Introduction To WCAG 2.0

Neil King Local Government: 2009 Local Government Web Network. Sydney 20 August 2009. 40 min presentation Introduction to WCAG 2.0 Copyright Vision Australia 2009

Objectives
To outline:
What is web accessibility
What is WCAG
Structure of WCAG 2.0
What's new in WCAG 2.0
Challenges for Local Government
Copyright Vision Australia 2009

What is web accessibility

Web Accessibility
“ The power of the web is in its universality. Access by everyone regardless of disability is an essential aspect.”
“ One web for anyone, everywhere, on anything”
Tim Berners-Lee, W3C Director and inventor of the World Wide Web, October 1997 and October 2004
© Vision Australia 2009

Internet Usage in Australia
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Australian Social Trends 2008
Household Internet access quadrupled over the eight years up to 2007
From 16% in 1998 to 64% in 2006–07
Increase of 40% in people aged 65-74 years using the Internet at home
From 20% of the population (2004-05) to 28% (2006-07)

Disability in Australia
4 million people in Australia have a disability (ABS, 2003)
Nearly 50% of people in Australia have below average literacy (ABS, 2006-2007)
Temporary disabilities
Impact of the aging population
Eyesight
Hearing
Mobility

What is Disability?
Vision
blindness, low vision, colour-blindness
Hearing
deafness (varying degrees)
Physical
Can’t use a mouse, slow response time, limited fine motor control
Cognitive
learning disabilities, distractibility, memorability
Seizure Disorders
photosensitive epileptic seizures
Literacy
difficulty with language (particularly text)

Accessibility Helps Everyone
Situations where people can’t use a mouse
Elderly and novice users – easier to use
Work with the widest range of browsers and other current Internet technologies
Should migrate to future technologies
Increased usability for everyone

What is WCAG

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
What is WCAG?
Internationally recognised benchmark for accessibility of web content
Developed by the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) – part of the W3C
Who is WCAG for?
Web developers and designers
Authoring tool and evaluation tool developers
Others who need a technical standard

WCAG 2.0 Development Process
WCAG 1.0 released May 1999
Work on WCAG 2.0 started in 2000
Nine working drafts of WCAG 2.0
WCAG 2.0 published as Final W3C Recommendation on 11 th December 2008

WCAG in Australia
Human Rights Commission
Referenced benchmark is still Level AA of WCAG 1.0
Engaging in consultation to update DDA Advisory Note to reference WCAG 2.0
(Ref: http://www.hreoc.gov.au/disability_rights/standards/WWW_3/www_3.html)
Australian Government Information Management Office
Referenced benchmark is still Level A of WCAG 1.0
Working with Government and HRC to update Web Publishing Guidelines to reference WCAG 2.0
(Ref: http://webpublishing.agimo.gov.au/Accessibility)

Other state and local governments to update their own web publishing guidelines
Industry bodies and major organisations update their policies and web publishing guidelines
WCAG 2.0 will be endorsed , just a question of when and in what way
Vision Australia is currently recommending that sites benchmark against WCAG 2.0
WCAG in Australia Copyright Vision Australia 2009

Structure of WCAG 2.0

WCAG Overview
WCAG 1.0 has:
14 guidelines
65 checkpoints
Three priority levels:
1 – the “musts” (A)
2 – the “shoulds” (AA)
3 – the “mays” (AAA)
WCAG 2.0 has:
4 principles
12 guidelines
61 success criteria
Three conformance levels:
A, AA, AAA

WCAG 2.0 Structure
Design Principles for accessibility – 4 in total
Each principle has Guidelines – 12 in total
Each guideline has Success Criteria – 61 in total
Technology independent
Each success criteria has Sufficient Techniques and Advisory Techniques associated with it
Technology specific techniques

