1. Creative Commons – some rights reserved Section 508 to WCAG2 Diagram of evolving web technologies over time. From 1991 and plain text through Mosaic, Netscape, Opera, I.E. and the various evolutions of CSS, HTML and Javascript/AJAX "The power of the Web is in its universality. Access by everyone regardless of disability is an essential aspect." – Tim Berners-Lee, World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Director and inventor of the World Wide Web Transition: the new Section 508

2. Creative Commons – some rights reserved Section 508 to WCAG2 Welcome! Let’s talk about standards! What are they for, how do they work, where are they going? Sharron Rush srush@knowbility.orgsrush@knowbility.org

3. Creative Commons – some rights reserved Section 508 to WCAG2 Accessible People with disabilities …can acquire the same information …participate in the same activities …be active producers as well as consumers

4. Creative Commons – some rights reserved Section 508 to WCAG2 4 I.T. Accessibility Movement Illustration of Universal Access symbols - wheelchair, Braille letters, tab navigation. The words accessibility, open standards, innovation. Grounded in civil rights Universal access to built environment – required by ADA Standards bodies recognized need to address IT accessibility Concepts and vocabulary extended into learning and communications

5. Creative Commons – some rights reserved Section 508 to WCAG2 Universal Design… supports all people supports all technology improves experience for all strong relationship to usability “Good design IS accessible design” ~ Dr. John Slatin

6. Creative Commons – some rights reserved Section 508 to WCAG2 Why advocate for inclusive design? Legal Technical Market Humanitarian Visionary Image: Man on soap box as advocate

7. Creative Commons – some rights reserved Section 508 to WCAG2 Legal Mandates International – UN Convention on Rights of People with Disabilities, 2006 Global requirements based on WCAG2 US Federal standards, Section 508 Other national laws State and local laws

8. Creative Commons – some rights reserved Section 508 to WCAG2 8 US Federal Law Section 508 of Rehabilitation Act Oct 2010, President signed 21 st Century Accessible Technology bill ADA. DoJ recent notice of intention to extend to web.

9. Creative Commons – some rights reserved Section 508 to WCAG2 All 50 US states now mandate accessibility Legally binding for agencies, educational entities, purchases Most reference Section 508

10. Creative Commons – some rights reserved Section 508 to WCAG2 10 Legal progress in US 1998 – 2002 National Federation of the Blind (NFB) vs SW Airlines, AOL others Most settled out of court, few clear legal precedents established Since 2002, states and NFB are filing under local and ADA laws with greater success Structured negotiations successful in increasing accessibility without litigation

11. Creative Commons – some rights reserved Section 508 to WCAG2 Demographic Forces Number of people with disabilities is growing 55 million Americans / 1 billion worldwide Fortune: “$1 trillion annual market” in US $200 billion in discretionary spending More as population ages

12. Creative Commons – some rights reserved Section 508 to WCAG2 Improved technical performance Harmonize with global standards Internationalization Demonstrated ROI

13. Creative Commons – some rights reserved Section 508 to WCAG2 Image of 9-year old girl in home made super girl costume, arms crossed, goggles on, looking determined! Because we can!

14. Creative Commons – some rights reserved Section 508 to WCAG2 Human Rights In 2006, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities recognized technology access as a basic human right. Logo of the High Commissioner for Human Rights at the United NationsConvention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

15. Creative Commons – some rights reserved Section 508 to WCAG2 Accessibility Standards Overview of standards How they interrelate How to choose

16. Creative Commons – some rights reserved Section 508 to WCAG2 Role of Standards Shared understanding of requirements among: o Consumers o Authoring Toolmakers o Developers o Makers of browsers and AT devices “How to” Techniques and testing criteria for content creators

17. Creative Commons – some rights reserved Section 508 to WCAG2 Components of Web Accessibility Diagram of the relationship between authoring and evaluation tools, Web content, and user agent tools such as browsers and assistive technologies. As each component adheres to common standards, accessibility and interoperability are improved. At the W3c, groups of experts work in collaboration on the ATAG – authoring tools accessibility group; WCAG – web content accessibility group; and UAAG – user agent accessibility group, and others. WCAG (web content) ATAG (authoring tools) UAAG (user agent)

18. Creative Commons – some rights reserved Section 508 to WCAG2 Global Standards WCAG - Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. International standards for the web ATAG - Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines. Vendor standards for interoperability UAAG - User Accessibility Guidelines for browsers and assistive technologies ARIA - Accessible Rich Internet Application research for emerging technologies www.w3.org/WAI

19. Creative Commons – some rights reserved Section 508 to WCAG2 Section 508 Guidelines Only used in US Subpart B - technical standards o 16 rules of web-based intranet and internet accessibility standards o Besed on WCAG1 o In process of “Refresh” www.section508.gov

20. Creative Commons – some rights reserved Section 508 to WCAG2 Standards are being revised Section 508 in “refresh” (expect to harmonize with WCAG 2.0) WCAG 2.0 released in December 2008 – accessibility defined within 4 basic principles. 508WCAG

21. Creative Commons – some rights reserved Section 508 to WCAG2 New 508 references WCAG2 “E207.2 WCAG Conformance. User interface components and content of platforms and applications shall conform to Level A and Level AA Success Criteria and Conformance Requirements specified for web pages in WCAG 2...”

