World IA Day DC 2019: What we can all learn from one university's journey to accessibility

Washington,
D.C.
WORLD IA DAY 2019
WASHINGTON, D.C.

WhatWeCanAll Learn
fromOneUniversity’s
Journey toAccessibility

Rachel
Weatherly
rachel@engaging.me
linkedin.com/in/rdweatherly
@rdweatherly

Highlights
Accessibility Landscape
Ingredients for Success
Practicalities
Snowflakes & Unicorns
KeyTakeaways

Accessibility Landscape
What Is Accessibility, andWho Is It for?

IsThis for Me?
Any organization that
receives federal funds of
any kind may be required
to meet accessibility
requirements.
Education and non-profit
organizations almost
always fall into this
category.
Specific pressures on
higher ed.
There is no legal
precedent for the private
sector … yet.
Accessible content is
highly useable for
everyone.
Accessible content
increases your potential
audience reach.
Diversity, equity, and inclusion are important.
Making content work for the most people is the right thing to do!

10.8MILLIONadults
in2015reportedbeingdeaforhaving
significantdifficultyhearing.
6.8MILLIONadults
in2015hadseriousdifficultyseeing
evenwhenwearingglasses.

TheStandard
 Sections 508 and 504 of the RehabilitationAct, ADA
 Compliance interpreted asWCAG 2.0, level AA by regulation
 Provide equal access, opportunity, and experience

Federal Pressure on Higher Ed
A Department of Education
spokesman would not say how many
universities are currently under
investigation by OCR for web
accessibility issues. He previously told
Inside Higher Ed that there were 556
open cases as of Aug. 7, 2017.The
spokesman said OCR receives
thousands of complaints alleging
violations of federal civil rights laws
every year, and the number “has
generally increased over time.”
Though several university accessibility
staffers said it is impossible to make
sure every webpage of a university
website is accessible, Gabe Cazares,
government affairs specialist for the
National Federation of the Blind,
disagrees. “You can create something
inherently accessible,” he said. “It just
requires a change in culture.”
TerrillThompson, a technology
accessibility specialist at the University
ofWashington, said he doubts there
are any universities that have fully
accessible websites. “If it exists, it
would have to be at a very centralized
institution, where every webpage has
a standard template or theme,”
Thompson said.
Inside Higher Ed, Nov. 2018

Ingredients forSuccess
Don’tWorry; I’m Much Better at Digital StrategyThan Cooking.

Make
Accessibility
Part of Your …
Digital Strategy
Governance
User Experience
Content Strategy
Digital Culture
Communication
Education
Support

DefineYour Risk to Determine Policy
University
Property
Individual
Work/
University
Platform
University-
branded/
External
Platform
Individual
Work/
External
Platform
University content on our website and on platforms
associated with the university, where the content
can be provided in an accessible format
Content under an individual’s name,
not a university account, and on an
external platform the university does
not host
Professor X’s
profile and posted
content on
ResearchGate

Facilitate
Solutions &
Mitigate Risk
Through
Governance
Document and socialize policies, protocols, and procedures.
Educate stakeholders on all of the above and communicate about them
regularly.
Work with legal to create RFP and contract language that requires
accessibility and with procurement to institutionalize the process.
Collect and fileVPATs or accessibility statements for 3rd-party tools and
partners.
Share your established accounts and vetted tools with content publishers
to manage sprawl and create more consistent user experiences.

