Fitting accessibility into an agile development cycle can be challenging. Often accessibility specialists are spread thin across agile squads and they have to deliver quickly into multiple sprint cycles. To meet the demand I looked to Lean UX principles and developed The Lean Accessibility Audit Workshop (LAAW). LAAW has two goals 1) detect accessibility problems quickly and 2) spread the accessibility knowledge. This is accomplished by training members of agile squads on accessibility basics, evaluation methods and tools. The training evolves into an accessibility audit as squad members collaboratively capture, share and prioritize findings. The LAWW method compresses a 6-8 week evaluation process into a 2 weeks process while training squad members to detect and avoid accessibility issues in the future. And it can be pretty fun. This session will explain how to bring LAAW to your organization

1. I Am the LAAW!
Lean Accessibility Audit Workshops
MIKE RYAN
#IAmTheLAAW
#A11YBOS
October 27, 2018
@ryaninteractive

2. LAAW
#IAmTheLAAW
Agenda
● Define the Problem
● LAAW (Lean Accessibility Audit Workshops)
1. Build Empathy
2. Define Web Accessibility
3. Detect Accessibility Issues
4. Prioritize Accessibility Issues
5. Design for Inclusivity
● Results and Tips

3. Define the
Problem
“If I were given an hour in which to do a problem
upon which my life depended, I would spend
40 minutes studying it,
15 minutes reviewing it and
5 minutes solving it.”
Albert Einstein
http://scienceblogs.com/builtonfacts/2008/12/15/greatest-physicists-2-albert-e/

4. LAAW
#IAmTheLAAW
Waterfall Development > Agile Development
https://blog.ganttpro.com/en/waterfall-vs-agile-with-advantages-and-disadvantages/

5. LAAW
#IAmTheLAAW
Prior Accessibility Audit Method
● 6 week process
● Performed by accessibility specialists
● Annually performed
● Viewed as compliance
● Many issues left unfixed

6. LAAW
#IAmTheLAAW
How Can This Audit Process Be Improved?
● 6 week process
● Performed by accessibility specialists
● Annually performed
● Viewed as compliance
● Many issues left unfixed
https://blog.ganttpro.com/en/waterfall-vs-agile-with-advantages-and-disadvantages/
● Faster process
● Spread the knowledge
● Performed more often
● Not a rubber stamp
● Fix more issues

7. LAAW
#IAmTheLAAW
We All Have a Role in Accessibility
● Accessibility Specialists & UX Researchers - Train
● UX Designers - Design
● Content Strategy - Label
● Front-End Development - Implement
● Quality Assurance - Detect
● Product Owners - Prioritize
https://blog.ganttpro.com/en/waterfall-vs-agile-with-advantages-and-disadvantages/

8. Problem:
How can we include accessibility in agile
software development across many teams?

9. LAAW
#IAmTheLAAW
LAAW (Lean Accessibility Audit Workshops)
● 6 week process
● Performed by accessibility specialists
● Annually performed
● Viewed as compliance
● Many issues left unfixed
https://blog.ganttpro.com/en/waterfall-vs-agile-with-advantages-and-disadvantages/
● 2 week process
● Performed by agile teams
● Continuous
● Seek improvement not perfection
● Teams can detect earlier or avoid

10. Build Empathy
LAAW the First
LAAW (Lean Accessibility Audit Workshops)
1. Build Empathy
2. Define Web Accessibility
3. Detect Accessibility Issues
4. Prioritize Accessibility Issues
5. Design for Inclusivity

11. LAAW
#IAmTheLAAW
Build Empathy
Activities
● Motor
● Low Vision
● Total Blindness
● Hearing Loss or Impairment
● Cognitive
● W3C Perspective Videos
(see Building Empathy through Immersion station outside)
https://twitter.com/AxessLab/status/1034482989286285312

12. Define Web
Accessibility
LAAW the Second
LAAW (Lean Accessibility Audit Workshops)
1. Build Empathy
2. Define Web Accessibility
3. Detect Accessibility Issues
4. Prioritize Accessibility Issues
5. Design for Inclusivity

13. LAAW
#IAmTheLAAW
Define Web Accessibility
Topics
● What is web accessibility?
● Assistive technology and strategies
● WCAG 2.1 (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines)
● Benefits of accessibility
● Set expectations
● Most common problems

14. LAAW
#IAmTheLAAW
Most Common Problems
● Color contrast
● Labeling
● Keyboard only
● Captioning
● Real-time messaging
● Content reflow
● Well-formed HTML
● Color only

15. Detect
Accessibility
Issues
LAAW the Third
LAAW (Lean Accessibility Audit Workshops)
1. Build Empathy
2. Define Web Accessibility
3. Detect Accessibility Issues
4. Prioritize Accessibility Issues
5. Design for Inclusivity

16. LAAW
#IAmTheLAAW
Case Study: The Junior League of Boston
https://www.jlboston.org/

17. LAAW
#IAmTheLAAW
Scope the Audit
https://www.jlboston.org/
● 10-20 pages
● Highest traffic
● Most common layouts

18. LAAW
#IAmTheLAAW
Detect Accessibility Issues
● Workshops over 3-4 days
● For each evaluation type
○ Home page as a group
○ Teams assigned pages

19. LAAW
#IAmTheLAAW
Detect Accessibility Issues
Audit Activities
○ Automatic Tools: WAVE Toolbar
○ WCAG Quick Reference
○ Keyboard Only
○ Magnification of screen and text
○ Screen readers
○ Manual checks (color only, captions)

20. Prioritize
Accessibility
Issues
LAAW the Fourth
LAAW (Lean Accessibility Audit Workshops)
1. Build Empathy
2. Define Web Accessibility
3. Detect Accessibility Issues
4. Prioritize Accessibility Issues
5. Design for Inclusivity

21. LAAW
#IAmTheLAAW
Prioritize Accessibility Issues
Capture Findings
● White pads for each page
● Write top findings on stickies
● Stickies can include:
○ Description
○ Your initials
○ Page
○ WCAG standard

22. LAAW
#IAmTheLAAW
Prioritize Accessibility Issues
● Group findings and name groups
● Assign severity to each group
S1: Critical Barriers
S2: Frustrating
S3: Annoying
S4: Minor
S0: Unknown

23. Design for
Inclusivity
The Final LAAW
LAAW (Lean Accessibility Audit Workshops)
1. Build Empathy
2. Define Web Accessibility
3. Detect Accessibility Issues
4. Prioritize Accessibility Issues
5. Design for Inclusivity

24. LAAW
#IAmTheLAAW
Report Prioritized Findings

25. LAAW
#IAmTheLAAW
Design for Inclusivity
● Make recommendations
● Design with cross functional team
● Test with representative users
● Add to backlog and track
● Share learnings
● Perform frequent mini-audits
● Add learnings to overall process

26. Results

27. LAAW
#IAmTheLAAW
Results
● 4 accessibility workshops in 2018
● More awareness overall
● More expertise
● Faster detection and fixing of issues
● Core feature of design system
● Accessibility Guild
https://www.ebsco.com/blog/article/building-products-with-user-accessibility-in-mind-an-e-books-case-study

28. Takeaway Tips
1. Involve designers, developers, QA, content and POs
2. Focus on most common problems
3. Goal is continuous improvement, not perfection
@ryaninteractive #IAmTheLAAW