Centre for Excellence in Universal Design

Demystifying Web Accessibility and WCAG 2.0

Dónal RiceSenior Design Advisor, ICTIrish Internet Association

24 June 2009

Contents

• Why legislate for web accessibility?• What are my obligations under Irish law?• What is Universal Design?

Aims of the CentreStandards

– Stimulate research– Participate in Standardisation work nationally and

internationally– Provide advice to stakeholders– Encourage compliance

Education and Professional Development– Incorporation into design curriculum– Application of Universal Design for Learning

approach to teaching and examinationsAwareness

– Best practice database– Promote awareness and understanding

Why legislate for web accessibility

Equality principle

• Unequal treatment is outlawed (race, gender, age, religion...)

• Requires blindness to human difference...• ... except in case of objective human

difference

Equality law

• 3 tenets1.Acknowledges existing patterns of inequality –

whatever the reason

“Science Finds, Industry Applies, Man Conforms”

“Good” vs “Bad” design

• After a century of repid technological innovation and development

• Philips (2004) “The Philips Index: Calibrating the Convergence of Healthcare, Lifestyle and Technology. “

Bad design excludes

Source: Inclusive Design Toolkit: http://www.inclusivedesigntoolkit.com

Equality law

2. Sets the playing rules (levels the playing field) – including those for the State market player

Diversity is normal

Children (<16 years) 20%

Older people (>65 years) 15%

Primary language not English 5%

Left-handed 10%

People with disabilities ~10%

Warning: Treat these figures solely as indicative of the order of magnitude.

Equality law

3. positions the individual to challenge the status quo and tackles the dynamics of exclusion

Obligations under Irish Law

Irish Legislation

• Prior to 2005–Some policy recommendations–Suite of Equality legislation

• Goods and services: Equality Act–“reasonable accommodation” and

“undue burden”• Employment: Employment Equality

Act –some case law

Irish Legislation

• Disability Act 2005– Part 5: Public information made available in accessible format on

request to persons with a vision impairment to whom adaptive technology is available

– Code of Practice:• public websites should be reviewed to ensure they achieve

Double-A conformance rating with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (no version number stipulated!!)

• a statutory instrument – Public procurement– Complaints procedure:

• Enquiry officer• Office of the Ombudsman

– Universal Design

What is Universal Design

What is Universal Design• What Universal/Inclusive design is -• “Design of mainstream products and/or services that are accessible to, and

usable by, as many people as reasonably possible on a global basis, in a wide variety of situations and to the greatest extent possible without the need for special adaptation or specialised design.” - BS 7000 Part 6

• “Universal Design - – means the design and composition of an environment so that it may be

accessed, understood and used by persons of any age or size or having any particular physical, sensory, mental health or intellectual ability or disability

– means in relation to electronic systems, any electronics-based process of creating products, services or systems so that they may be used by any person”

• - Irish Disability Act 2005

Universal Design process

• A design and development methodology• Clear knowledge of user requirements• User centred design

– Walking a mile in the shoes of the end user

• Iterative process• Standards, principles and guidelines• Tools to aid design

CEUD IT Guidelines

• 5 technology areas– Web– Public access terminals – Application Software– Telecoms– Smart Card Systems

IT Procurement ToolkitPractical advice on procurement:

•Writing an Request for Tender document•Assessing candidates and tenders•Evaluating deliverables

eg – sample text to insert into RFT

Techniques

• ‘How-to’ - advice for developers, designers and editors:•Good and bad practice examples alongside…•How to do it•Code snippets (for developers), videos of users…

–Eg – good and bad form layout

CEUD ICT Listserv

http://list.universaldesign.ie

Contact DetailsDónal RiceSenior ICT AdvisorCentre for Excellence in Universal DesignNDA25 Clyde RoadDublin 4IrelandTel: + 353 (0)1 608 0430djrice@nda.iehttp://www.universaldesign.ie