Case studies of implementing BS 8878 (CSUN 2012)

Case studies of implementing BS 8878& why embedding accessibilityis so importantProf Jonathan Hassell (@jonhassell)Director, Hassell Inclusion ltd.Lead-author, BS 8878Chair, BSI IST/45 (drafting committee for BS 8878)CSUN 20122nd March 2012 © hassellinclusion

What I’ll cover…• Why is everyone talking about embedding and processes?• If we need a Standard for that, why consider this one from Britain?• What is it? 8878 in 88 seconds…• Don‟t take my word for it, I wrote it – listen to these guys… • What was good • What was bad • What was hard• Could it work here? A view from America – Jeff Kline‟s perspective• So could this British Standard be useful worldwide? © hassellinclusion

Being booked on the last afternoon isn’t ideal… © hassellinclusion

But it’s given me the chance to listen, and this is what I heard… © hassellinclusion

We all agree (in at least 7 sessions…)it’s time to be strategic about accessibility © hassellinclusion

But not (yet) on how to do that… © hassellinclusion

Created by accessibility experts Reviewed publicly worldwide by: Training already delivered to:from: • 328 accessibility experts worldwide • incl: experts in personalisation, aging, mobile accessibility, IPTV, inclusive design, usability, user- research and testing, disability evangelismThankfully, in the UK we’ve already spent years discussing thisand getting that agreement… © hassellinclusion

1Why is embedding accessibilityin your processes important? © hassellinclusion

Let’s take a familiar UK airline… © hassellinclusion

… which is being sued for not being accessible to blind people © hassellinclusion

All hands to the pump on remediation… © hassellinclusion

But you need to fix the problem in the process,not the product, to prevent it re-occurring © hassellinclusion

1st stage: 1. PurposeThe right 2. Target audiencesresearch& thought 3. Audience needsbefore you 4. Preferences & restrictionsstart 5. Relationship 6. User goals2nd stage: 7. Degree of UXMaking 8. Inclusive cf. personalisedstrategicchoices 9. Delivery platformsbased on 10. Target browsers, OSes, ATsthatresearch 11. Create/procure, in-house/contract 12. Web technologies3rd stage: 13. Web guidelinesProduction, 14. Assuring accessibilitylaunch,update 15. Launch informationcycle 16. Post-launch plansBS 8878’s process in 88 seconds- to hear visit: www.bs8878in88seconds.com © hassellinclusion

An informed way of making good decisions • every decision taken could affect whether the product will include or exclude disabled and elderly people • so every decision should be: – recognised as a decision – have all options and implications considered – made based on justifiable reasoning – noted in the Web Product’s Accessibility Policy for transparency • at every step of the process © hassellinclusion

An accessibility process that is harmonisedwith user-centred/inclusive design processes• relating web accessibility to wider human- • and bringing in concepts of centred and inclusive design practices user-personalised approaches… From: ISO/FDIS 9241-210 Human-centred design for interactive systems © hassellinclusion

2 Why is embedding accessibilityin your organisation important? © hassellinclusion

The accessibility of your web productsis in all these people’s hands… Snr Mgrs Finance Legal Marketing Strategy Project Mgrs Product Mgrs Developers Designers Writers Research & Testers © hassellinclusion

Embedding motivation• Need to motivate each group…• Or just use a business Snr Mgrs case for the top level and set policy top to bottom… – check out OneVoice business cases… Finance Legal Marketing Strategy Project Mgrs Product Mgrs Developers Designers Writers Research & Testers © hassellinclusion

Embedding responsibility• Work out whose responsibility accessibility should ultimately be… Snr Mgrs• Make sure they delegate (and monitor results) well• Make sure those delegated to are trained in their Finance Legal Marketing Strategy responsibilities Project Mgrs Product Mgrs Developers Designers Writers Research & Testers © hassellinclusion

Embedding through strategic policies Snr Mgrs Finance Legal Marketing Strategy• create an Organizational Web Accessibility Policy to strategically embed accessibility into the organization’s business as usual• including where accessibility is embeddedMgrs Project in: Product Mgrs • web procurement policy • web technology policy • marketing guidelines • web production standards Developers Designers (e.g. compliance with WCAG, browser support, AT support) Writers Testers © hassellinclusion

BS8878’s support for the ‘key role’of accessibility program manager © hassellinclusion