22. Creative Commons – some rights reserved Section 508 to WCAG2 WCAG2 defines four principles of accessibility Content is POUR 1. P erceivable 2.… O perable 3.… U nderstandable 4.…and R obust

23. Creative Commons – some rights reserved Section 508 to WCAG2 POUR Principles are widely applicable Documents Web pages Web applications Content management

24. Creative Commons – some rights reserved Section 508 to WCAG2 Not just for web pages Advisory E205.1 Official Agency Communications. WCAG is written to be technology neutral. While oriented towards web pages which are defined as being delivered using HTTP, it is straightforward to apply the WCAG 2.0 Success Criteria and Conformance Requirements to all electronic content.

25. Creative Commons – some rights reserved Section 508 to WCAG2 WCAG 2.0,Guideline 1 1. Perceivable - Information and user interface components must be presented to users in ways they can perceive

26. Creative Commons – some rights reserved Section 508 to WCAG2 WCAG 2.0,Guideline 2 2. Operable - User interface components and navigation must be operable

27. Creative Commons – some rights reserved Section 508 to WCAG2 WCAG 2.0,Guideline 3 3. Understandable - Information and the operation of user interface must be understandable

28. Creative Commons – some rights reserved Section 508 to WCAG2 WCAG 2.0,Guideline 4 4. Robust – Content must be flexible enough to be interpreted reliably by a wide variety of user agents, including assistive technologies

29. Creative Commons – some rights reserved Section 508 to WCAG2 Section 508 to WCAG2 Map Created by Tom Jewett and Wayne Dick for CSUN 2009 http://www.tomjewett.com/accessibility/508- WCAG2.html http://www.tomjewett.com/accessibility/508- WCAG2.html

30. Creative Commons – some rights reserved Section 508 to WCAG2 Mapping strategy Comprised of six steps: 1.State the need 2.Identify gap in equally effective access 3.Which of four basic principles apply? 4.  which guidelines? 5.  which Success Criteria? 6.Find the sufficient techniques to test and validate.

31. Creative Commons – some rights reserved Section 508 to WCAG2 Graphic representation of WCAG2 guidelines. Accessible version found http://www.stamfordinteractive.com.au/resources/wcag-2-0-map/ http://www.stamfordinteractive.com.au/resources/wcag-2-0-map/

32. Creative Commons – some rights reserved Section 508 to WCAG2 Implementation Strategy Explicit policy statement with reference to standards Training and orientation to standards Design with progressive enhancement Create internal supports Iterative testing Include people with disabilities in user testing

33. Creative Commons – some rights reserved Section 508 to WCAG2 Progressive Enhancement Replaces the notion of “graceful degradation” Layers content, semantic HTML, CSS and scripting WAI-ARIA

34. Creative Commons – some rights reserved Section 508 to WCAG2 Testing for Accessibility Structure based on internal policies Specific protocols will depend on goals Should be part of overall QA Will be iterative Can improve user experience for all

35. Creative Commons – some rights reserved Section 508 to WCAG2 35 Automated free one-page tests AChecker http://achecker.ca/checker/index.php http://achecker.ca/checker/index.php The Wave http://wave.webaim.org/ http://wave.webaim.org/ Worldspace http://tinyurl.com/Worldspace-onepage http://tinyurl.com/Worldspace-onepage Results emailed to you by AMP Express https://amp.ssbbartgroup.com/express https://amp.ssbbartgroup.com/express

36. Creative Commons – some rights reserved Section 508 to WCAG2 36 Manual Testing with toolbars Tools we use (and there are others…) Accessibility Extension for Firefox Accessibility Toolbar for IE Deque Worldspace FireEyes FANGS Jim Thatcher’s Favelets Web developer toolbar

37. Creative Commons – some rights reserved Section 508 to WCAG2 Resources W3C – Web Accessibility Initiative How to Meet WCAG2 http://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG20/quickref/ http://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG20/quickref/ WebAIM’s WCAG2 Checklist Unofficial guidance http://webaim.org/standards/wcag/checklist Designing with Progressive Enhancement Book from Filament Group http://filamentgroup.com/dwpe/ Adaptive Web Design Recent book by Aaron Gustafson http://easy-readers.net/books/adaptive-web-design/

38. Creative Commons – some rights reserved Section 508 to WCAG2 Thank you You make all the difference! srush@knowbility.org @knowbility on Twitter www.facebook.com/knowbility