a centre of expertise in digital information management a holistic approach to web accessibility...

A centre of expertise in digital information management

www.ukoln.ac.uk

A Holistic Approach To Web AccessibilityBrian KellyUKOLNUniversity of BathBath

[email protected]

UKOLN is supported by:

About The SpeakerBrian Kelly is a Web adviser to UK cultural heritage and Higher and Further Education communities.He has attended several W3C WAI meeting, has published surveys of the accessibility of UK University entry points and organised a panel session with Judy Brewer, head of WAI at WWW 2003 conference.


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Web Accessibility

Areas of agreement:• Accessibility of digital resources greatly benefits

many users and potential users• Organisations (especially publicly-funded bodies)

should seek to maximise the accessibility of their services

• W3C WAI has been tremendously successful in:• Raising awareness of accessibility issues for digital

resources• Developing various guidelines for helping Web

developers, software developers, etc.

But we face some challenges …

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W3C: World Wide Web Consortium, is the body responsible for overseeing development of Web standardsWAI: W3C’s Web Accessibility Initiative, is the body responsible for overseeing development of an accessible Web

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Where Are We Now?

Current status on Web accessibility:• Widespread awareness within public sector Web

communities• Widespread support for implementation • Sharing of approaches, discussions, etc.

But:• Implementation challenges• Lack of clarity of what exactly we should do• Still ambiguities (cf DRC report)• Have things changes since WAI WCAG 1.0

released in 1999?

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DRC: Disability Rights Commission is an independent body established in 2000 to stop discrimination & promote equality of opportunity for the disabled

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Accessibility Survey

Survey of UK University home pages carried out in August 2002 and repeated in June 2004

Used Bobby – so only objective criteria measured

Findings 2002 2004

WAI AA compliant 3 7

WAI A compliant 70 93

Reminder: this is probably an over-estimate of compliance. Problems which can only be spotted with manual detection can reduce these figures.Also note that this is just the home page – not the entire Web site!

Reminder: this is probably an over-estimate of compliance. Problems which can only be spotted with manual detection can reduce these figures.Also note that this is just the home page – not the entire Web site!

See <http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/events/workshops/webmaster-2004/talks/phipps-kelly/survey/>

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What Can We Conclude?

What can we conclude from the lack of WAI WCAG AAA compliance and small percentage of AA compliance:

• The higher education community doesn't care about Web accessibility

• WCAG AAA and AA compliance is difficult to achieve (even on a single, high profile page)

• There are other issues to consider

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WCAG: Web Content Accessibility Guidelines have been developed by WAI to help Web developers to create accessible Web content

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WAI WCAG AA and AAA

In order to achieve WAI WCAG AA compliance:• Avoid deprecated features (e.g. FONT)• Use W3C technologies when available and

appropriate (no Flash, MS Word or PowerPoint)• .. use the latest versions [of W3C formats] • Create documents that validate to published formal

grammars (i.e. HTML must be valid)

In order to achieve WAI WCAG AAA compliance:• Provide information so that users may receive

documents according to their preferences (i.e. markup language)

• Specify document collections with the LINK element and "rel" and "rev"

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Concerns Over WAI WCAG

Guidelines Too Theoretical• Some WCAG guidelines appear theoretical• WCAG seeks to promote W3C standards (including

new ones) in addition to addressing mainstream accessibility issues

• Overall WAI approach is dependent on content, authoring tools and user agent guidelines – the latter two are outside the remit of Web authors

Developments Outside Of W3C• WAI has succeeded in raising awareness of

accessibility – and commercial sector has responded (cf. accessibility in OS, proprietary formats, …)

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Standards Or Guidelines

Are WAI's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines:• Pragmatic and much needed guidelines which can

help authors to make Web pages more accessible• To be interpreted and applied sensibly

or:• Mandatory standards which must be implemented

in order to (a) claim WAI compliance and (b) abide with legislation

• No room for interpretation

11.1 Use W3C technologies when they are available and appropriate for a task and use the latest versions when supported. [Priority 2]

11.1 Use W3C technologies when they are available and appropriate for a task and use the latest versions when supported. [Priority 2]

Use GIF images or FONT tags? Use HTML 4.0? HTML validation errors? WAI A is best you can achieve!

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WAI WCAG FlawsLogical Flaws

• On 1 Aug 2002 when XHTML 1.0 released WAI AA pages became A (unless immediately upgraded)

W3C Web Site• W3C Web site is not

fully AA compliant

DRC Web Site• DRC Web site is not

AA compliant, despite AAA logo on home page

• DRC report is still not available in HTML format

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10Acknowledgements to Lawrie Phipps, TechDis for these slides

W3C View Of A Web UserC

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The Student ExperienceC

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So what should that mean?• Pragmatism is the key• Education & culture are holistic experiences

(it not just about the Web)• Develop a policy, meet the standards, but

above all, consider all users!

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TechDis/UKOLN’s Holistic ApproachOur approach is based on recognising:

• External pressures e.g. funders, auditors, …

• Local technical infrastructure issues

• Wider technical developments

• Learning & teachingissues

• Usability & accessibility issues

• Focusing on the user’s needs

Remember legislation expects organisations

to take "reasonable measures"

Remember legislation expects organisations

to take "reasonable measures"

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Applying This Approach (1)

Flash Game • Flash game developed for use in Libraries• “It’s not accessible – I’ll have to remove it or I may

be sued”• “What is it used for?”• “To keep kids entertained while parents select

books. They seem to like it”• “So keep it. But make sure you have an equivalent

amusement for children who can’t (e.g. visually impaired) or won’t (don’t like it) use the game. What about a bouncy castle, building blocks, …”

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Applying This Approach (2)

Visual Images For Blind & Visually Impaired• Tate Gallery wishes to allow visually impaired to

appreciate work of Picasso & Matisse• Conventional approach (based on universal

design) would be to provide ALT tags and LONGDESC textual descriptions of images

• i-Map project made use of:• Approach based on needs of visually impaired • PDF files of raised images Flash

animation

• See <http://www.tate.org.uk/imap/> and <http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,54256,00.html>

"For the first time I am able to access pictures without a sighted person," said Isabella Murdoch, who used I-Map's text-only function to explore the site. "It allows me the freedom of choice to find out about a work of art at home and decide whether to visit or not."

"For the first time I am able to access pictures without a sighted person," said Isabella Murdoch, who used I-Map's text-only function to explore the site. "It allows me the freedom of choice to find out about a work of art at home and decide whether to visit or not."

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Conclusions

To conclude

• WAI have done a great job• But full implementation of WAI guidelines can be difficult

and may not be justified (remember WAI WCAG is only version 1.0)

• Within cultural heritage & educational sectors a holistic approach which seeks to provide equivalent cultural/educational experiences may prove valuable

• This approach may be controversial in certain circles

• Within the museums sector the approach may well reflect mainstream practices (cf. using a real world surrogate for a digital resource with a digital surrogate or a real world cultural object)

• This approach does not mean accessibility can be ignored!

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