In Roberts’ accessibility section (http://www.seotoolbox.com/htmlchat/accessibility.html), he’s placed a link to lawsuit, if you’d like to learn more.

What if you have an image that conveys information, such as a pie chart, graph, or schedule? A simple alt tag description isn’t sufficient to convey that information adequately. Roberts explains a work-around for this problem:

“There are a couple of things you can do, with one being right in tag itself: you can use ‘longdesc’ element. The longdesc is actually a link to another page where you can lay out information in text format.

“Here is a sample tag:

“The problem with longdesc attribute is that it is not widely supported by assistive technology. As a result, an alternative convention is suggested, using a D-Link. This is a text link placed immediately after image. It is a link to same descriptive page contained in longdesc attribute. This way, you are sure that it can't be missed.”

Here’s an example using D-Link:

D

Some Accessibility Solutions Are Actually Beneficial from an SEO Standpoint

Since Search Engine Marketers often use alt text as an extra spot to place keywords, can it still be used in that manner?

“Bear in mind that it should not be only for keywords, because it really is an assistive aid. What I've done is something like this: ‘keyword keyword - link to description page’,” explains Roberts.

Roberts continues, “A link to a more informative text explanation of a pie chart or whatever can only add to search engine relevancy because you can make additional page focus on a keyword. Accessibility also applies to things like WAP, handheld devices, and telephonic devices.

“People need to see what your information is and how to get to it. The matter of tables is important not only because of accessibility but because it will actually be easier for search engines to get around in them. There is a brief example of this on regular SEO Toolbox site: http://www.seotoolbox.com/spider-friendly-tables.html. There is more complete information, with two examples, at: http://www.seotoolbox.com/htmlchat ables_layout.html.”

“After all,” Roberts continues, “which do you think will be better for relevancy? If a spider must wade through yards of code before getting to your content, or if spider can see your content first thing? The answer is pretty obvious.”

If you aren’t using Lynx, Roberts recommends adding it as part of your Web development arsenal for seeing how your pages look in a variety of browsers. (http://lynx.browser.org/)

Lynx is a free, predominately text-based browser that will give you an idea of how those with disabilities view your site. Many Web visitors prefer it because it doesn't support JavaScript, Flash, or DHTML and is free of popups.

For More Information

According to Roberts, one of best books on topic of accessibility is Constructing Accessible Web Sites by Jim Thatcher. The book just hit shelves and covers what you need to know in an efficient, easy-to-understand manner.

And, be sure to keep a close watch on Robert’s accessibility section of SEO Toolbox: http://www.seotoolbox.com/htmlchat/accessibility.html. He’ll be adding more information to section as he conducts chat sessions at Academy.

Academy students can attend any of Roberts’ upcoming chats, or even if you’re not an Academy student, you can read transcripts afterward at Chat Index area: http://www.onlinewebtraining.com/chat/chatindex.htm.

Robin Nobles, Director of Training, Academy of Web Specialists, (http://www.academywebspecialists.com) has trained several thousand people in her online search engine marketing courses (http://www.onlinewebtraining.com). She also teaches 4-day hands-on search engine marketing workshops in locations across the globe with Search Engine Workshops (http://www.searchengineworkshops.com).

Now when you add a new page or section to your site and want to add it to navigation bar you only have one page to edit. The changes will appear where ever SSI include page is called up.

Note: when viewing source code of page where script is called up, include page coding will appear just as written in SSI Include file.

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3..Javascript Includes

The Javascript Include is very similar to SSI Include in example above. The differences are in way code on our javascript include page is written. For this example we will use same navigation bar code as used above.

Create a file in your text editor and include HTML code for navigation bar. We then add some javascript coding to each line of HTML code as well as opening and closing javascript tags. The code for javascript include page will look like this:

Note: The page must begin with Each page line must begin with document.writeln(' Each page line must end with ');

Now save page with a .js file extension, "bot_nav.js".

Now place following code on page in location you want navigation bar to be rendered.

Javascript is a very sensitive language, but you can include most HTML or javascript coding on page. Here are some things to watch for. 1..you can not include javascript that has to access another file to run. DO NOT include tags in .js file, they are included in location script code. 2..if your content contains a backslash "" it must be preceded by another backslash "". 3..if your content contains an apostrophe (') it must be preceded by a backslash ('). 4..the most common reasons for script error messages are extra space at end of a line, or missing characters.

This is same type of script used to syndicate content for use on other sites. But to code a long article or web design tip by hand would take some time. I used a CGI script called "Master Syndicator" that codes content for me. The script is available at http://www.mompswebdesign.com/cgi-bin/prolinkz/pl.cgi?willmaster

Note: whether using CSS, SSI, or Javascript Include pages be sure to upload them to your site in ASCII mode.

Implimenting one or all three of these "Page Include" methods will make maintaining and adding to your site a lot quicker and easier.

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Larry(Momp) owns Momp's Web Design and MWD News newsletter. In addition to web design service, site includes a web design reference library for webmasters.

Momp's Web Design: http://www.mompswebdesign.com/ MWD Newsletter: http://www.mompswebdesign.com/mwdnews.html Contact Momp: mailto:momp@mompswebdesign.com

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Larry(Momp) owns Momp's Web Design and MWD News newsletter. In addition to the web design service, the site includes a web design reference library for webmasters.