karmadillo says:

As a web developer in the public sector, I have to design web sites and applications that are accessible and meet the 508 and W3C web accessibility standards. A few years ago, I read Jeffery Zeldman's Designing with Web Standards and it was a great help. My co-workers and I struggle with cool and feature-packed design versus accessibility. What books do you recommend, and what issues do you face?

#1 Posted 1 years ago

danchamp says:

The definitive book (today) on accessibility is Web Accessibility: Web Standards and Regulatory Compliance. I'd highly recommend you get a copy if you're in any way uncertain about accessibility.

Also consider registering at AccessifyForum, or at least having a browse and a search there - there's a great archive of knowledge and techniques, so if you've got a particular question it's probably been discussed there in the past.

#2 Posted 1 years ago

cedarwaxwing says:

Thanks for the recommendation Dan. I just picked that book up today.

Question for you and other readers of technical books-

How do you read them? Do you read them cover-to-cover like a novel or do you use skim them for what interests you and keep it on the shelf for reference? I do the latter - I've never read a technical book (including cookbooks) cover-to-cover.

#3 Posted 1 years ago

danchamp says:

It depends. If it's a subject that's new to me I do tend to read tech books cover-to-cover, then dip in and out later on. Whereas with the accessibility book I use it more as a reference, since it's a subject I'm very familiar with.

I think that probably reflects the nature of most tech books though - they generally start with the basics and progress on to more advanced topics. If you've got a reasonable grounding in the subject the first few chapters can seem like revision!

#4 Posted 1 years ago

cedarwaxwing says:

Well, I'm impressed. The closest I got to reading a technical book all the way through was Joe Clark's Building Accessible Websites simply because he was on my IM list and such a character!

#5 Posted 1 years ago

karmadillo says:

I usually have great intentions of reading a tech book cover-to-cover. So I get the first couple chapters read...then jump straight to the topics that pertain to my task at hand.

#6 Posted 1 years ago