A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk Accessibility 2.0: A Holistic And User-Centred Approach To Web Accessibility Brian Kelly UKOLN University of Bath Bath UKOLN is supported by: This work is licensed under a Attribution- NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 licence (but note caveat) Resources bookmarked using ‘ mw-accessibility-2007 ' tag Stephen Brown De Montfort University Leicester

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 2 Aims Of Forum The 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 area

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 3 Contents Web 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

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 4 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? E

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 5 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) Review: WAI Approach

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 6 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 … Review: WAI Approach

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 7 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? Review: WAI Approach

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 8 Interpretation of WAI WCAG How 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 Objective Checking mostly objective Penalties for non-compliance Similar to checking that HTML complies with the standard Advisory, with following characteristics: Useful guidelines, to be interpreted in context It's about providing useful, usable resources It's contextual Checking mostly subjective It's similar to checking that a Web site is well-designed Which reflects your views most closely? BK Review: WAI Approach

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 9 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? Limitations

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 10 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? E

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 11 Usability & Interoperability What about: Usability Interoperability Example: Long, application-specific URLs can cause accessibility/usability and interoperability problems Addition 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

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 12 Context for Web Accessibility Are there universal aspects to Web accessibility or does Web accessibility determined by context of use? E

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 13 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) Context

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 14 Universal Accessibility?

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 15 Holistic Approach See Developing A Holistic Approach For E-Learning Accessibility by Kelly, Phipps & Swift QHow do you make highly interactive e-learning services universally accessibility (e.g. 3D model of molecules)? AIf this would be unreasonable, make the learning outcomes (rather than e-learning resources) accessible. Our Work Can we apply this approach to cultural resources, with an emphasis on providing a diversity of cultural experiences?

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 16 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 Our Work

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 17 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 Our Work

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 18 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  …

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 19 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?

A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 20 What Next? What should the next steps be in development of approaches for Web accessibility in a museum context?