Accessibility Problem in Dreamweaver MX

Hi

This is my first post here and I'm very much a beginner at using Dreamweaver.
I'm in the process of writing a site and have as I go along been testing it for
Accessibility, I have a lot of messages that don't mean anything to me at all
and I don't know what to do (i.e., data table should have headers....it's a
navigation menu, I wouldn't have thought it needed a header). I know that I
should be using CSS for layout rather than tables, at the moment I've to get
something up and running for my boss, it is my intention to change it all to
layers.

Another error I get (and this one is appearing a lot!) is asking me to define
a lang attribute, I have no idea how to do this, can anyone help?

Thanks in advance!

hard_2_handle said the following:

Hi

Welcome

This is my first post here and I'm very much a beginner at using
Dreamweaver. I'm in the process of writing a site and have as I go
along been testing it for Accessibility, I have a lot of messages
that don't mean anything to me at all and I don't know what to do

How are you testing this?
Can you show us a link to your page?

(i.e., data table should have headers....it's a navigation menu, I
wouldn't have thought it needed a header). I know that I should be
using CSS for layout rather than tables,

Forget the full CSS route for now, work with what you are comfortable with
to get your site up and as you learn.
Here is a link for a tables tutorial which will be a big help before you go
any further
http://www.dwfaq.com/Tutorials/Tables/flexible_tables.asp

Also, I'm hoping you are not using Layout mode, be use to be using standard
mode and *inserting* your tables, otherwise you will end up with more
problems than you expected.

You can use basic css to style fonts, backgrounds etc., here is a tutorial
that will help you understand the basics of css www.mako4css.com

at the moment I've to get something up and running for my boss, it is my
intention to change it
all to layers.

Do not do any converting in DW to do this. Get comfortable with tables,
then think about using CSS to style your pages and then move on to more
progressive methods.

--
Nadia
-----------------
*Free Templates *Dropdown Menu Templates*
http://www.DreamweaverResources.com
*Templates - HTML and CSS Validated *
*Free Nav Bar Sets*
*Resources : Ecommerce : SEO Articles*
-----------------
: Macromedia (MM) Technotes:
http://www.macromedia.com/support/search/
-----------------
:Flexible Table Tutorial:
http://www.dwfaq.com/Tutorials/Tables/flexible_tables.asp
-----------------

Hi

I'm using Dreamweaver MX, File > Check Page > Check Accessibility

to make sure that it's accessible. Unfortunately I can't post a link, I
working on an intranet and it's not up yet, it also has asp in it.

For everything I've done in the past (which have been small sites!) I've used
notepad, my boss felt it was time to go 'pro' and learn Dreamweaver (for
managing etc..) At the moment it's barely off the ground, but my boss wants it
to be accessible should we ever open part of it up to our customers.

Thanks for the links, I'm quite comfy with CSS, but I'm being trained to use
ASP by a guy that has only used tables, hence the table layout. With the
'mucking' around with Dreamweaver that I've done, it seems a lot easier than
notepad for the 'art' of CSS positioning! I don't know what 'layout' mode is,
don't think I'm in it, I've clicked insert table and view it in 'split' view so
that I can edit the code by hand.

I'm going off the point! It's Dreamweaver MX itself that generates the
accessibility errors that I'm gettting and I don't know enough to get rid of
them (either in Dreamweaver of HTML), in particular the 'lang' attribute error.

Thanks again for any help!

it's a
navigation menu, I wouldn't have thought it needed a header

There's no way for the software to know if you are using tables for tabular
data, or if you are using them for layout.

I know that I
should be using CSS for layout rather than tables

Good!

at the moment I've to get
something up and running for my boss, it is my intention to change it all
to
layers.

DW Layers aren't really any better than tables. Use relatively positined
DIVs if you want to dive all the way into CSS positioning.

Another error I get (and this one is appearing a lot!) is asking me to
define
a lang attribute, I have no idea how to do this, can anyone help?

http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/struct/dirlang.html

I'm not sure how imortant this really is, though.

-Darrel

For everything I've done in the past (which have been small sites!) I've
used
notepad, my boss felt it was time to go 'pro' and learn Dreamweaver (for
managing etc..) At the moment it's barely off the ground, but my boss
wants it
to be accessible should we ever open part of it up to our customers.

I'd say anyone using notepad is more the pro! ;o)

Thanks for the links, I'm quite comfy with CSS, but I'm being trained to
use
ASP by a guy that has only used tables, hence the table layout.

Wait 'til you meet ASP.NET folks...oh man...tables EVERYWHERE! ;o)

I'm going off the point! It's Dreamweaver MX itself that generates the
accessibility errors that I'm gettting and I don't know enough to get rid
of
them (either in Dreamweaver of HTML), in particular the 'lang' attribute
error.

Accesibility really can't be 'validated' programatically very well. In the
end, you really just need to understand the issues and validate it yourself
as a person.

-Darrel