Does It BringYouJoy?
Don’t migrate or
remediate content that
you no longer need. Use
a ROT Analysis to
reduce the load.
01
On tight timelines, use
MVP-1-2-3 to phase
work.
02
De-dupe: Not just
content, but
integrations for the
same or similar
functionality.
03
Third-party tools can be
useful and produce
accessible content.
Combine accounts and
establish standards for
their use.
04
Share established 3rd-
partyaccounts, and set
up a process for vetting
new ones.
05

CatalogContentTypes & Isolate EdgeCases
Consider content cross all digital interfaces
Audio Photos Video DataViz Downloadable Files
MAJORITY OF CHALLENGING CASES
The vast majority of content created has a straightforward solution for accessibility. Document these for easy
reference; then, work on the edge cases. Don’t let the edge cases drive decisions.
Text

DifferingAbilities
UnderstandYour Audience’s Needs and How to MeetThem
PERMANENT TEMPORARY SITUATIONAL
VISUAL Color blindness Eye surgery Dilated eyes
AUDITORY Hard of hearing Ear infection Ringing ears after a
concert
PHYSICAL Limited motor
control
Sprained wrist Holding an infant
COGNITIVE, LEARNING, &
NEUROLOGICAL
Epilepsy Concussion Distracted
environment
SPEECH Severe stammer Laryngitis Heavy accent

Visual
Definition
Visual disabilities range from mild or
moderate vision loss in one or both eyes
(“low vision”) to substantial and
uncorrectable vision loss in both eyes
(“blindness”). Some people have reduced or
lack of sensitivity to certain colors (“color
blindness”), or increased sensitivity to bright
colors.These variations in perception of
colors and brightness can be independent of
the visual acuity.
WhatThey Need
 Ability to enlarge or reduce text size and
images
 Ability to customize settings for fonts,
colors, and spacing
 Screen-reader compatible content for
listening to text-to-speech synthesis of
the content
 Audio descriptions of video in multimedia
For these web browsing methods to work,
developers need to ensure that the
presentation of web content is independent
of its underlying structure and that the
structure is correctly coded so that it can be
processed and presented in different ways
by web browsers and assistive technologies.
https://www.w3.org/WAI/people-use-web/abilities-barriers/

Auditory
Definition
Auditory disabilities range from mild or
moderate hearing loss in one or both ears
(“hard of hearing”) to substantial and
uncorrectable hearing loss in both ears
(“deafness”). Some people with auditory
disabilities can hear sounds but sometimes
not sufficiently to understand all speech,
especially when there is background noise.
This can include people using hearing aids.
WhatThey Need
 Transcripts and captions of audio content,
including audio-only content and audio
tracks in multimedia
 Media players that display captions and
provide options to adjust the text size and
colors of captions
 Options to stop, pause, and adjust the
volume of audio content (independently
of the system volume)
 High-quality foreground audio that is
clearly distinguishable from any
background noise

Physical
Definition
Physical disabilities (sometimes called
“motor disabilities”) include weakness and
limitations of muscular control (such as
involuntary movements including tremors,
lack of coordination, or paralysis), limitations
of sensation, joint disorders (such as
arthritis), pain that impedes movement, and
missing limbs.
WhatThey Need
 Websites, web browsers, and authoring
tools that provide full keyboard support.
 Sufficient time limits to respond or to
complete tasks, such as to fill out online
forms.
 Controls, including links with images of
text, that have equivalent text
alternatives.
 Visual and non-visual orientation cues,
page structure, and other navigational
aids.
 Consistent, predictable, and simple
navigation mechanisms and page
functions.

Cognitive,
Learning, &
Neurological
Definition
Cognitive, learning, and neurological
disabilities involve neurodiversity and
neurological disorders, as well as behavioral
and mental health disorders that are not
necessarily neurological.They may affect
any part of the nervous system and impact
how well people hear, move, see, speak, and
understand information. Cognitive, learning,
and neurological disabilities do not
necessarily affect the intelligence of a
person.
WhatThey Need
 Clearly structured content that facilitates
overview and orientation
 Consistent labeling of forms, buttons, and
other content parts
 Predictable link targets, functionality, and
overall interaction
 Different ways of navigating websites,
such as hierarchical menu and search
 Options to suppress blinking, flickering,
flashing, and otherwise distracting
content
 Simpler text that is supplemented by
images, graphs, and other illustrations

Speech
Definition
Speech disabilities include difficulty
producing speech that is recognizable by
others or by voice recognition software. For
example, the loudness or clarity of
someone’s voice might be difficult to
understand.
Situationally, a heavy accent can be a barrier
for communication as well.
WhatThey Need
 Web-based services, including web
applications, that offer interactions other
than voice.
 Offer more than phone numbers as
communication options with the
organizations.

