Promoting accessibility in the web development lifecycle

Why take a lifecycle approach?

• Easier, cheaper and produces better outcomes thanretrofitting a design for accessibility
• Risks and opportunities present themselves in every phase of the lifecycle

The web development lifecycle

1. Planning phase
2. Research and requirements phase
3. Design and evaluation phase
4. Implementation and maintenance phase

1. Planning phase

1.1 Educate project stakeholders

• Knowledge of disabilities and how they affect use of the web is low
  • Some people still think only of blind users and text-only websites
• Understanding of accessible design is very poor
  • How it benefits a wide range of users is often not considered
• A lack of awareness of the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act

References and resources

• Disability Discrimination Act 1992
• Disability Discrimination Act, Advisory Notes on web accessibility

1.2 Sell the benefits of accessible design

• Increases market share and audience reach
  • 8-10% of population have disabilities that affect web use
  • Over 60% of users use accessibility-related features built into Windows (Microsoft research)
• Support for low literacy levels (46% of Australians)
• Improved access for alternative devices (Personal Digital Assistants, etc)
• Improve search engine rankings and discovery (text alternatives, metadata)
• Improved access for low bandwidth users(rural, lower socio-economic groups, non-geeks)
• Improves efficiency
• Reduced site maintenance
  • Server loads lower, server bandwidth less
• Demonstrates social responsibility
• Reduces legal liability

References and resources

• Developing a Web Accessibility Business Case for Your Organization
• Research studies about accessible technology
• Literacy in the information age (PDF - 916kb)

1.3 Get the right people in your project team

• Should be supportive of a user-centred design approach
• Multidisciplinary team including:
  • Experience in using user-centred design methods
  • Good understanding of accessible design techniques
  • Solid markup/CSS skills
• Educate and encourage the team
  • Don’t wait until the design/development phase or they may miss opportunities to enhance the design

References and resources

• Integrating accessibility throughout design
• Web Accessibility Initiative resources
• WebAIM articles and resources

1.4 Select an accessible authoring tool

• Authoring tools can help people produce more or less accessible content
• Influence purchase of tools
• Investigate capability/limitation of existing tools
• Influence customisation of tools
  • e.g. CMS set up to prompt authorsto enter text alternatives

References and resources

• Authoring Tools Accessibility Guidelines (ATAG)
• Authoring tool conformance evaluations

2. Requirements and research phase

2.1 Identify and involve users with disabilities

• Identify disabled users in your target audience
  • You will always have some, no matter how restricted to audience (e.g. colour blind users)
  • Don’t forget older users
• Involve users with disabilities in your user research
  • If you’re doing surveys, focus groups, interviews or field visits, try to include disabled users
• Create user group profiles that include information about disabled users
• Include disabled users in the development of personas
• Create scenarios that cover disabled users

References and resources

• User group profiles
• Personas
• Scenarios

2.2 Specify accessibility requirements

• Include in your requirements document
  • Don’t just say “compliance with WCAG 1.0 AA”
  • Specify the accessible design features you particularly want, e.g. text for navigation bars, resizeable text, visible skip links, etc.
• Include in your usability goals

3. Design and evaluation phase

3.1 Use accessible design guidelines and techniques

• Use the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0
  • These guidelines are endorsed by the Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission
• Implement the guidelines using accessible design/markup/CSS techniques
  • Numerous resources available online to help you do this

References and resources

• Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 (WCAG 1.0)
  • Endorsement of WCAG 1.0
• Techniques for the WCAG 1.0
  • Core techniques
  • HTML techniques
  • CSS techniques

3.2 Include disabled users in design and evaluation activities

• Do design walkthroughs of early prototypes
• Use screening techniques to evaluate later prototypes
• Do usability testing with disabled users

References and resources

• Design walkthroughs for accessible deisgn
• Screening techniques
• Usability testing

3.3 Create accessible markup

• Ensure developers use accessible markup techniques to get your templates right
  • Valid markup
  • Structural markup (headings, lists, etc.)
  • CSS to separate presentation from structure wherever possible
• Validate and evaluate for accessibility as development progresses
• Support developers to hone their skills and understand standards-based design
  • Communities of practice - e.g. Web Standards Group with meetings in most Australian states

References and resources

• Web Standards Group
• Web Directions conference

3.4 Lock down templates

• Make sure authors can’t accidentally reduce accessibility or remove accessible design features
• Options depend on how your pages will be created:
  • CMS presentation templates
  • Dreamweaver templates with non-editable regions
  • Use server-side includes

3.5 Include accessible design guidelines in your web style guide

• Don’t treat accessibility as a separate issue - easy for people to avoid it
  • e.g. first version of Monash University web style guide had a separate accessibility section
• “Mainstream” accessible design
  • e.g. second version of Monash University web style guide integrated accessible design considerations throughout

References and resources

• Monash University web style guide

4. Implementation and maintenance phase

4.1 Include an accessibility check in your QA process

• It is possible to compromise accessibility when creating content – even if template locked down.
  • E.g “click here” links
• So need to do some accessibility evaluation in QA
• Don’t make it too cumbersome or it won’t happen
  • You should ask and expect more from web professionals
  • For other publishers, keep it simple
• Train and support all publishers
• Select an appropriate tool to help
  • A simple tool like The Wave might be good for non-web professionals
  • Web professionals should be taught to do both manual and automated evaluation

References and resources

• The WAVE
• Web accessibility evaluation tools
• Evaluating websites for accessibility

4.2 Do periodic random audits

• Be vigilant – check periodically
• Rushed nature of web publishing means the risk of creating inaccessible content/pages is high
• Don’t punish offenders – help and encourage them
• Reward those who are doing well

4.3 Audit all your content creation training courses (web-based or not)

• Review all your training courses that teach people how to use tools to produce content
  • This content could end up online!
• Aim to “mainstream” accessible design practices in courses on Word, Powerpoint, PDF creation, etc.
• If people are taught to do things the right way, then accessibility is no longer an (optional) extra

References and resources

• Rich media accessibility

4.4 Help people hire good web staff

• Job descriptions for web people should include requirement for knowledge of accessible design
• Prepare interview questions (and answers) to help in staff selection
• Provide information about hiring contract developers
• Help people commission accessible sites from outside companies

References and resources

• PAS 78: a guide to good practice in commissioning accessible websites