Has the need for standards with Ajax really come to a head. In a short response - yes. Like anything with Web design, it is all but critical to make sure that the Web services out there are accessible to all.

One of the largest complaints that people have about Ajax these days is the lack of standards support in the sites developed with it. Since all of the data is dynamic, there’s problems caused with several different types of applications used for “alternative browsing” - such as screen readers. Developers know this and are trying to take steps to improve the situation, but it’s a slow road so far. In this new article on SitePoint, you can check in on one developer’s quest to get a simple Ajax script to be correctly read in a common screen reading application.

“We’ve all heard a great deal of buzz about AJAX in the last few months, and with this talk has come a legion of articles, tips, presentations and practical APIs designed to explore the possibilities and try to arrive at best-practice techniques. But, for all of the excitement and hype, still very little has been said on the subject of AJAX and accessibility.

Wherever we look, from discussions at AccessifyForum, to popular blogs like those of Derek Featherstone, and Peter Paul-Koch, the one thing we can all agree on is that we need more information.

And that’s why I’ve written this article: to present some of the data and analysis I’ve compiled, and see if it points to a useful conclusion. Source: Ajaxian“