1. The Path to WCAG 2.0 Through Industry Based Training Dr Scott Hollier A/Professor Denise Wood

2. Web accessibility in Australia Australia a signatory to UNCRPD 18.5% people have some form of permanent disability Government policy on web accessibility ad-hoc and inconsistent until 2010 Catalysts for change: WCAG 2.0 release in 2008 National Broadband Network (NBN) Gov 2.0

3. National Transition Strategy (NTS) In June 2010, Australian Federal government released NTS Three phases: Preparation phase second half of 2010 Transition phase: 2011 Implementation phase: WCAG 2.0 Level A by end of 2012 WCAG 2.0 Level AA by end of 2014

4. Government implementation issues Lack of resources Few staff overseeing NTS Lack of training and internal materials Need to up-skill staff ICT professionals need WCAG 2.0 training Unaware of accessibility in authoring tools Little practical understanding of how people with disabilities interact online Potential solution: create University-backed web accessibility course based on W3C standards

5. Market research key questions What are the key objectives of the course? Who is the target audience? How long should the course run? Face-to-face component or online only? What types of assessment would help students? Are we reinventing the wheel?

6. Research results Need: to understand how to incorporate accessibility into existing work practices using existing authoring tools No obvious existing tertiary-backed course Basic HTML pre-requisite Full semester too long, about half the time would be helpful Online delivery and flexible with work Learning to caption video: big priority

7. Curriculum Modules How people with disabilities access the Web Policy and legislation WCAG 2.0 Level A (time priority) WCAG 2.0 Level AA & AAA ATAG 2.0 (draft) Basic auditing, good V bad design, future technologies (WCAG-EM, WAI-ARIA, HTML5, cloud)

8. Course assessment and discussion Assignments: Screen reader use with monitor turned off and WCAG POUR/Guidelines introduction Captioning of any 2 minute video, ATAG review on an authoring tool Creating an accessible website template and audit report Forum: Includes introductions, general discussion, reflections on modules Feedback indicates forum discussion is as important as curriculum and assessment

9. Successes and challenges What worked: Successful pilot in 2011, three intakes in 2012, three this year Integrated accessibility into work practices Alumni discussion forum created What’s changed: Three assignments in six weeks too much, provided extra time Refining admin processes

10. Student Evaluations Before and after: definite shift to advanced knowledge Little increase in experts

11. The future Course: Three offerings this year Ongoing curriculum updates Incorporation of emerging technologies W3C: Looking to support WAI curriculum initiatives and approval processes

12. Further information Course: www.mediaaccess.org.au/learn Dr Scott Hollier: E-mail: scott.hollier@mediaaccess.org.au Website: www.mediaaccess.org.au A/Prof Denise Wood: E-mail: denise.wood@unisa.edu.au Website: www.unisa.edu.au