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Accessibility 2.0: A Holistic And User-Centred Approach To Web AccessibilityBrian KellyUKOLNUniversity of [email protected]

UKOLN is supported by:

http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/events/conferences/mw-2007/professional-forum/http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/events/conferences/mw-2007/professional-forum/

This work is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 licence (but note caveat)

Resources bookmarked using ‘mw-accessibility-2007' tag Resources bookmarked using ‘mw-accessibility-2007' tag

Stephen BrownDe Montfort UniversityLeicester

[email protected]


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Aims Of ForumThe facilitators will encourage feedback on:

• The experiences the museum’s community has had in seeking to provide accessible Web sites

• The strengths and weaknesses of the WAI guidelines• The relationships between the accessibility, usability

and interoperability of Web sites• The relevance of guidelines in a Web 2.0 environment

At the end of the professional forum you should have:• Learnt about some of the limitations of the WAI

approach to Web accessibility• Heard about the experiences of other participants • Heard about and discussed the holistic approach to

Web accessibility• Taken part in discussions on a roadmap for future work

in this areahttp://edit.archimuse.com/mw2007/papers/kelly-brown/kelly-brown.htmlhttp://edit.archimuse.com/mw2007/papers/kelly-brown/kelly-brown.html


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ContentsWeb accessibility & Museum Web Sites:

• How do we try to address the issues?• How well are we doing? What difficulties do we

experience?What do we mean by Web accessibility?

• Compliance with (WAI) guidelines?• Something else?

Contextualising Web accessibility:• Based on the purpose of the service• Based on your organisation context• Based on wider contexts (e.g. cultural & legal)

What Next?• A roadmap for further work• Your feedback


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Web Accessibility & Museums

• How do you try to address the issue of Web accessibility within your museum?

• How well are you doing? What difficulties do you experience? How do you know?

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Background: W3C WAI & 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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WAI Strengths

WAI work:• Provides valuable guidelines for helping to

make Web sites more accessible• Widely recognised• Widely adopted

Support by various tools:• WebXact (Bobby)• Cynthia Says• …

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The WAI Model

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

• Content• Authoring Tools• Browsers

Assumption: do three right universal accessibility

But:• We have no control over browsers & authoring tools• The browsers and authoring tools aren't great• The content guidelines are flawed• What if users are happy with their existing browser?

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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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Limitations of the WAI Model

WAI approach has shortcomings:• WAI model relies on conformant Web sites,

conformant authoring tools, conformant user agents• …and conformant users!• WCAG guidelines have flaws ("must use W3C

formats; must use latest versions; …")• Has a Web-only view of the world:

What about other IT solutions? What about blended (real world) solutions?

• Has a belief in a single universal solution: But isn't accessibility a very complex issue Is it reasonable to expect an ideal solution to

be developed at the first attempt?

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What do we mean by Web accessibility?Can we provide accessible Web services without a clear understanding of what we mean by this?

Small group exercise:• What do we mean by Web accessibility?• Where does usability fit in? Where does

interoperability fit in?

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Usability & Interoperability

What about:• Usability• Interoperability

http://www.rnib.org.uk/xpedio/groups/public/documents/code/InternetHome.hcsphttp://www.rnib.org.uk/xpedio/groups/public/documents/code/InternetHome.hcsp

Example:• Long, application-specific URLs can cause

accessibility/usability and interoperability problemsAddition Problems:

• We’ve got WCAG AA (and checked with users) We don’t need to do anymore (it’s costly) We don’t need to address usability

The focus on priority levels can limit what’s done


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Context for Web Accessibility

Are there universal aspects to Web accessibility or does Web accessibility determined by context of use?

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Diversity – Content

WAI guidelines focus on informational Web sites:• Here’s the train timetable – I want the information

and I want it now• This is reasonable and desirable

But is this approach always relevant to learning and cultural contexts:

• Here’s something – you must interpret it (and being wrong can be part of the learning process)

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Universal Accessibility?


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Holistic Approach

See Developing A Holistic Approach For E-Learning Accessibility by Kelly, Phipps & Swift

See Developing A Holistic Approach For E-Learning Accessibility by Kelly, Phipps & Swift

Q How do you make highly interactive e-learning services universally accessibility (e.g. 3D model of molecules)?

A If this would be unreasonable, make the learning outcomes (rather than e-learning resources) accessible.

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Can we apply this approach to cultural resources, with an emphasis on providing a diversity of cultural experiences?


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Articulating the Approach

The "Tangram Metaphor" developed to avoid checklist / automated approach:

• W3C model has limitations• Jigsaw model implies

single solution• Tangram model seeks to

avoid such problems

This approach:• Encourages developers

to think about a diversity of solutions

• Focus on 'pleasure' it provides to user

This approach:• Encourages developers

to think about a diversity of solutions

• Focus on 'pleasure' it provides to user

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Tangram Model & Testability

"WCAG 2.0 success criteria are written as testable statements …" (nb. automated & human testing )

Issues:• What about WCAG principles that don't have defined success

criteria (e.g. "content must be understandable")?• What about 'baselines' – context only known locally• What about differing models or / definitions of 'accessibility'?

Note vendors of accessibility testing services will market WCAG tools e.g. see posting on BSI PAS 78

Tangram model can be used within WCAG• Distinguish between testable (ALT tags)

and subjective (content understandable)• Supports baselines

Baseline 1

Testable

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An Emerging Roadmap

Accessibility Summit II held in Nov 2006 which agreed:

• Need for a manifesto: Building on WAI’s foundations Developing a user-centric approach Developing a contextual model Developing an evidence-based approach

• A roadmap for future work: Engagement with disability communities Engagement with WAI Identifying areas of research Gathering case studies of best practices …


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Building On This Work

Does the approach being developed in the UK seem applicable in your context?

What else may be needed to enhance this approach?


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What Next?

What should the next steps be in development of approaches for Web accessibility in a museum context?

Download - Accessibility 2.0: A Holistic And User-Centred Approach To Web Accessibility

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