Can you tell me if your theme validates according to:
* WCAG 1.0 Priority 1
* XHTML 1.0 Strict

Also, info on Section 508 compliance would also be useful.

I haven't found an easy way to scan through those themes which comply.

Comments

bradlis7’s picture

bradlis7 CreditAttribution: bradlis7 commented

I'm 95% sure it's XHTML Strict compliant.

As for WCAG, I have not studied it in depth enough to know for sure. I did use tables for laying out the content, as it was the only sure way I could get it to work in all browsers.

I don't know about Section 508. I looked at the website, but was not able to find any information on it. Is it basically the same as WCAG?

You are welcome to modify it and submit it the changes if you would like.

mgifford’s picture

mgifford
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Primary language English
CreditAttribution: mgifford commented

Glad that you've done some testing with xHTML Strict. WCAG is a bit different than Section 508, but I think WCAG 2.0 is broader than Section 508. It's an US thing though, so I'm not sure.

Based on a Drupal Core install, all themes should be validated with every release to ensure that it has validates to the DocType it uses, that the CSS validates and that there is some verification for accessibility (even just alt tags). All of these are available in the Firefox Extension WebDeveloper Toolkit. For accessibility, Hera actually looks more useful, particularly for WCAG specs.

However just like initiatives within modules for coding standards, validation and lifting the bar by including unit testing, people should be able to know if these themes validate and are designed to modern standards.

Having accessible themes is increasingly important both as the population ages and as we are designing for a more mobile, machine readable world. New standards, like RDFa are also already in Drupal 7's roadmap and also have theme implications.

We're trying to blog about accessibility and Drupal. Still a lot more to be done about this, and I will try to do some testing of themes in the future.

mgifford’s picture

mgifford
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Issue tags: +Accessibility

Adding accessibility tag

mgifford’s picture

mgifford
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Primary language English
CreditAttribution: mgifford commented

Adding accessibility tag & providing links to more discussion on this for WCAG 2.0 - http://groups.drupal.org/node/17627

peterx’s picture

peterx CreditAttribution: peterx commented

Validating D6 version from http://drupal.org/node/325269#comment-1130187 at http://d-theme.com/b7. CSS 2.1 and 3 ok. XHTML 1.0 Strict validation produces two errors because the following spans contain uls. Change spans to divs.

<span class="terms">categories [ <ul class="links inline"><li class="taxonomy_term_40 first last"><a href="/b_0" rel="tag" title="">b</a></li>
</ul> ]</span>
<span class="links"> <ul class="links inline"><li class="comment_forbidden first last"><span><a href="/user/login?destination=node/446%2523comment-form">Login</a> or <a href="/user/register?destination=node/446%2523comment-form">register</a> to post comments</span></li>
</ul> </span>
Cliff’s picture

Cliff CreditAttribution: Cliff commented

Re: #1 and #2:

Section 508 is the portion of the amendments to the Americans with Disabilities Act that requires all electronic information produced by federal agencies or federal grantees to be accessible. It maps closely to WCAG 1.0, the first completed version of the W3C's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. (Just to expand everything, the W3C is the Worldwide Web Consortium.)

Very roughly speaking, WCAG 2.0 is a clearer statement of what was attempted with WCAG 1.0. I am often asked if it's stricter than Section 508 and WCAG 1.0. In my opinion, it isn't — it's just clearer and easier to apply. (And I might be forgetting one or two significant differences).

So, if you are an agency of the U.S. Government or are funded by an agency of the U.S. Government, you must comply with Section 508 — the law — and you will probably, as I do, follow WCAG 2.0 — the global guidelines — to ensure that you do. (A number of states have passed their own laws similar to Section 508.)