Correcting Pages in Contribute

1. Image without alt text (W3C & WebExact A error (1.1) -- Add alt text by selecting the image and right-clicking on it to open the Image Properties. Type a brief description of the image in the Description (ALT Text) box and click OK.
2. Image alignment "value cannot be DEFAULT": Contribute inserts this "illegal" value automatically. To change to a legal value, select the image and right-click it to open the Image Properties. Change the Alignment to "TOP", "MIDDLE", "LEFT", or "RIGHT".
3. Validation errors generated by search-string URLS:
   This requires editing the code manually. Please contact Elizabeth.
4. Validation Errors generated by other "bad code" can be avoided by never pasting content from an unvalidated page that you have opened in Contribute Edit mode.
5. Improperly nested headers: WebXact AA error (3.5)
   1. Reveal the headings structure of your page using the Web Accessibility Toolbar.
   2. Make sure headings follow in correct order: H1, H2, H3, H4. . .(more about Headings) set them using the Toolbar or the Style Menu
6. Change to relative sizing and positioning (WebXact AA error (3.4).
   • To change the width of a table to percent, place your cursor in the table, right click, and select Table Properties. Set the Table Width to a percent value (type a number in the first box, then set the next box to "percent")
   • To change the width of a table cell, you need to select the entire column with your mouse. Right-click, select Table Properties, and then click the Column tab. You'll be able to set the Column Width to a percent value (type a number in the first box, then set the next box to "percent")
   • TIP: Don't drag table borders -- this can result in the width being changed to a pixel value.
7. Mark up lists properly (don't just type in numbers or dashes): see How to Format Contribute Lists
8. Blockquote tags are inserted if you indent a paragraph with the indent button. This should not be done unless you have an actual block of quotation that is too long to be included in the main paragraph of your page. If you click the outdent button, they should go away (see Indenting for more information).
9. The font tag and other deprecated items usually arise when you paste content from older web pages that you've opened for editing in Contribute. This is why it's always better to paste text from the browser view only, and reformat it in Contribute.
10. Empty links are not a problem for pages created in Contribute. To combat the repeated link-text problem, try making linked text more explicit -- consider how well a person reading the linked text only would understand where the link would take them.
11. "Avoid using tables to format text documents in columns unless the table can be linearized." (WebXact AA manual check (5.3))
    
    

    It's ok to separate content into into two table cells (like columns) as long as each block is marked as a paragraph or a list.

    Just be sure you want the content in the right table cell to be read immediately after the content in the left table cell.

12. WebXact AAA manual check for clarifying acronyms & abbreviations (4.2): Contribute has no mechanism for adding either HTML element. If you believe you need to spell out an acronym or abbreviation, either do it in text, or contact Elizabeth.
13. "Whitespace" link error (WebXact AAA error (10.5)) -- In order to separate links you must either make them separate items in a properly formatted list, or place unlinked text or punctuation ( / , | ) between them. If you want to lay them out using a table, you can use the "invisible" style to hide the unlinked punctuation.
14. "Provide a Summary for Tables" (WebXact AAA error (5.5) ). The summary attribute lets blind users know what kind of tabular data is presented in your table (e.g. summary="names, addresses and phone numbers of patrons"). It can also tell them that the table their assistive technology has encountered will not be presenting tabular data (i.e. information that is organized across a number of rows and columns in a logical relationship) (e.g. summary="For layout only"). You cannot add the summary attribute in Contribute, but you can copy the optional layout table with the summary attribute from a new template-based page. (After copying and pasting the optional table into your document, you can cancel the new page you copied it from).