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A Holistic Approach To Web Usability, Accessibility And Interoperability:

A Holistic Approach

Brian Kelly

UKOLN

University of Bath

Bath

Email: B.Kelly@ukoln.ac.uk

UKOLN is supported by:

http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/events/conferences/ili-2005/workshop/http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/events/conferences/ili-2005/workshop/Talk 4

The talk in which we describe the holistic approach to usability accessibility and interoperability which has been developed by UKOLN and TechDis.

The talk in which we describe the holistic approach to usability accessibility and interoperability which has been developed by UKOLN and TechDis.

A centre of expertise in digital information management

www.ukoln.ac.uk

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W3C WAI and WCAG

W3C (World Wide Web Consortium):• Body responsible for coordinating development of

Web standards

WAI (Web Accessibility Initiative):• W3C group responsible for developing guidelines

which will ensure Web resources are widely accessible

WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines):• One of three sets of WAI guidelines. WCAG

provides advice of accessibility on Web content (e.g. HTML pages)

• Other two WAI guidelines cover accessible user agents (UAAG) and accessible authoring tools (ATAG)

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A centre of expertise in digital information management

www.ukoln.ac.uk

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Interpretation of WAI WCAGHow do you interpret WAI WCAG (must use ALT tags for images; HTML must be valid; must use style sheets for presentation; …):

• Mandatory, with following characteristics:Clearly defined rules ObjectiveChecking mostly objectivePenalties for non-complianceSimilar to checking that HTML complies with the

standard

• Advisory, with following characteristics:Useful guidelines, to be interpreted in contextIt's about providing useful, usable resourcesIt's contextualChecking mostly subjectiveIt's similar to checking that a Web site is well-designed

Which reflects your views most closely?

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A centre of expertise in digital information management

www.ukoln.ac.uk

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The WAI Model

The WAI model for Web accessibility is based on three components:

• Content• Authoring Tools• Browsers

Get all three right and you'll have universal accessibility

But:• We have no control over browsers & authoring tools• The browsers and authoring tools aren't great• The content guidelines are flawed• Is universal accessibility really possible?

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A centre of expertise in digital information management

www.ukoln.ac.uk

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TechDis – UKOLN Approach

Remember UK legislation expects organisations to take "reasonable measures"

Remember UK legislation expects organisations to take "reasonable measures"

UsersNeeds

BK

Holistic framework for e-learning accessibility published in CJLT:

• Focuses on the userand recognises importance of:

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

• Technical infrastructure • Resource implications• Learning & teaching outcomes

and requires quality assurance based on documented policies and systematic checking

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A centre of expertise in digital information management

www.ukoln.ac.uk

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Holistic Approach

The holistic approach we have developed:• Focuses on the needs of the user• Acknowledges the value of guidelines:

WAI WCAG Guidelines Jakob Neilson's guidelines

…

• But recognises that: These are guidelines and not universal standards Such guidelines can limit what you do

• Also recognises that: Usability, accessibility & interoperability are important The will be constraints on what you can do What you should do will be influenced by the area you're

involved in, the resources you have, the wider cultural context, …

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A centre of expertise in digital information management

www.ukoln.ac.uk

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Challenges For You

The holistic approach has been developed based on experiences in supporting the UK Higher and Further Education and cultural heritage sectors

There are still issues to be addressed:• How to apply the approach in a range of different

contexts• What is a reasonable approach?• How to I embed this approach within my

organisation?• …

A centre of expertise in digital information management

www.ukoln.ac.uk

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Questions

Any questions or comments?

Implementation Challenges• But I prefer just having to check with Bobby• So what exactly should I do in my case• But the accessibility officer isn't involved in

design issues; interoperability issues; …• …

Implementation Challenges• But I prefer just having to check with Bobby• So what exactly should I do in my case• But the accessibility officer isn't involved in

design issues; interoperability issues; …• …