Snowflakes,Unicorns,
&OtherSpecialCases
Content that takes extra effort to remediate or pushes
the limits of technology.
The objective is to maintain or enhance content integrity
and meet accessibility standards.

Remediation vs.Accommodation
 There are cases where content cannot be made accessible with a good faith effort
or because the content pushes the limits of what technology can do.
 Accommodation offers users equal access to information, even when equal
experience isn’t possible.
 A good faith effort seeks to remediate everything that can be, and it then provides
accommodation for the rest. Accommodation could be a description of a concept
to help the user understand what’s presented or a contact for follow up to bridge
the gap in information delivery.

Video
 Captions help a person with a hearing disability understand the sounds
that go with the visuals on screen.
 Audio descriptions help a person with a visual disability understand
what’s happening on screen.
 Auto-captioning functionality is getting better. Free tools are available.
 Live captioning can be cost prohibitive, so budget accordingly.
 Captions are required on social media posts as well, and Facebook Live
presents multiple challenges.
WCAG 2.0, level AA requires
captions at the time of posting or
broadcast.

Data
Visualization
 Tell your data story in a way that allows responsive display.Too
much information in one module will be too hard to read on
mobile, and interactivity near impossible to use.
 Check color palettes for proper contrast, or better yet, establish a
set color palette for your organization.
 Interactive timelines are popular with publishers, but they are
difficult to make accessible.
 Timelines and other infographics in general work best in a vertical
format for responsive display.Third-party tools for embedding
content can be made accessible.
 Simple timeline example:
https://www.american.edu/about/strategic-plan/process.cfm
 Complex timeline example:
https://www.american.edu/president/diversity/swg.cfm
 Accommodation may be needed for complex data displays,
scientific notation or some mathematical formulas.

Downloadable
Documents
 Microsoft products have an accessibility mode to help create
accessible content, but for security reasons, these files should be
available in a “locked” format to safeguard content.
 PDFs were created for portability, not accessibility, though new
functionality in Acrobat Pro can produce accessible versions. Some
content can be too complex to render in a usably.
 Links to resources for learning to create accessible documents
provided at the end of the slide deck.

WhatWe
LearnedAbout
PDFs
 Start with templates in the original source that reduce the number of
accessibility errors, such as proper headings, language tags, tagged
content, etc.
 Convert document to PDF format; run Accessibility Scan inAdobe
Acrobat Pro, and remediate with reasonable effort
 Complex content that requires additional effort or cannot be
remediated with available tools should then be provided with
accommodation
 Accommodation includes a description of the concept presented to
allow users to understand the remaining content
 PDFs with accommodation should include a notice that some of the
content may not be accessible and provide a contact for follow up
 An “accessible abstract” can be used for documents as an
accommodation when no other viable options exist

𝑥 =
−𝑏 ± 𝑏2 − 4𝑎𝑐
2𝑎
Data visualizations:
Use alt-text to explain
the concept and offer a
contact for more
details.
Equations:
Use alt-text to “say”
the formula using
syntax or give a
summary of the
concept.
Titles, headers, text, and
regular images are
remediated normally.
Tab order is maintained
across all elements.
Header includes a notice that some
elements cannot be made accessible
due to technical constraints and offer
a follow up contact

SetYour
Standards &
Check for
Compliance
 WAVEToolbar,WebAIM and Funkify simulators, Color Oracle
app, and other ScanningTools are great for checking most of
your compliance. Manual checks are always needed.
 Schedule regular scans, and monitor new content published.
 Do you have a favorite tool? Share, and I’ll include the full list
in the posted slides.

