WCAG 2.0 became a W3C Recommendation three years ago. Now various public administrations around the globe wanting to ensure the accessibility of their digital communications strategies and online presence, are preparing to adopt WCAG as their accessibility standard. However, history shows us that accessibility experts have raised countless heated debates on how to best implement these guidelines. If field experts cannot agree on the most effective interpretations, how can we expect regular Web project stakeholders, who are not accessibility specialists, to agree on a common understanding or interpretation? It is already hard enough for organizations to implement the various success criteria of WCAG 2.0 on a single website; how much more difficult does this become when the goal is to do so across every website an organization owns? How can an organization make their websites consistently accessible to people with disabilities and aging populations, when no one agrees on what must be done and how it should be done? But what if there was a way to build a common general understanding of the intentions behind these success criteria? Wouldn’t this help in implementing WCAG 2.0 more consistently? This training session will demonstrate how accessibility standards can be broken down into a series of requirements that ensure all stakeholders in a Web project, regardless of their level of expertise with the accessibility guidelines, come up with similar interpretations and more importantly, implementations so everyone manages to get along when the time comes to understand and implement WCAG 2.0.

1. Development Track – AccessU 2012
WCAG 2.0
Why can’t we all just get along?
LOUIS ARMSTRONG
“You say WooCAG and I say WayCAG,
You say Area and I say AH-ria,
WooCAG, WayCAG, Area, AH-ria,
Let's call the whole thing off!”
John
Sla)n
AccessU
2012
Denis
Boudreau,
AccessibilitéWeb
Aus8n
–
May
15th,
2012
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2. 2012. Some Rights Reserved.
 BY
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AAribu8on
 NC
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2.5
Canada
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3. Trainer
Denis
Boudreau

