Joe Clark’s Building Accessible Websites is useful as a substantial early argument about access to the web and its media. Read it with two questions in mind: what user need is the author explaining, and what implementation would serve that need today? That approach preserves the value of historical reasoning while giving technical advice a current check.
Know which text you are reading
Clark’s book introduction identifies New Riders as the publisher and describes availability in late October 2002. Some catalog records identify a 2003 edition. Match the ISBN and edition when citing a printed copy; ISBN 073571150X is associated with the English paperback.
The author’s online serialization provides the text for reading on the web. Its opening notes explain that historical advice remains in place, with corrections, and identify layout-table advice as outdated. Most graphics are omitted outside the multimedia chapter. Treat those editorial notes as part of the reading: they tell you what this version contains and how it differs from the printed object.
Choose a reading route by your question
Use the serialization’s contents to select a manageable route. For an editor, begin with the discussion of images and ask how meaning changes with the image’s role. For a developer, read about page structure and then inspect a current page. For someone working with audio or video, start with the multimedia discussion and identify which information depends on hearing or seeing.
Keep three kinds of notes: the user need; the technique described at the time; and the current technique or test you will investigate. This makes it possible to value an explanation without silently treating every historical implementation detail as a present recommendation.
Read contested or emphatic claims as arguments to examine. Ask what evidence would support the conclusion and whether the example represents your audience and technology. A strong authorial voice can make a technical book engaging; a review still needs to distinguish the author’s position from a requirement or an observed result.
Compare one image in two contexts
Compare your reasoning with the current W3C images tutorial. The exercise is about the relationship between purpose and information. For a real entrance guide, verify the route on site or with the responsible operator before publishing directions; a photograph alone leaves important access details uncertain.
Bring implementation questions to current guidance
Use the W3C accessibility tutorials to investigate current patterns for images, tables, forms, page structure and other common content. Check the version of a standard and the technologies involved when translating a historical example into a project.
Finish a reading session with one small test: inspect a page’s headings, explain an image, or follow a form with the keyboard. Record the starting page, your expected outcome and what actually happened. Return to the book to refine the question, and to current documentation to refine the implementation.
For a group discussion, give each reader the same short passage and page example. Compare the user need identified, the assumptions carried by the historical technique and the evidence needed for the proposed change. That produces a more useful discussion than a simple verdict that the whole book is either timeless or obsolete.