Lessons
learned from
our journey
IT DOESN’T EXIST UNTIL
YOU WRITE IT DOWN.
STREAMLINE & BE
CONSISTENT.
TAKE OUT THE TRASH
BEFORE YOU MOVE.
KNOW THE DIFFERENCE
BETWEEN EXCEPTIONS &
THE RULE.
COMMUNICATE
CONSISTENTLY &
REGULARLY.
FEED PEOPLE THE FISH.
THEN, TEACH THEM TO
FISH (OR BE READY TO
HIRE FISHERMEN).
PERCEPTION IS REALITY.
MANAGE IT.

QUESTIONS?
Rachel Weatherly
rachel@engaging.me
www.engaging.me
THANKYOU!

Resources
 3rd-party tools for embeddable infographics that CAN be made
accessibile:Venngage, Piktochart,Visme, Sutori (This is the only
timeline tool that is accessible that I’ve found.) All have free
options, but have super affordable paid plans, too.
 Compliance scanning tools to check out: Compliance Sheriff,
Monsido (<<These guys do training and have a PDF remediation
tool, too, but I haven’t used it.)
 Video platform with auto-captioning that’s better thanYouTube
and easier to edit, but not free: Kaltura (AU has their enterprise
solution as mediaspace.American.edu.
 Vendors I’ve used for captioning:
 Recorded- 3Play Media. (They have really useful free webinars too.)
 Livestream- Contact SummitWebcasting and tellTroy that you were
atWIAD. He’s an awesome vendor and resource.
 Amazing freelancer who knows accessibility up toWCAG 2.0, level
AAA: Joe Peacock (He’s inAtlanta, but he works remote for me in
DC. Love him!!Tell him I sent you.)

How-to &Training Links
I found a lot of resources for learning to make accessible
documents. I’m sure there are others, but this is a good
start for helping build your skills and educate others.

Links to help you create accessible PDFs from Microsoft Office software:
1.OfficeAccessibilityCenter: https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Office-Accessibility-Center-Resources-for-people-
with-disabilities-ecab0fcf-d143-4fe8-a2ff-6cd596bddc6d?ui=en-US&rs=en-US&ad=US
2.Saving Accessible PDFs from Office: https://support.office.com/en-US/article/Create-accessible-PDFs-064625E0-56EA-
4E16-AD71-3AA33BB4B7ED
3.Training: https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Learn-to-create-more-accessible-Word-documents-0b2ca649-69a5-
4d3b-9ff5-a56e6611d194?ui=en-US&rs=en-US&ad=US
4.Word best practices: https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Make-your-Word-documents-accessible-d9bf3683-87ac-
47ea-b91a-78dcacb3c66d
5.Other resources: https://support.office.com/en-us/Search/results?query=create+accessible
6.Accessible templates from Microsoft: https://templates.office.com/en-us/Search/results?query=accessible+template
There are MLA and APA style paper templates available.
7.This is one product to consider for math equations: https://www.dessci.com/en/solutions/wordusers.htm
They have an “Equation Editor” that comes withWord. Additional features are available with their MathType product.
8.Email questions: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/accessibility/enterprise-answer-desk

Creating accessible PDFs from InDesign files is more difficult.This is the information Adobe provides on activating
accessible tools in InDesign:
•http://www.adobe.com/accessibility/products/indesign.html
If you do not have the source file for your PDF and must remediate for accessibility from Acrobat, you will need Adobe
Acrobat Pro. Instructions for making accessible PDFs from Acrobat Pro are available at the links below.
•http://www.adobe.com/accessibility/products/acrobat/acrobat-pro-dc-pdf-accessibility-repair-workflow.html
•https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/using/create-verify-pdf-accessibility.html
Accessible PDF forms are interactive and require more than just making the text readable. A person with mobility
challenges may not be able to fill in a form without typing. Several options exist from Adobe for learning to create
them.
http://www.adobe.com/search.html#q=Accessible%20PDF%20forms&start=1
Penn State has a ton of resources on their website that can be accessed by the public. Math and science content
resources are especially helpful: http://accessibility.psu.edu/

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