Over
11
years
in
Web
Accessibility

President,
AccessibilitéWeb

Co-­‐editor,
SGQRI
008
standards

Invited
Expert,
W3C
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4. Summary
General overview
1. Implementa8on
challenges
2. Deep
within
the
WCAG
2.0
specs
3. Shedding
light
into
WCAG
2.0
4. PuWng
it
all
together
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5. But before we begin...
Come pick the tag(s) that fit you most
What
best
describes
the
work
you
do?
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6. Brought
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Implementation challenges
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7. Implementation challenges
Accessibility becomes a serious business
Accessibility
audi)ng
is
not
a
game
anymore
• Accessibility
audits
used
to
be
without
consequences
• This
is
all
changing
with
legal
requirements
&
law
suits
• Compliance
becomes
an
increasingly
sensi8ve
issue
• People
now
expect
measurable
and
objec8ve
results
• While
compliance
is
objec8ve,
accessibility
is
not
• So
when
has
an
organiza8on
made
“enough”
efforts?
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8. Implementation challenges
Difficulties of implementing requirements
What
makes
WCAG
2
great
also
makes
it
flawed
• Being
technology
agnos8c
is
awesome
• Great
for
sustainability
but
comes
with
drawbacks
• A
certain
vagueness
in
success
criteria
formula8on
• Leaves
room
for
various
uneducated
interpreta8ons
• Opens
the
door
to
lots
of
uneven
implementa8ons
• Indirectly
contributes
to
making
accessibility
hard
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9. Implementation challenges
Difficulties of implementing requirements
WCAG
2,
a
double-­‐edged
sword?
• The
vagueness
is
clarified
in
the
techniques
&
failures
• LiAerally,
thousands
of
pages
to
go
through
• But
those
are
only
informa8ve
(therefore,
not
required)
• Not
everyone
reads
them
(most
don’t
take
the
8me)
• We
are
all
welcomed
to
cherry
pick
what
we
like
• Or
maybe
even
come
up
with
new
techniques
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10. Implementation challenges
Difficulties of implementing requirements
The
Canadian
government
approach
• Turn
W3C
recommenda8ons
into
formal
requirements
• Make
WCAG
2.0
level
AA
a
mandatory
standard
• Providing
measurable
means
to
achieve
compliance
• Applying
at
least
one
technique
per
success
criteria
• Generally
trying
to
avoid
the
common
failures
• Indirectly
gran8ng
those
techniques
norma8ve
status
This
creates
obvious
problems
in
most
organiza)ons
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11. Implementation challenges
The perfect example...
1.3.1
Info
and
Rela)onships
Informa8on,
structure,
and
rela8onships
conveyed
through
presenta8on
can
be
programma8cally
determined
or
are
available
in
text.
(Level
A)
What
the
hell
does
this
mean?
When
is
such
a
success
criteria
“sufficiently
met”?
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12. Implementation challenges
Let’s take the AccessU website...
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13. Implementation challenges
1.3.1 Info and Relationships
Some
of
the
things
to
consider...
Categories
Details
Seman8cs
Use
seman8c
elements
to
markup
structure,
text
and
color
cues
Headings
Organize
pages
using
h1-­‐h6
headings
Tables
Use
seman8c
elements
to
markup
data
tables,
use
data
table
elements
and
aAributes
(summary,
cap8on,
th,
thead,
tbody,
id,
headers,
etc.)
Forms
Associate
labels
and
form
controls,
use
8tle
aAributes,
provide
a
descrip8on
for
groups
using
fieldset
and
legend,
use
optgroup
to
group
op8on
elements
inside
a
select.
Lists
Use
ol,
ul
and
dl
for
lists
or
groups
of
links.
Presenta8on
Use
text
to
convey
info
conveyed
by
varia8ons
in
presenta8on
of
text,
use
CSS
to
control
visual
presenta8on,
separate
informa8on
and
structure
from
presenta8on.
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14. Implementation challenges
The perfect example...
Experience
has
shown
us
that
for
25
people
in
a
room,
we
will
get
about
25
different
answers...
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15. Implementation challenges
Difficulties of implementing requirements
The
Quebec
government
approach
• Refute
WCAG
2.0
because
of
its
vagueness
• Make
WCAG
2.0
level
AA
a
mandatory
standard
• Iden8fy
techniques
and
turn
them
into
requirements
• Breaking
down
each
SC
into
measurable
goals
• Crea8ng
another
standard
altogether
in
the
process
This
creates
obvious
problems
for
web
accessibility
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16. Implementation challenges
Going down the fragmentation path
Many
public
administra)ons
decide
to
rewrite
accessibility
standards.
Though
perfectly
understandable
and
in
some
cases,
even
produc)ve,
this
is
bad
news
for
the
Web.
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17. Implementation challenges
The value of standards harmonization
How
standards
fragmenta)on
hurts
the
web
• Slows
down
poten8al
progress
towards
increasing
a11y
• Govt
must
spend
more
resources
on
alternate
versions
• Mainstream
authoring
tools
lack
accessibility
support
• Products
developed
locally
can’t
compete
globally
• Organiza8ons
must
track
&
support
differing
standards
These
are
all
very
true
in
the
Quebec
province
today
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18. Implementation challenges
The value of standards harmonization
How
standards
harmoniza)on
actually
helps
• All
benefit
from
years
of
interna8onal
collabora8on
• Govts
save
funding
by
using
W3C/WAI
resources
• Sonware
developers
benefit
from
economies
of
scale
• Web
developers
can
more
easily
produce
content
• Govts
can
take
advantage
of
collabora8ve
resources
But
that
doesn’t
mean
things
can’t
be
improved
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19. Implementation challenges
Education & Outreach Working Group
Standards
harmoniza)on