WCAG 2.0 Example
Principle
1. Perceivable – Information and user interface components must be presentable to users in ways they can perceive.
Guideline
1.3. Adaptable - Create content that can be presented in different ways (for example simpler layout ) without losing information or structure.
Success Criteria
1.3 .1. Info and Relationships - Information, structure, and relationships conveyed through presentation can be programmatically determined or are available in text. (Level A)


WCAG 2.0 Example
Success Criteria
1.3 .1. Info and Relationships - Information, structure, and relationships conveyed through presentation can be programmatically determined or are available in text. (Level A)
Sufficient Techniques:
H42: Using h1-h6 to identify headings (HTML)
H48: Using ol, ul and dl for lists (HTML)
H51: Using table markup to present tabular information (HTML)
Advisory Techniques:
C22: Using CSS to control visual presentation of text (CSS)

WCAG 2.0 Documents
http://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/wcag20

What’s new in WCAG 2.0

WCAG 1.0:
Checkpoint 2.2: Ensure that foreground and background colour combinations provide sufficient contrast when viewed by someone having colour deficits…
WCAG 2.0:
Success Criteria 1.4.3: Contrast (minimum) – The visual presentation of text and images of text has a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1…
More Testable Copyright Vision Australia 2009

More Flexible
WCAG 1.0:
Guideline 7: Ensure user control of time-sensitive content changes.
Various checkpoints starting with “Until user agents allow users to…” avoid flicker, blinking, movement
WCAG 2.0:
Allows flicker, blinking, movement within defined parameters
Success Criteria 2.3.1: Three Flashes or Below Threshold – Web pages do not contain anything that flashes more than three times in any one second period…

More Technologies
WCAG 1.0:
Guideline 11: Use W3C technologies and guidelines.
Only applied to W3C technologies such as HTML and CSS
WCAG 2.0:
Introduced concept of accessibility-supported technologies
Applies to all W3C and non-W3C technologies so long as their use is accessible

More Scripting
WCAG 1.0:
Checkpoint 6.3: Ensure that all pages are usable when scripts, applets, or other programmatic objects are turned off or not supported.
WCAG 2.0:
Scripting is allowed. There is no equivalent for Checkpoint 6.3
In fact, some JavaScript can improve the accessibility of a webpage

More Multimedia
WCAG 1.0:
Guideline 1: Provide equivalent alternatives to auditory and visual content.
Limited information and advice about making audio and video content accessible
WCAG 2.0:
Guideline 1.2: Provide alternatives for time-based media.
Includes specific advice for accessible multimedia in different contexts

Accessibility Supported
Web technologies must meet two requirements to be considered accessibility-supported:
The web technology can be used in such a way that an assistive technology can get the information needed to present the content
AND
User agents and assistive technologies are capable of working with the web technology
Non accessibility-supported technologies can still be used, as long as the content is usable without them

Based on single page or range of web-pages
Conformance not met if a page is a part of a process and all pages in the process do not conform.
Non-conforming content is allowed if there is a conforming alternative available
Level AAA is not expected for all content
Partial conformance allowed – excludes uncontrolled content
Conformance Copyright Vision Australia 2009

Challenges for Local Government

Changes to Local Government websites in past 12 months
Video presentations and flash slideshows
Web 2.0 tools and applications
Common issues on Local Government websites
Flash buttons and links not announced by screen readers
Videos with out captions
Missing alt attributes on images
Missing heading mark-up
Colour contrast issues
Developments and Issues Copyright Vision Australia 2009

Accessible Twitter:
http://www.accessibletwitter.com/
Accessible Facebook plug-in:
http://projectpossibility.org/wiki/index.php?title=Facebook_Accessibility
Easy YouTube:
http://icant.co.uk/easy-youtube/
Accessible Web 2.0 Tools Copyright Vision Australia 2009

Neil King Vision Australia 4 Mitchell Street, Enfield NSW 2136 Tel:02 9334 3547 Email: [email_address] www.visionaustralia.org.au/ais

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Introduction To WCAG 2.0

by Vision Australia on Aug 24, 2009

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