European Accessibility Observatory State of the Art 6 th November 2009 Roberto Torena Cristóbal Manager of the Brussels Office

Harmonisation / standardisation initiatives WAB Cluster Thematic networks Monitorisation studies Accessibility of European Commission websites MeAC and Study on Monitoring eAccessibility Web accessibility in European countries European Internet Accessibility Observatory (EIAO) Conclusions Index European Accessibility Observatory State of the Art

Harmonisation / standardisation initiatives European Accessibility Observatory State of the Art

WAB Cluster (1/3). Web Accessibility Evaluation and Benchmarking European Accessibility Observatory State of the Art

Two evaluation procedures: Expert or Tool based Sampling resources Non-random sampling Core Resource List Random sampling WCAG 1.0 Level A and Double-A Reporting evaluation results: a conformance claim, a text-based report, a machine-readable report and/or a scorecard report F(s) = Failure rate for a web site WAB Cluster (2/3) European Accessibility Observatory State of the Art Unified Web Evaluation Methodology (UWEM 1.2) 26 indicators 240 indicators

Specifications for a Web Accessibility Conformity Assessment Scheme and Quality Mark. Reflects three types of demands: Supplier's declaration of conformity (ISO/IEC 17050) Inspection (ISO/IEC 17020) Product certification (EN 45011) First European Quality label for accessible Web sites Set up on the basis of the WCAG 1.0, the UWEM and the CEN Workshop Agreement WAB Cluster (3/3) European Accessibility Observatory State of the Art CEN Workshop Agreement Founding member Euracert

Comparison an harmonisation in eGovernment impact and user satisfaction measurement methods and tools Web accessibility (50% of effort), convergent communications and accessible digital audio-visual systems, and self-service terminals Common European approach on web accessibility: methods for implementation, cost assessments, measurement methods, complaints handling, etc. Thematic networks European Accessibility Observatory State of the Art eGovernment Monitor Network (eGovMoNet) Partner eAccessibility thematic network

Monitorisation studies European Accessibility Observatory State of the Art

Test web accessibility of European Commission websites Comparison between websites Provide recommendations for improving accessibility of the tested websites. Special site: eInclusion Unit: accessibility testing, html/css templates, usability and information architecture. Suggestions about the EC’s Internet Publishing Guidelines Accessibility of European Commission websites (1/2) European Accessibility Observatory State of the Art Led by Objective

Websites selected by the European Commission (governmental websites) 7 websites Non-random sampling (Core Resource List) 30 pages for eInclusion and <30 for the remaining websites Manual testing carried out by experts WCAG 1.0 and 2.0 Level A and Double-A Accessibility and usability tests carried out by users Information Architecture analysis carried out by experts in the eInclusion Unit website Accessibility of European Commission websites (2/2) European Accessibility Observatory State of the Art Web accessibility monitoring approach

MeAC - Measuring Progress of eAccessibility in Europe (2006 – 2008) Most important European study on legislation, policies and practices in the eAccessibility field. The Study on Monitoring eAccessibility succeeds the MeAC over the period 2009 – MeAC and Study on Monitoring eAccessibility (1/2) European Accessibility Observatory State of the Art Led by

Focus on a set of technologies, not only in web 12 European Member States and AU, CA and US Websites selected by national experts: governmental websites and private / sectoral websites 120 websites were used in the MeAC Study Non-random sampling (Core Resource List) 25 pages per website Both automated and manual testing by national experts: 1. Conformance Claim 2. Automated testing (TAW) in WCAG 1.0 Level A and Double-A 3. Manual testing of a set of critical points (WCAG 1.0) 4. Manual testing of a set of critical points (WCAG 2.0) MeAC and Study on Monitoring eAccessibility (2/2) European Accessibility Observatory State of the Art Web accessibility monitoring approach

Support the EC in the identification of measures that can help to progress the achievement of greater levels of web accessibility Focus on the transitioning to WCAG 2.0 guidelines Collection of information on the national situations in selected Member States (through desk research and information provided by official contacts) Examination of compliance with WCAG 1.0 and 2.0 Web accessibility in European countries (1/2) European Accessibility Observatory State of the Art Objective

9 European Member States and US Websites selected by their relevance: governmental websites and private / sectoral websites 120 websites that were used in the MeAC Study Automatic testing of WCAG 1.0 Level A (Test Accessibilidad Web, TAW) Random sampling: 25 pages per website Manual assessment of WCAG 2.0 Level A conformance Non-random sampling: 3 pages per website (home, contact and search pages) Web accessibility in European countries (2/2) European Accessibility Observatory State of the Art Web accessibility monitoring approach

Develop the technical basis for a European Internet Accessibility Observatory. European Internet Accessibility Observatory (EIAO) (1/2) European Accessibility Observatory State of the Art

22 European Member States and European Commission websites Websites that was used by Capgemini for evaluating online services: about 2,500 unique government web sites Up to 6,000 crawled pages for each website Random sampling: Up to 600 pages per website Automated testing of WCAG 1.0 Level Double-A Covers 24 of the 26 automatable tests of UWEM 1.2 eGovernment Monitor (eGOVMON) adds three new indicators: transparency, efficiency and impact European Accessibility Observatory State of the Art Web accessibility monitoring approach European Internet Accessibility Observatory (EIAO) (2/2)

Conclusions European Accessibility Observatory State of the Art

Advantages of manual web accessibility evaluation 240 indicators vs. 26 indicators (UWEM) Judgment of difficult cases Advantages of automated web accessibility evaluation Require less time and efforts Covers larger number of web sites Covers larger number of pages per site Requires minimal human supervision Low cost (more frequent re-assessments) Immediate feedback Conclusions (1/3) European Accessibility Observatory State of the Art

Conclusions (2/3) European Accessibility Observatory State of the Art Number of web sites X Number of pages per site Automated testing Expert testing User testing Accessibility of European Commission websites EIAO Study on Monitoring eAccessibility & Web accessibility in European countries

Harmonisation is required in benchmarking of public sector based on: Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.0) Unified Web Evaluation Methodology (UWEM) European Internet Accessibility Observatory (EIAO) Conclusions (3/3) European Accessibility Observatory State of the Art

Thanks for your attention Roberto Torena Cristóbal Manager Brussels Office