1. Taking a Holistic Approach to Accessibility Evaluation
Beyond Standards
Taking a Holistic Approach to Accessibility Evaluation

2. About the Presenter Rachael Bradley Montgomery
Founder and Director, AccessibleCommunity.org
15+ years in usability and accessibility
MS, Emerging Technology in Information Science – University of Illinois
PhD, Human Computer Interaction in Information Science, University of Maryland
Member of Accessibility Guidelines Working Group

3. AccessibleCommunity.org Charity run by volunteers
Mission - To create an accessible community dedicated to:
Spotlighting and learning from accessibility successes and challenges
Educating individuals and organizations about virtual, physical, and cultural accessibility
Connecting organizations who need accessibility help with interns and volunteers who can help
Leveraging crowdsourcing to evaluate and share information about accessibility
Providing a single entry point to help organizations evaluate and improve accessibility

4. Why Accessible? Legal Requirement
18% of the Population has a Disability
One in three households includes a member with a disability
Individuals with disabilities hold 200 billion in discretionary spending
Universal Benefits and Potential Benefits
Situational disabilities
Aging
Accidents

5. A Trip Around My Neighborhood
A sidewalk where a fence has been built too close to a power pole making it inaccessible to wheelchairs
A historic post office with a step required for entry
A bank with electronic potpourri at the counter
An after hours electronic book drop with no audio or braille labels
Confusing signs
Websites with very low contrast and no keyboard accessibility

6. Why Inaccessible? Cost Time Expertise Architecture Web development
Disability and accommodations
Standards and Guidelines
Barriers to accessibility are more visible than benefits

7. Some Statistics on Smaller Organizations
99.63% of businesses have less than 100 employees
92.46% have less than 25 employees
59% of churches have less than 100 attendees
1.8 million IRS recognized charities exist
Day to day interactions are often with organizations with limited resources

8. How can we remove the barriers to becoming accessible?

9. Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)
Most widely used green building rating system in the world
Example: Sensitive land protection
Possible: 1 point
Option 1: Locate the development footprint on land that has been previously developed.
Option 2: Locate the development footprint on land that does not meet the following criteria for sensitive land: Farmland, Flood Plains, Habitat, Water bodies, Wetlands

10. Checklist Portion of LEED V4 for BD&C Retail
Location and Transportation 16
Credit
LEED for Neighborhood Development Location
Sensitive Land Protection 1
High Priority Site 2
Surrounding Density and Diverse Uses 5
Access to Quality Transit
Bicycle Facilities
Reduced Parking Footprint
Green Vehicles
Sustainable Sites 10 Y
Prereq
Construction Activity Pollution Prevention
Required
Site Assessment
Site Development - Protect or Restore Habitat
Open Space
Rainwater Management 3
Heat Island Reduction
Light Pollution Reduction
Complete LEED v4 Building Design and Construction Checklist

11. Some Key Points about LEED
Simple, understandable criteria that embrace tradeoffs
Weighted based on environmental impact
Buildings can qualify for four levels of certification:
Certified: 40–49 points
Silver: 50-59 points
Gold: 60-79 points
Platinum: 80 points and above

12. Can we learn from LEED to create a way to encourage and talk about accessibility?

13. Accessibility Frame Work
Facilities
ADA Facility Checklist
Universal Design Best Practices
Web
WCAG 2.0 and WCAG 2.1 (when complete)
Mobile
WCAG 2.1 (when complete)
BBC (and other) mobile best practices
Kiosks
Section
Audio, Video, Multimedia Content
WCAG 2.0
Policies and Practices
Best practices from groups which support people with disabilities
Work by Susan Bruyere for large organizations
ADA
Lessons learned from organizations
Small/Medium Organizations and Large Organizations Evaluate Differently

14. Steps to Reducing Barriers in Improving Accessibility
Provide Web Tool
Lessons Learned (Interviews)
User Ratings
Refine Through User Testing and Feedback
Recommend Alternatives
Refine Weighting Scale
Certifications Based on Scores
Automated Tools
Provide Certifications Based on Scores
Framework
We are here

15. Volunteer If you would like to volunteer…
Try the tool out when it is live
Suggest a successful organization to interview
Provide comments and feedback
Volunteer your time
…Let us know
Contact Us on accessiblecommunity.org

16. Questions? Comments? Suggestions?