Transcript Web Site Accessibility: Too Difficult To Implement?

Web Site Accessibility:
Too Difficult To Implement?
Brian Kelly, UKOLN
David Sloan, University of Dundee
Dr Neil Witt, University of Plymouth
Unlocking Potential
Why is it an issue?
• The desirability of Web site accessibility
has been featured regularly at ILI
conferences.
• Delegates are likely to be familiar with
W3C's Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)
and legislation such as:
• SENDA and DDA in the UK;
• Section 508 in the US.
Unlocking Potential
Why is it an issue?
• The desirability of Web site accessibility is
widely acknowledged.
• A legal and moral obligation?
• However the difficulties and costs of
measuring and implementing accessibility
are often ignored.
• It can be difficult to raise such concerns
without appearing to be 'politically
incorrect'.
Unlocking Potential
Session Aims
To stimulate debate by illustrating:
• The problems found in the UK HE
community;
• Usability, legal and policy issues;
• The need for inclusivity of all stakeholders.
Unlocking Potential
Panel members
• Brian Kelly is UK Web Focus - a JISCfunded post which advises the UK's higher
and further education communities on Web
developments
• David Sloan is Project Lead of the Digital
Media Access Group, a Web accessibility
research and consultancy group based in
the Division of Applied Computing at the
University of Dundee.
Unlocking Potential
Panel members
• Dr Neil Witt is coordinator of the
Communications and Learning Technologies
Research (CoLT) group at the University of
Plymouth. Neil is currently seconded to the
Institute for Science Education (ISE) and is
a TechDis Associate.
Unlocking Potential
An introduction to WAI
• Web site developers should be aware of the
World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) which
develops interoperable technologies
• specifications,
• guidelines
• software tools
• ‘to lead the Web to its full potential as a forum
for information, commerce, communication,
and collective understanding' (W3C, 2002).
Unlocking Potential
WAI
1. ensuring that Web technologies
support accessibility
2. developing guidelines for accessibility
3. developing tools to evaluate &
facilitate accessibility
4. conducting education and outreach
5. coordinating with research and
development.
Unlocking Potential
WAI
• W3C have researched and developed
extensive guidelines for the use of Web
technologies such as HTML, XML and
CSS
• These should be used to generate
products that are not only good for users
with disabilities, but also interoperable
across a multitude of platforms.
Unlocking Potential
WCAG
• W3C have produced a list of
Checkpoints for Web Content
Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 1.0.
• This is a hierarchical structure
consisting of three priority levels.
Unlocking Potential
Priority 1 (Level A)
• A Web content developer must satisfy
this checkpoint. Otherwise, one or more
groups will find it impossible to access
information in the document.
• Satisfying this checkpoint is a basic
requirement for some groups to be able
to use Web documents.
Unlocking Potential
Priority 2 (Level AA)
• A Web content developer should satisfy
this checkpoint. Otherwise, one or more
groups will find it difficult to access
information in the document.
• Satisfying this checkpoint will remove
significant barriers to accessing Web
documents.
Unlocking Potential
Priority 3 (Level AAA)
• A Web content developer may address
this checkpoint. Otherwise, one or more
groups will find it somewhat difficult to
access information in the document.
• Satisfying this checkpoint will improve
access to Web documents.
Unlocking Potential
Using WAI
• Adherence to the WAI guidelines does
not guarantee accessibility for a specific
individual.
• WAI guidelines may be open to
interpretation and debate………..
Unlocking Potential