Transcript What does ‘accessibility’ mean?

What does
‘accessibility’ mean?
Alistair Garrison
Accessinmind Limited
Different things to different people...
When talking about the World Wide Web,
the term ‘accessibility’ means different
things to different people.
 It depends on:
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
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
Who you are;
What you do;
What you use;
Your environment; and
Your society.
A blind user…
“To me ‘Web Accessibility’
means…
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Access to certain banks, home
shopping, news, dictionaries,
travel agents, etc…
But, only those which:


work with my screen-reader (assistive
technology);
provide additional information to
cover the fact that I cannot take in
purely visual information.”
A blind user…
“To me ‘Web Accessibility’
means…
Access to certain banks, home
shopping, news, dictionaries,
travel agents,Accessibility”
etc…
“Technical
 Those which:



work with my assistive technology;
provide additional information to
cover the fact that I cannot take in
purely visual information.”
A user with epilepsy…
“To me ‘Web Accessibility’
means…
 Confidence that a web
page does not contain
harmful flashing content.”
A user with epilepsy…
“To me ‘Web Accessibility’
means…
 Confidence,
that
a web
“Health &
Safety”
page does not contain
harmful flashing content.”
An elderly user…
“To me ‘Web Accessibility’
means…
 Being able to increase the
text size in a page;
 Consistent navigation
which allows me to
remember my way
around;
 Provision of a site map or
table of contents.”
An elderly user…
“To me ‘Web Accessibility’
means…
 Being able to increase the
text size;
“User considerations”
 Remembering my way
around;
 Provision of a site map or
table of contents.”
A non-disabled user…
“To me ‘Web Accessibility’
means…
 Less irritating websites
– without pop-ups;
 Faster loading times;
 The possibility to use
my PDA to view pages.
A non-disabled user…
“To me ‘Web Accessibility’
means…
 Less irritating websites
“Better
User
– without pop-ups;
Experience”
 Faster loading times;
 The possibility to use
my PDA to view pages.
Internet Software Developers
User Agents, Assistive
Technologies,
Accessibility evaluation
software, etc…
“To me ‘Web Accessibility’
means…
 Valid code: as mistakes are
removed at the authoring
stage.
 More time for other things:
The time spent ‘correcting’
poor code could be spent
on support for new
technologies.”
Internet Software Developers
User Agents, Assistive
Technologies,
Accessibility evaluation
software, etc…
“To me ‘Web Accessibility’
means…
 Valid code: as mistakes are
removed at the authoring
stage.
“Valid Code”
 More time for other things:
The time spent ‘correcting’
poor code could be spent
on support for new
technologies.”
A Website Owner…
Public Websites,
Websites which provide
goods and services,
etc…
“To me ‘Web Accessibility’
means…
 Legal responsibility;
 WCAG 1.0;
 Possible decision on which
level of WCAG 1.0;
 Implementing WCAG 1.0;
 Staff training;
 Maintaining chosen level of
accessibility.”
A Website Owner…
Public Websites,
Websites which provide
goods and services,
etc…
“To me ‘Web Accessibility’
means…
 Accepting the fact that people
with disabilities will use the
website;
“Conformance to
 Deciding which level of WCAG
1.0; WCAG 1.0”
 Implementing WCAG 1.0
 Staff training;
 Maintaining chosen level of
accessibility.
Procurement Manager…
“To me ‘Web Accessibility’
means…
 Incorporating ‘accessibility’ into
all tenders and contracts:
 Precise technical specifications;
 Evaluation procedures for
assessing the ‘accessibility’ of
delivered products, either
internally or by a third-party.
Procurement Manager…
“To me ‘Web Accessibility’
means…
 Incorporating
‘accessibility’
“Precise definition
ofinto
all tenders and contracts:
accessibility
 Precise technical specifications;
& an evaluation
 Evaluation
procedures for
assessing
the ‘accessibility’ of
mechanism”
delivered products, either
internally or by a third-party.
Web Designer / Developer…
“To me ‘Web Accessibility’ means…
 Understanding WCAG 1.0;
 Understanding and applying
supporting WCAG techniques.
 Identifying tools which help me
(the developer) to generate
WCAG conformant content –
minimizing development time.
 Making web content which works
on different platforms and in
different browsers
 Evaluating finished content using
tools and WAI checklists.”
Web Designer / Developer…
“To me ‘Web Accessibility’ means…
 Understanding WCAG 1.0;
 Understanding and applying
supporting WCAG techniques.
 Identifying tools which help me
(the developer) to generate
“Techniques
&content
Tools”
WCAG conformant
–
minimizing development time.
 Making web content which works
on different platforms and in
different browsers
 Evaluating finished content using
tools and WAI checklists.”
Lawyer…
When defending a client
who’s being sued for an
“inaccessible” Website, or
suing the owner of an
“inaccessible” Website.
“To me ‘Web Accessibility’
means…
 Understanding legislation to
determine people’s rights and
duties;
 Seeking independent advice
about what is ‘reasonable’ in
terms of accessibility.
 Using accessibility experts to
evaluate whether or not a
reasonable level of
“accessibility” has been
provided;
Lawyer…
When defending a client
who’s being sued for an
“inaccessible” Website, or
suing the owner of an
“inaccessible” Website.
“To me ‘Web Accessibility’
means…
 Understanding legislation to
determine people’s rights and
duties;

Seeking independent
advice
“Independent
Expert
about what is ‘reasonable’ in
terms ofAdvice”
accessibility.
 Using accessibility experts to
evaluate whether or not a
reasonable level of
“accessibility” has been
provided;
Disability Rights Group
“To me ‘Web Accessibility’
means…
 Equalisation of
opportunities;
 Universal adoption of
standards;
Disability Rights Group
“To me ‘Web Accessibility’
means…
“Equalisation
 Equalisation
of of
opportunities;
Opportunities”
 Universal adoption of
standards;
Politician…
“To me ‘Web Accessibility’
means…
 Making a more inclusive
society through policy;
 Setting standards &
benchmarks;
 Promoting the widespread
adoption and use of
guidelines;
 Measuring progress and
showing visible results.
Politician…
“To me ‘Web Accessibility’
means…
 Making a more inclusive
society through policy;
 Setting
standards
& of
“Visible
sign
benchmarks;
accessibility
adoption”
 Promoting the widespread
adoption and use of
guidelines;
 Measuring progress and
showing visible results.
All these things are related…
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Conformance to WCAG 1.0
Technical accessibility
Health & safety
User considerations
Better user experience
Valid code
Tools & techniques
Precise definition of accessibility & an evaluation
mechanism
Independent expert advice
Equalisation of opportunities
Visible signs of accessibility adoption
Through…
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Conformance to WCAG 1.0
Technical Adoption
accessibility of W3C / WAI
Health & safety
Recommendations
User considerations
Better user experience
Valid code
Tools & techniques
European
Precise definition of
accessibility &ean evaluation
mechanism
Accessibility
Independent expert advice
Implementation
Equalisation of opportunities
Policies
Visible signs of accessibility
adoption
&
Conclusion
…as they are all valuable parts of Europe’s
strategy for ‘Web Accessibility’.
Making, the World Wide Web far more
‘accessible’ for everyone…