• Explains
key
role
of
harmoniza8on
• Promotes
adop8on
of
a
consistent
set
of
interna8onal
standards
• Currently
being
updated
• Available
at
-­‐
hAp://is.gd/szEDLJ
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20. Implementation challenges
Filling a gap in WCAG 2.0
Improving
on
what’s
already
out
there
• S8ll,
the
Quebec
accessibility
standards
have
values
• Fixing
success
criteria
general
vagueness
• Providing
the
developers
with
clear
guidance
• Reaching
out
to
already
exis8ng
documents
• Crea8ng
a
“filter”
to
apply
WCAG
2.0
consistently
• Promo8ng
harmoniza8on
through
fragmenta8on?!
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21. Implementation challenges
Establishing common grounds
Coming
to
an
agreement
for
accessibility
• Consistency
is
crucial
for
overall
coherence
• Even
more
so
when
an
organiza8on
has
many
websites
• Unless
a
lot
of
effort
is
devoted:
• Developers
hardly
have
access
to
detailed
specs
• Sharing
a
common
understanding
is
a
real
challenge
• Results
are
uneven
and
global
coherence
suffers
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22. Implementation challenges
Establishing common grounds
End
results
are
always
the
same.
Ask
any
website
owner
out
there.
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23. WAI-Engage Wiki
Role-based accessibility
Thus
came
ARB*
(a11y
responsibility
breakdown)
• Looking
at
WCAG
2.0
SC
by
roles
• Get
involved
in
the
community:
comment,
contribute,
use
• Make
this
your
own
and
bring
it
into
your
organiza8on!
• Available
at
-­‐
hAp://is.gd/5CoJd4
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24. Brought
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you
by
Deep within WCAG 2.0
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25. Deep within WCAG 2.0
WCAG 2.0 documents overview
Resource
The
WCAG
2.0
Documents
hAp://
www.w3.org/WAI/
intro/wcag20
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26. Deep within WCAG 2.0
The accessibility guidelines
Resource
WCAG
2.0
-­‐
Web
Content
Accessibility
Guidelines
hAp://www.w3.org/TR/
WCAG/
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27. Deep within WCAG 2.0
The WCAG 2.0 mindmap
Resource
The
WCAG
2.0
Map:
A
(totally
awesome)
visual
guide
to
understanding
web
accessibility
hAp://
www.stamfordinterac
8ve.com.au/the-­‐
wcag-­‐2-­‐0-­‐map/
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28. Deep within WCAG 2.0
The WCAG 2.0 documents
Resource
Resource
Resource
How
to
Meet
WCAG
2.0
Understanding
WCAG
2.0
Techniques
and
hAp://www.w3.org/ hAp://www.w3.org/TR/ Failures
for
WCAG
2.0
WAI/WCAG20/quickref/
UNDERSTANDING-­‐ hAp://www.w3.org/
WCAG20/
TR/WCAG-­‐TECHS/
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29. Brought
to
you
by
Shedding light into WCAG 2.0
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30. Shedding light into WCAG 2
Nuts and bolts of web accessibility
1st
exercise
–
working
with
SC
1.1.1
• Organize
in
groups
of
two
to
three
people
• In
10
minutes:
• Iden8fy
someone
responsible
for
taking
notes
• Find
as
many
related
best
prac8ces
as
you
can
• Try
to
find
related
poten8al
accessibility
problems
• We’ll
then
share
findings
with
the
rest
of
the
group
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31. Shedding light into WCAG 2
WCAG 2.0 AccessU ShortList
Laying
founda)ons
for
a
WCAG
2.0
Filter
• Non-­‐Text
Content
(SC
1.1.1)
• Info
and
Rela8onships
(SC
1.3.1)
• Meaningful
Sequence
(SC
1.3.2)
• Use
of
Color
(SC
1.4.1)
• Contrast
-­‐
Minimum
(SC
1.4.3)
• Keyboard
(SC
2.1.1)
• Focus
Order
(SC
2.4.3)
• Link
Purpose
-­‐
In
Context
(SC
2.4.4)
• Available
at
-­‐
hAp://is.gd/gsmr2P
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32. Shedding light into WCAG 2
Nuts and bolts of web accessibility
2nd
exercise
–
working
with
other
SC
• Organize
in
groups
of
four
to
five
people
• In
10
minutes
(per
assigned
SC):
• Iden8fy
someone
responsible
for
taking
notes
• Find
as
many
related
best
prac8ces
as
you
can
• Try
to
find
related
poten8al
accessibility
problems
• We’ll
then
share
findings
with
the
rest
of
the
group
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33. Brought
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you
by
Putting it all together
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34. Putting it all together
Adopting an assessment method
Three-­‐step
accessibility
evalua)on
1. Tes8ng
the
web
page
with
a
screen
reader
2. Using
an
automa8c
checker
for
basic
problems
3. Running
manual
tes8ng
to
complete
the
audit
And
write
recommenda)ons
people
can
use!!!
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35. Putting it all together
1st - Using NVDA to Evaluate Web Accessibility
Resource
Using
NVDA
to
Evaluate
Web
Accessibility
hAp://webaim.org/
ar8cles/nvda/
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36. Putting it all together
2nd - Web accessibility checker
Resource
Web
Accessibility
Checker
hAp://achecker.ca/
checker/
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37. Putting it all together
3rd - Roger Hudson’s WCAG 2.0 checklist
Resource
WCAG
2.0
Checklist
hAp://
www.usability.com.au
/resources/
wcag2checklist.cfm
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38. Putting it all together
Easy to use tools to get the job done
Mozilla
Firefox
Microso^
Internet
Explorer
• Web
Developer
Toolbar
• Web
Accessibility
Toolbar
• Accessibility
Evaluator
• Juicy
Studio
a11y
Toolbar
Other
useful
tools
• FireBug
• Color
Contrast
Analyzer
• HeadingsMap
• FireEyes
Extension
• NoSquint
• WAI-­‐ARIA
Landmarks
• Fangs
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39. Thank You!
Denis
Boudreau,
President
Coopéra)ve
AccessibilitéWeb
1751
Richardson
street,
suite
6111
Montreal
(Quebec),
Canada
H3K
1G6
Toll
Free:
+1
(877)
315-­‐5550
Email:
db@csaw.ca
Web:
www.accessibiliteweb.com
TwiAer
:
@AccessibiliteWb
/
@dboudreau
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