1. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk A Holistic Approach To Web Accessibility Brian Kelly UKOLN University of Bath Bath Email B.Kelly@ukoln.ac.uk UKOLN is supported by: About The Speaker Brian Kelly is a Web adviser to UK cultural heritage and Higher and Further Education communities. He has attended several W3C WAI meeting, has published surveys of the accessibility of UK University entry points and organised a panel session with Judy Brewer, head of WAI at WWW 2003 conference.

2. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 2 Web Accessibility Areas of agreement: Accessibility of digital resources greatly benefits many users and potential users Organisations (especially publicly-funded bodies) should seek to maximise the accessibility of their services W3C WAI has been tremendously successful in: Raising awareness of accessibility issues for digital resources Developing various guidelines for helping Web developers, software developers, etc. But we face some challenges … Background W3C: World Wide Web Consortium, is the body responsible for overseeing development of Web standards WAI: W3C’s Web Accessibility Initiative, is the body responsible for overseeing development of an accessible Web Acronyms

3. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 3 Where Are We Now? Current status on Web accessibility: Widespread awareness within public sector Web communities Widespread support for implementation Sharing of approaches, discussions, etc. But: Implementation challenges Lack of clarity of what exactly we should do Still ambiguities (cf DRC report) Have things changes since WAI WCAG 1.0 released in 1999? Background DRC: Disability Rights Commission is an independent body established in 2000 to stop discrimination & promote equality of opportunity for the disabled Acronyms

4. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 4 Accessibility Survey Survey of UK University home pages carried out in August 2002 and repeated in June 2004 Used Bobby – so only objective criteria measured Findings20022004 WAI AA compliant37 WAI A compliant7093 Reminder: this is probably an over-estimate of compliance. Problems which can only be spotted with manual detection can reduce these figures. Also note that this is just the home page – not the entire Web site! Reminder: this is probably an over-estimate of compliance. Problems which can only be spotted with manual detection can reduce these figures. Also note that this is just the home page – not the entire Web site! See <http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/events/ workshops/webmaster-2004/talks/phipps-kelly/survey/> Challenges

5. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 5 What Can We Conclude? What can we conclude from the lack of WAI WCAG AAA compliance and small percentage of AA compliance: The higher education community doesn't care about Web accessibility WCAG AAA and AA compliance is difficult to achieve (even on a single, high profile page) There are other issues to consider Challenges WCAG: Web Content Accessibility Guidelines have been developed by WAI to help Web developers to create accessible Web content Acronyms

6. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 6 WAI WCAG AA and AAA In order to achieve WAI WCAG AA compliance: Avoid deprecated features (e.g. FONT) Use W3C technologies when available and appropriate (no Flash, MS Word or PowerPoint).. use the latest versions [of W3C formats] Create documents that validate to published formal grammars (i.e. HTML must be valid) In order to achieve WAI WCAG AAA compliance: Provide information so that users may receive documents according to their preferences (i.e. markup language) Specify document collections with the LINK element and " rel " and " rev " Challenges

7. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 7 Concerns Over WAI WCAG Guidelines Too Theoretical Some WCAG guidelines appear theoretical WCAG seeks to promote W3C standards (including new ones) in addition to addressing mainstream accessibility issues Overall WAI approach is dependent on content, authoring tools and user agent guidelines – the latter two are outside the remit of Web authors Developments Outside Of W3C WAI has succeeded in raising awareness of accessibility – and commercial sector has responded (cf. accessibility in OS, proprietary formats, …) Challenges

8. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 8 Standards Or Guidelines Are WAI's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines: Pragmatic and much needed guidelines which can help authors to make Web pages more accessible To be interpreted and applied sensibly or: Mandatory standards which must be implemented in order to (a) claim WAI compliance and (b) abide with legislation No room for interpretation 11.1Use W3C technologies when they are available and appropriate for a task and use the latest versions when supported. [Priority 2] Use GIF images or FONT tags? Use HTML 4.0? HTML validation errors? WAI A is best you can achieve! Challenges

9. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 9 WAI WCAG Flaws Logical Flaws On 1 Aug 2002 when XHTML 1.0 released WAI AA pages became A (unless immediately upgraded) W3C Web Site W3C Web site is not fully AA compliant DRC Web Site DRC Web site is not AA compliant, despite AAA logo on home page DRC report is still not available in HTML format Challenges

10. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 10 Acknowledgements to Lawrie Phipps, TechDis for these slides W3C View Of A Web User Challenges

11. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 11 The Student Experience Challenges

12. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 12 So what should that mean? Pragmatism is the key Education & culture are holistic experiences (it not just about the Web) Develop a policy, meet the standards, but above all, consider all users! Challenges

13. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 13 TechDis/UKOLN’s Holistic Approach Our approach is based on recognising: External pressures e.g. funders, auditors, … Local technical infrastructure issues Wider technical developments Learning & teaching issues Usability & accessibility issues Focusing on the user’s needs Remember legislation expects organisations to take "reasonable measures" Solutions

14. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 14 Applying This Approach (1) Flash Game Flash game developed for use in Libraries “It’s not accessible – I’ll have to remove it or I may be sued” “What is it used for?” “To keep kids entertained while parents select books. They seem to like it” “So keep it. But make sure you have an equivalent amusement for children who can’t (e.g. visually impaired) or won’t (don’t like it) use the game. What about a bouncy castle, building blocks, …” Solutions

15. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 15 Applying This Approach (2) Visual Images For Blind & Visually Impaired Tate Gallery wishes to allow visually impaired to appreciate work of Picasso & Matisse Conventional approach (based on universal design) would be to provide ALT tags and LONGDESC textual descriptions of images i-Map project made use of: Approach based on needs of visually impaired PDF files of raised images  Flash animation See and "For the first time I am able to access pictures without a sighted person," said Isabella Murdoch, who used I-Map's text-only function to explore the site. "It allows me the freedom of choice to find out about a work of art at home and decide whether to visit or not." Solutions

16. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 16 Conclusions To conclude WAI have done a great job But full implementation of WAI guidelines can be difficult and may not be justified (remember WAI WCAG is only version 1.0) Within cultural heritage & educational sectors a holistic approach which seeks to provide equivalent cultural/educational experiences may prove valuable This approach may be controversial in certain circles Within the museums sector the approach may well reflect mainstream practices (cf. using a real world surrogate for a digital resource with a digital surrogate or a real world cultural object) This approach does not mean accessibility can be ignored! Conclusions