people may not be able to see or hear your images or sound, your Web page should have an equivalent, rendered in text, so that their browser can interpret it. For example, if you use images for your navigation, you should have text explanations and links that serve the same purpose.
2. Don't rely on color alone.
   Use a visual clue other than just color to convey information (such as required fields on a form). Also, make sure that the colors you choose have sufficient contrast as to be legible.
3. Use markup and style sheets and do so proPerly.
   Even if an HTML element works without following the specification, you should follow the spec in order to maintain accessibility. For example, Internet Explorer will display tables which are missing the final </table> tag. However, tables formed in this fashion are inaccessible. Also, if it is appropriate to use a table tag or other markup use it, rather than using approximations such as creating a table-like structure with the <pre>; tag. Use HTML, rather than images where appropriate and the markup exists to do so.
4. Clarify natural language usage.
   Identify the language in the head of the document using the lang attribute. Also, make sure that you specify abbreviations within a document the first time they occur. You can do this using the title attribute of the <acronym> and <abbr> tags.
5. Create tables that transform gracefully.
   Tables should be used to markup tabular information rather than for purely design purposes. If you are going to use tables for layout, try to create tables that make sense when linearized, or else provide a non-tabled version of the page. Provide summaries for tables of data.
6. Ensure that pages featuring new technologies transform gracefully.
   When you write HTML on the bleeding edge, make sure that older versions still work when viewing the page. This will also impact people with newer browsers who choose to turn off features (such as Java, JavaScript, images, etc.).