Accessibility: MISSION IMPOSSIBLE!Removing barriers for a better user experience for all

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Introducing Today’s Presenters:

Adam KayeWeb Development Manager

akaye@charitydynamics.com

Brenda MieleUX & Creative Director

bmiele@charitydynamics.com

What You Need to Know

“Accessibility is the word used to describe whether a

product can be used by people of all abilities and disabilities.”

- BBC, My Web My Way

What is Web Accessibility?Web accessibility means that people with disabilities can use the Web. • Perceive• Understand• Navigate• Interact • Contribute

Anyone can use the web• Good User Experience• Across Devices• Seniors

Perspective

• 285 million people are estimated to be visually impaired worldwide: • 39 million are blind• 246 have low vision

• 360 million people worldwide have disabling hearing loss.

• This is double the population

of the United States

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Real World Solutions Meet Digital Solutions• Real World Solutions

• Wheelchair ramps• Accessible transportation• Braille in elevators• Sign language interpreter at

concerts

• Digital Solutions• Screen readers• Voice recognition software• Screen magnifiers• Alternative input devices

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines• Abbreviated WCAG• Internationally recognized • Increasingly legally

required• 2.0 guidelines in effect

since 2008• Three levels of accessibility

and criteria for meeting each one

Section 508 Standards• Part of the federal government’s Rehabilitation Act of 1973• Provides standards for web accessibility• Requires that all technology and electronic information produced

by Federal agencies be accessible to people with disabilities• Have recently been updated to align with the WCAG standards

Unique Responsibility for Nonprofits• Mission to serve a diverse audience• Social responsibility tangential to organization’s mission such as a

commitment to human rights• Educational mission, providing access to materials for a broad

audience• Supporting older people with age-related impairments (many of

whom may be donors)

Unique Risk for Nonprofits• Unclear Legal Responsibility

• Section 504 – Requires needs of students with disabilities be met as adequately as the needs of the non-disabled

• Section 508 – Applies to federal agency websites and services and to contractors; not to recipients of Federal funds

• Americans with Disabilities Act – Public spaces; Title 3 implies web accessibility requirements

• DOJ hasn’t made their position totally clear, but they did recently intervene in another web accessibility lawsuit

Private & Government Court Action

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Act Now• ACS & AHA have released statements committing to WCAG 2.0 AA

level• Be an industry leader• Public relations benefits of demonstrating corporate social

responsibility• Reduce risk of legal action, high legal expenses, and negative

image• Better serve your constituents• Improved usability, including higher conversion rates• Search engine optimization (SEO) benefits

Accessibility Principles and Guidance

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POUR: Understanding the Four Principles of Accessibility• Perceivable

All users can have the same experienceTHINK: Colors, font sizes, video captions, text alternatives

• OperableAll elements and controls on the web are usableTHINK: keyboard control, timed and blinking content

• UnderstandableContent is clear and easy to understandTHINK: Error handling, reading level, motive

• RobustCan access all content with a wide range of technologiesTHINK: Coding standards, browser accessibility, assistive technology

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POUR: Understanding the Four Principles of Accessibility

If any of these 4 Principles are not true, users with disabilities will not be able to use the Web.

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Layer of Guidance• Under each principle, there is a list of guidelines• Each guideline has testable success criteria which

are at three levels: A, AA, AAA.

Guidelines

Principles

Criteria

Accessibility Levels

Level A- Minimum. - Most sites

following these guidelines are mostly accessible, but not as convenient for persons with disabilities.

Level AA- General

standard.- Balances the

best between ease of use and development.

Level AAA- Most

stringent.- Mainly

followed by those sites that are for persons with disabilities.

1 2 3

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Guideline 1.2 Time-based Media: Provide alternatives for time-based mediaLevel A

• Transcripts for prerecorded audio, like podcasts• Text or audio descriptions for prerecorded video-only content• Captions for prerecorded video

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Guideline 1.2 Time-based Media: Provide alternatives for time-based mediaLevel AA

• Captions for live video that contains audio• Audio descriptions for all video content

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Guideline 1.2 Time-based Media: Provide alternatives for time-based mediaLevel AAA

• Sign language videos to accompany audio• Alternative versions of videos with pauses for audio descriptions• Transcripts for all audio and video

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Guideline 2.4 Navigable: Provide ways to help users navigate, find content, and determine where they areLevel A

• “Skip navigation” links• Descriptive page titles• Logical order of elements on page• Informative link text within context

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Guideline 2.4 Navigable: Provide ways to help users navigate, find content, and determine where they areLevel AA

• Multiple ways available to find other pages in site• Informative page headings and form labels• Visible evidence of keyboard focus

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Guideline 2.4 Navigable: Provide ways to help users navigate, find content, and determine where they areLevel AAA

• Indication of current page location (breadcrumbs or “Step 2 of 5”)• Purpose of link evident from text alone• No links with the same text that go to different locations• Individual sections of content are designated using headings

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Getting Started

Websites That Can Help• WAVE: http://wave.webaim.org

– Used to evaluate the accessibility of millions of web pages.

• Color Contrast Checker: http://webaim.org/resources/contrastchecker/– Enter foreground and background color to check compliance.

• Web Accessibility Evaluation Tools List: https://www.w3.org/WAI/ER/tools/ – A list of evaluation tools that help you determine if your content meets

web accessibility guidelines.

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But What Can I Do Right Now?

Tip #1: Alternative Text for All Images• Graphics have alternative text and content is simple and concise

Dog Adopt this dog who knows how to play video games!

Tip #2: Color Contrast Check• Sufficient contrast between foreground and background

AA

AAA

Tip #3: Keyboard Input • Every element is accessible only using the keyboard

Tip #4: Make Link Text Descriptive• Stop using the term “Click Here”

Interested in learning more about accessibility? Click here.

Learn more about accessibility.AAA

Tip #5: Transcript for video and audio content • Audio/visual should always include captions and transcripts.

34Mission POSSIBLE: You Got

This!

Any Questions?

Thank You!© 2017 Charity

Dynamics