3BS 8878impact & adoption in the UK © hassellinclusion

“We are delighted with the uptake. The Standard is now being applied across a range of sectors, including central and local government, the NHS, police, retail, housing, education and charities. It shows that there is a real need for clear, non-technical guidance that complements WCAG 2.0 and can help steer those commissioning the development of web products through the entire life-cycle. What‟s more, the last twelve months have seen encouraging initiatives from Government in recognition of the important role that accessibility plays as an enabler of digital inclusion.” David Fatscher, BSI Sector Development ManagerUptake of the Standard © hassellinclusion

“We needed a set of guidelines that are practical and relatively easy to follow for people creating our Virtual Learning Environments and learning content who aren‟t just web developers. BS8878 ticks all the boxes for us, as it includes advice for those procuring as well as developing websites.” E.A. Draffan, Research Fellow in Electronics & Computer ScienceUse on eGovernment websites © hassellinclusion

“We needed a set of guidelines that are practical and relatively easy to follow for people creating our Virtual Learning Environments and learning content who aren‟t just web developers. BS8878 ticks all the boxes for us, as it includes advice for those procuring as well as developing websites.” E.A. Draffan, Research Fellow in Electronics & Computer ScienceUse on education websites © hassellinclusion

“As a small organisation whose prime purpose is to promote accessibility, we decided to design and build our own website using BS8878 to guide us. The biggest hurdle was where to actually start. Luckily Jonathan Hassell provided us with the answers we needed during a training session he gave to one of our clients who has also decided to work towards conformance with the Standard. And once we started, we found it relatively easy to move forwards ” Cam Nicholl, Director of Sales & Service Development, DACUse by SME disability/accessibility service providers

“Organisations are now coming to AbilityNet with a clearer perspective on what is involved in inclusive design, and with an appreciation that accessibility isn’t just a bolt-on component that all too often drops off when the wrong decisions have been made. We’ve also heard fewer horror-stories of design briefs that have been short on detail when it comes to specifying accessibility, which often leads to a long battle to achieve it – a battle which isn’t always won. “ Robin Christopherson, Head of Digital Inclusion, AbilityNetUse by larger disability/accessibility service providers

“Our students use BSS8878 as a framework in assignments such as improving the accessibility of a real website linking a group of older people in the UK to groups in three other countries. The Standard guides them in identifying the specific needs of older people through inclusive design and develops their problem solving skills by requiring them to prepare design briefs which prioritise solutions that would work for everyone.” Suzette Keith, Tutor MSc Digital Inclusion, Middlesex UniversityUse in inclusive design courses & training

“The majority of people involved in procuring web and app designservices (or responsible for internal legislative compliance) will findBS8878 a far more accessible document than the W3Cs technicalguidelines, and provides a framework that goes beyond a list oftechnical design requirements.BS8878 emphasises, and this is important, that simply complying withthe WCAG guidelines is unlikely to meet the requirements of theEquality Act. As BS8878 explains, organisations cant simply carry outan automated tick box check of the HTML, but instead need to usertest the site or app itself to ensure that it actually is accessible.” “ Martin Sloan, Legal Associate in the Technology, Information and Outsourcing Group at Brodies LLP Recommendation by legal services

4Case Studies © hassellinclusion

Royal MailBS 8878 in action Rob Wemyss Head of Accessibility Royal Mail Group

Royal Mail Group• We are the sole provider of the UK‟s Universal Postal Service• We reach everyone in the UK through our mails, Post Office and parcels business• BS 8878 is an integral part of our web accessibility strategy• BS 8878 has given us the framework to help reduce costs and improve the quality when delivering accessible web products for our customers 32

How we have used BS 8878• Additional framework to existing accessibility process• Added value by getting focus on accessibility early• Helps project stakeholders understand our accessibility requirements• Used as gating process for suppliers• Gets planning for testing in early• Great framework for documenting important decisions throughout the project lifecycle 33

Helping deliver projects• Used to deliver new redesign of Royal Mail website from the ground up• Includes updated user journeys based on extensive research into how our customers use the web• Detailed personalisation of content based on personas• Principles behind 8878 are perfect for this• Also used on smaller BAU projects to help deliver the best possible products for customers 34

Does it help?• Yes… helps shake out the decisions and makes risk visible for evaluation at all stages• Makes it easier when dealing with multiple stakeholders• Gives structure to accessibility discussions – especially remediation ones when procured products do not meet standards• Used to help educate 20+ suppliers• Makes more sense to suppliers than rules of WCAG as they get the value of usability so accessibility doesn‟t feel like a spanner in the works• Accepts deficiencies are likely on launch, but makes them clear for future planning… 35

