Centre for Excellence in Universal Design Demystifying Web Accessibility and WCAG 2.0 Dónal Rice Senior Design Advisor, ICT Irish Internet Association 24 June 2009

Contents Why legislate for web accessibility? What are my obligations under Irish law? What is Universal Design? This presentation provides a better understanding of Equality legislation and policy and whay and how it relates to web accessibility

Aims of the Centre Standards 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 examinations Awareness 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 This is not the moral or business case for web accessibility but an overview of how the equality (or equal treatment) principle leads to specific legislation as it relates to web accessibility

Equality law 3 tenets Acknowledges existing patterns of inequality – whatever the reason

“Science Finds, Industry Applies, Man Conforms” Poster of the Chocago 1933 World Fair. Image of a Romanesque bust with a stylised crown of an eagle and the word “I will” in front of a background image of a native american wearning ceremonial feathered head-dress. Tagline reads “A Century of Progress” Source: http://www.chicagohs.org/history/century.html “The stark pronouncement of the fair's motto, "Science Finds, Industry Applies, Man Conforms," was challenged by iconoclasts such as Sally Rand, whose provocative fan dance became a persistent symbol of the fair, as well as a handful of other exceptional individuals, including African Americans, ethnic populations and foreign nationals, groups of working women, and even well-heeled socialites. They all met obstacles but ultimately introduced personal, social definitions of "progress" and thereby influenced the ways the fair took shape.” Source: University of Illinois Press webpage for “The 1933 Chicago World's Fair - Century of Progress” by Cheryl R. Ganz http://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/catalog/86tzw7wm9780252033575.html

“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. “ Source: “What is inclusive design?” Inclusive Design Toolkit http://www-edc.eng.cam.ac.uk/betterdesign/whatis/whatis3.html A web-based survey of 1500 internet users aged 18-75, www.usa.philips.com found that about two thirds of the population as a whole have difficulties with technological products

Bad design excludes Images courtesy of John Clarkson and Sam Waller, University of Cambridge. Images show Sam experiencing difficulty in opening a pack of Supermarket ham manually and then using a series of tools including a cutting blow torch, an industrial drill and a bolt cutters to open the pack. This series of images illustrate the poor design of many everyday objects which present significant difficulties for people to use. Source: Inclusive Design Toolkit: http://www.inclusivedesigntoolkit.com 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 Universal Design 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 Toolkit Practical 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 Details Dónal Rice Senior ICT Advisor Centre for Excellence in Universal Design NDA 25 Clyde Road Dublin 4 Ireland Tel: + 353 (0)1 608 0430 djrice@nda.ie http://www.universaldesign.ie