Corporate Web Accessibility Implementation Strategies

Sarah J. Swierenga , Director

Usability & Accessibility Center

Usability and Accessibility for the Web International Seminar

University of Monterrey, Mexico

July 27-28, 2007

Session Objectives

We will cover:

Overview of accessibility challenges

High-level accessibility evaluation of a website

Overview of user-centered design process

Detailed description of an accessibility process

Development of a strategy (outline) for implementing a compliance program

What is Accessibility?

Wikipedia : Accessibility is a general term used to describe the degree to which a system is usable by as many people as possible.

W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) : Web accessibility means that people with disabilities can use the Web

Bottom line : Enhancing web sites to ensure that the content is understandable and navigable for all users.

Why Accessibility?

Scope

About 20 percent of the population has a disability

1 in 10 people have a severe disability

1 in 2 people over 65 have reduced capabilities

Disabilities encompass a wide range of conditions and circumstances

Types of Disabilities

Visual

Hearing

Physical impairments

Cognitive impairments

Designing for Blindness

Web content is read by screen readers (like JAWS) and blind persons navigate with the keyboard

Benefit from keyboard shortcuts, organized content, contextual clues

Example :

www.webaim.org/media/video/kyle/kyle.asx

Designing for Low Vision

Use stylesheets, browser settings or screen enlarging software (like ZoomText)

Benefit from sites that support text enlargement (CSS) , window resizing (%) and image magnification (SVG)

Example :

http:// www.afb.org /

Designing for Deafness

Need text for all audio-based information

Benefit from sites that provide text of audio, transcripts

Example :

www.webaim.org/media/video/curtis/curtis.asx

Designing for Dexterity

Need varying assistance including special keyboards, brain switches, mouth sticks, joysticks and rollerballs

( http:// www.synapseadaptive.com / )

Benefit from large clickable area and pre-loaded fields

Example :

www.webaim.org/media/video/gordon/gordon.asx

Adaptive Technologies Brain Switch Head Tracking Device Ergonomic Keyboard

Designing for Cognition

Need support for comprehension

Benefit from logical, uncluttered sites, navigation cues, alternative presentations of content, simple terminology, consistency

Additional information :

http:// www.webaim.org/articles/cognitive/cognitive_too_little /

Simulating Cognitive Issues

Dyslexia : http://www.ubaccess.com/artsimulator.html

Cognitive Overload : http://www.webaim.org/simulations/distractability-sim.html

Other Dyslexia Simulations :

National Bureau for Students with Disabilities ( http:// www.skill.org.uk/info/demos/dyslexia.asp )

Dyslexia Simulation

Illustrating lateral disorientation (words in wrong place and letters switched around) and lateral inversion (b and d confused/switched around)

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Dyslexia Simulation--Repaired

"In the current climate of widening participation, particularly in those institutions that do not traditionally offer a 'learning-support' unit, it will prove invaluable to staff to embrace new methods to produce course materials and/or teaching, and to gain an understanding of the different types of organizational difficulties that dyslexic students have."

Adults with Disabilities and Technology Use

Inclusiveness

Adults with disabilities spend, on average, twice as much time online as adults without disabilities - 20 hours per week compared to 10 hours per week.

Adults with disabilities are much more likely than adults without disabilities to report that the Internet has significantly improved the quality of their lives (48% vs. 27%)

“ How the Internet is Improving the Lives of Americans with Disabilities,” Humphrey Taylor, Harris Poll #30, June 7, 2000

Accessibility Legislation

Legal

U.S. : Americans with Disabilities Act (1990), Section 508 (revised 1998)

Australia : Disability Discrimination Act (1992)

Ireland : Disability Act of 2005

United Kingdom : Disability Discrimination Act (1995)

Italy : Provisions to support the access to information technologies for the disabled (January 2004)

U.S. - The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

The ADA is civil rights law passed in 1990 prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities.

The DOJ has also issued a policy on Title II of the ADA that requires State and local websites to be accessible.

http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/statute.html

U.S. - Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act

Requires that Federal agencies provide access to electronic and information technology (EIT) that is compliant.

Agencies must also purchase the most accessible EIT available commercially.

The law became effective June 21, 2001.

http://www.access-board.gov/sec508/508standards.htm

Australia - Disability Discrimination Act (1992)

Makes it unlawful to discriminate against persons on the grounds of their disability by having a website which they cannot access.

Based on W3C/WCAG

United Kingdom – Disability Discrimination Act (1995)

Makes it unlawful for a service provider to treat people with disabilities less favorably for a reason related to their disability.

Disability Rights Commission publishes a Code of Practice, detailing the provisions of the Disability Discrimination Act.

Ireland – Disability Act of 1995

Promotes equal participation of people with disabilities in society, including employment.

Part VI establishes a Centre for Excellence in Universal Design, including electronic systems, education and training courses, and promotion of public awareness

Italy – Provisions to support the access to information technologies for the disabled (January 2004)

The Republic acknowledges and protects everyone's right to access to all the sources of information and to their pertinent services, including those which make use of information technology and data transmission instruments.

