Basics of Web Accessibility Tips, tools, and methods used to assess web pages for their general usability and accessibility By: Drew Chiles

a11y = accessibility Accessibility in web design includes making content flexible enough to reach the broadest possible range of users regardless of their physical abilities. This presentation will go through obligatory boring stuff first then focus on functional understanding with tools and tips. The obligatory stuff is very important to people who do this for a living and of little importance to any professors or concerned casual users. There are two main categories of obligatory information—Legal and Technical.

Legal Rehabilitation Act of 1973—prohibits discrimination based on a disability for any federal employee, contractor, or anyone receiving federal financial assistance. Section 504 dictates that the needs for disabled students are met as adequately as the needs of non- disabled students. Section 508 says technology procured, developed, or maintained by federal government must be accessible to all peoples. 508 does contain some actual technical specs. ADA of 1990 extended protection to people with disabilities similar to CRA of Regulations added in 2010—Standards for Accessible Design—apply to public entities that have ‘places of public accommodation’ Lawsuits have cost other universities millions in upgrades and settlements. Lawsuits have cost other universities

Technical World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)’s Web Accessibility Initiative(WAI)— international, vendor-neutral group that develops accessibility standards. Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.0)—principle-centered guidelines that can be reliably verified. The Industry Standard though not very user friendly (yes, that is funny) Accessible Rich Internet Applications (ARIA)—W3C protocol that enhances controls, identifies page structure, and better supports keyboard nav—critical for screen readers. WCAG 2.0 and using ARIA are not universally supported or enforced but they are the closest we have to a standardized rule set. They are generally an expansion and modernization of the old 508 standards, written to be more adaptable. Terribly dense, sometimes hard to interpret, and no actual teeth. Use it anyways.

Accessible Web Design Standard ‘Rules of Thumb’ provided by webaim.org (show code)show code Screen Reader Demo Video min mark, then 9-10 min mark, and then mins. Screen Reader Demo Video The sorts of code elements involved in creating an accessible web page include: Logical Heading Structure Logical Reading Order Adequate Color Contrast Use True Text when possible Avoid using CAPS Adequate Font Size Intentional Line Length Visually recognizable links Links not defined by color alone Nothing conveyed with color alone Link Focus Indicators Skip Links Clear Link Text Allow user to stop animations, video, and audio Accessible Form Controls

Accessibility from the User’s Perspective 4 Basic Principles in WCAG: Perceivable—Through sight, hearing, and/or touch. Operable—with keyboard and mouse Understandable—easy to comprehend Robust—across browsers, devices, assistive tech, etc. Alt Text for images and graphs Simple, Logical Structure Navigation labelled as such Headers for data tables Submit button for forms Captions and/or transcripts Any non HTML content to be accessible too.

Web Usage for Peoples with Disabilities Microsoft has added a11y checking tools to the office package. Apple has add a11y functions to their devices. Blind ppl use Mac products more frequently than the general US population. Play around with the a11y functions on your own stuff if you have it. JAWS (and NVDA) for Windows only and IE still popular. Zoom Text is very common. More keyboard navigation than screen reader usage.

Accessibility vs. Usability Accessibility Measured by WCAG Dealing with technical markup Considerate of assistive technology Considerate of as broad a swath of users as possible Usability Does the site make logical sense? Can I do what I’m supposed to do? Is the content useful? Does the design enhance the content? Often the first step to assessing the Accessibility of a website is analyzing the Usability. And fixing the latter will almost always help the former.

Why accessibility concerns you There are serious legal issues that can easily be avoided. It is rapidly becoming a standard rubric for web content so “resistance is futile”—The Borg. It’s much easier to consider a11y now when making course content decisions than it is to retro-fit your materials once you’ve received an INCA form. Education is for everyone—especially in Mississippi. More accessibility for users means more potential users. More potential users means more students and more money. Also, it’s arguably the right thing to do. And don’t you want to be in sound moral standing before your colleagues are forced to the higher ground?

A Summary of the Obligatory Accessibility is a simple concept with thousands of caveats. The issues at stake and results of noncompliance are very real concerns for the institution. As a general user or faculty member you should not need to fully understand any of the technical stuff. Most web designers could not adequately define the word accessibility. The evaluation tools that have been created help steer the user’s understanding. The real goal is an openness to imagining varied users’ experiences.

7 Basic Considerations Images, objects, and graphics need ‘Alt Text.’ Video and audio need to have captions or transcripts. The document should have a simple, logical structure. Strong color contrast Tables and charts need a simple design and proper tagging. Links need descriptive text that do not include ‘read more’ or ‘click here.’ Can I navigate the website with my keyboard?