Room for improvement• Documentation can be time consuming• Need a way to input information collaboratively• Dashboard to help people engage with the information in the document• Suppliers not always aware of BS 8878• £100 for a document is a barrier for smaller suppliers• Need for a “lite version” of standard with simple explanations to give suppliers the appetite to want to read it 36

Should it be an International Standard?• Don‟t see any reason why not• It combines accessibility, usability and quality of delivering a project – which is the same requirement all over the world• Technology is delivered globally, so an international standard would help with procurement• „Technically accessible‟ technology can sometimes miss the mark – understanding how users will use technology is what it‟s all about 37

Future-proofing that it’s already got • “Beyond tick-lists”: BS 8878 as a means of integrating accessibility & usability • for organisations that only do usability, this aligns accessibility with what they already do • for organisations that only do accessibility, this provides a way of going beyond tick-box accessibility and situates it in something more meaningful to people “Working through BSI 8878 and the implication it can have for PIP. Brilliant standard and so incredibly useful. Thanks @jonhassell !!” Simon Hurst, Dept of Work and Pensions • Can it be applied to mobile and apps? • Yes • Can it be applied to software? • Yes, with a few modifications (browser only applicable to web, as is the emphasis on rapid versioning) © hassellinclusion

How BS 8878 could be improved…• It should clarify how the BS 8878 process can be used to enrich existing processes, rather than require their replacement: • for organisations that already have a user-centred production process, they can fit these steps into it easily and it will make perfect sense • for organisations that have a process but it isn’t user-centred, this adds that emphasis and missing steps (user-research and iterative testing) to their process • and for organisations that don’t have a process yet, they get a best-practice one (e.g. see websitein1day.co.uk)• BS 8878 would be more useful if tools existed to enable it to be easily applied • Hassell Inclusion are already working on a suite of such tools • Watch this space for announcements… © hassellinclusion

Strategic IT Accessibility: Enabling the OrganizationAbout the book• Approaches IT accessibility holistically• Deals with “organizational enablement” vs. “technical enablement”• Discusses the why‟s and how‟s of integrating IT accessibility into relevant areas of an organization where it plays a role• Includes realistic scenarios• Targeted at diverse audience of leaders and consultants – Corporate executives or agency heads – Human resources executives and top-level mgt. – CIOs and other executive-level IT – Corporate and governmental legal professionals positions – Communications professionals at all levels – Development executives – Public and private-sector consultants / business- – Strategic planners services – Project managers – Education management for K-12 and universitiesAbout the author• Managed IBM‟s Corporate Accessibility Compliance and Consulting team• Now serves as Statewide Electronic and Information Coordinator for the Texas• 18 years in R&D management at IBM – Hardware (industrial design, graphic design, human factors, usability) – Software (operating system GUI design and development, system usability)• Author website: strategicaccessibility.com

Jeff Kline on what BS 8878 andStrategic IT Accessibility can learn from each other… Watch the video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch ?v=bUSd18ebPmU © hassellinclusion

Any other cross-country difficulties…?• Different countries, different laws… • although legal details are already separated into BS8878‟s annexes to aid this localisation• In the USA, unlike the UK, is writing down and publishing your reasoning behind accessibility decisions a risk rather than mitigating factor? • some have argued that this might be the case • the question is: is having written down your (justifiable) reasons for not including an accessibility feature more defensible than not having any evidence that you‟ve considered the needs of disable at all?• Does BS 8878 have enough detail? • covers all the important points for embedding accessibility in any organisation, but not the detail (especially for large, multi-nationals) • Jeff‟ Kline‟s book is great for providing some of that detail © hassellinclusion

Does it provide a useful new focus for accessibility?Would you want to work in a team/organisation where: • you‟d be expected to take accessibility seriously by product managers • youd be in a team where each member knows what accessibility expects from them • managers would ask you to follow a user-centred design process (like I guess you want anyway) • managers would ask you for/give you real-world user-research to help good decision making • youd be empowered to make decisions re accessibility, as long as you can justify them, and write them down • youd have the freedom to create product variations where users‟ needs diverge • youd have a place to find best practice help for accessible design beyond the web • youd be asked to test products for accessibility, alongside usability, to the level the budget will allow (and managers would be aware of the limited benefits of cheaper options) • youd be freed from the impossibility of doing everything you could possibly do for v1.0, as long as you tell your audience why and when they‟ll get what they need © hassellinclusion

Get latest news, tools, blogs, training: www.hassellinclusion.com/bs8878/Join the community & discussion:www.meetup.com/bs8878-web-accessibility/ © hassellinclusion

Case studies of implementing BS 8878 (CSUN 2012)

by Jonathan Hassell

Accessibility

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