Accessibility Lawsuits

National Federation for the Blind (NFB) vs. Amazon settlement (2007)

Sexton and NFB vs. Target lawsuit (2007)

State of New York (Ramada.com & Priceline.com, 2004)

Maguire vs. Sydney Olympic Committee settlement (2000)

NFB vs. Connecticut Attorney General’s Office (IRS forms) settlement (2000)

California Council for the Blind vs. Bank of America & Wells Fargo ATM settlements in Florida and California (2000)

NFB vs. AOL settlement (1999)

Accessibility Benefits

Accessible sites are better sites

Transform to PDAs, cell phones, other devices

Tend to have logical navigation, organized content, clearer labels, dependable functionality, structured tables and forms

Makes site available to larger audience

Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has published guidelines for developing accessible web sites, browsers, and tools for creating content.

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) provides accessibility guidelines for three priority levels.

Accessibility Standards

Alt text on images and image maps—provide descriptive text for every image

Color—use color only as a redundant code

Stylesheets—ensure that the document is readable when stylesheets are turned off

Table cell identification—use HTML markup to identify row and column headers for data tables

Headers—use H markup to identify context sections and sub-sections

Accessibility Standards

Frame titling—use name and title attributes for each frame; use title tags on the pages

JavaScript—use a screen reader to test it

Search forms—use adjacent field labels

Skip navigation—provide users with a way to skip repetitive navigation links

Flicker and timed responses—avoid rapidly flickering images

Multimedia—make sure audio is captioned

Individual Activity

The purpose of the group activity is to give participants a sense of what’s involved with using screen reader technology to interact with a website to accomplish a typical search task.

The User-Centered Design Process

User Requirements Analysis

Work with product team to decide on goals for the Web site from the perspective of the user and the business.

Determine the user needs and usability requirements.

Conduct expert evaluation (heuristic evaluation) of existing product user interface.

Conduct an accessibility compliance review.

Perform a competitive analysis.

Perform user interviews and surveys.

Conceptual Design, Prototypes, and Evaluation

Sketch out a high-level site design and information architecture

Rapidly create visual representations (mockups) or interactive representations (prototypes) of the site.

Think of known issues and how accessibility relates

Evaluate usability through focus groups, user tests, and walkthroughs.

Use the evaluation results to create more mockups or improve the prototypes.

Repeat this process (design iteration) until the design and usability goals are met

Design and Implementation

Revise user interface information architecture based on concept evaluation.

Create the user interface using standards-compliant code.

Remember to code for accessibility.

Usability & Accessibility Evaluation

Conduct the usability evaluation on the final design.

Conduct an accessibility compliance evaluation based on Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and your country’s standards.

Use the evaluation results to improve the product.

Repeat this process (production iteration) until the business goals are met.

Launch and Maintenance

Document everything!

Continue to collect feedback from users/customers to improve the product in future releases.

Preparation for Accessibility Initiative

Gather information about accessibility issues and resources.

Identify products that will be affected.

Identify organizations that will need to be involved.

Identify funding sources.

Identify resources for a core team.

Usability Specialist’s Role

Advocate for accessibility because it’s part of good a user-centered design process.

Usability practitioners understand research methodologies and have testing experience.

They can also evaluate and test websites for accessibility.

Organizationally, they are usually situated well for cross-functional efforts.

Strategy for Assessing Situation

Develop an organizational strategy:

Approach 1: Develop internal expertise

Approach 2: Use external consultants

Group discussion on pros and cons of internal versus external initiatives of this scope

Accessibility Compliance Process Overview

Identify website accessibility problems.

Establish core team for accessibility.

Decide on level of compliance.

Implement accessibility enhancements.

Verify that site is accessibility compliant.

Develop an on-going maintenance program.

Initial Website Evaluation

Use an evaluation tool, e.g., aChecker, WAVE, Cynthia Says, Bobby or LIFT.

Configure your PC to test for accessibility issues.

Conduct a manual evaluation using an accessibility checklist.

Demonstration and Discussion

We’ll evaluate a typical site for accessibility compliance using an accessibility checklist.

This activity is intended to encourage discussion about the specific standards and give you an idea of what's really involved with designing and evaluating sites for accessibility.

Establish Core Team

The most effective core team for accessibility would include:

Project and product managers

Human Factors and usability specialists

Web designers

Visual and/or multimedia designers

Software engineer/Technical lead

Technical communications specialist

Business and marketing representatives

Level of Compliance

The core team, working with project teams and business area groups, needs to decide on the level of compliance that is feasible.

Establish a strategy for on-going compliance maintenance program.

Implement the Enhancements

Provide technical recommendations for resolving issues that are uncovered.

Work with developers to implement accessibility enhancements.

Verification Process

Use an evaluation tool and manual checking to ensure that the accessibility modifications were implemented correctly.

The core team should also finalize the on-going accessibility compliance maintenance program strategy.

Documentation

Publish a formal accessibility compliance process.

Provide accessibility compliance documentation for each product, including Customer Service information.

Publish an accessibility compliance statement for your customers.

Group Activity

What are some other ways of setting up a compliance effort in different kinds of organizations?

Develop a strategy (outline) for implementing an accessibility compliance program in your organization.

This group activity will give participants a better idea of what is really involved with developing a compliance initiative.

Summary

Web designers/developers, product/project managers, and usability specialists can play a vital role in promoting the importance of accessible web design.