Bringing Website Accessibility to Your Campus
Presented by: Lori Bailey
OPEC-D/Ohio Ahead
February 24, 2005 -- Blackwell Hotel
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Implementing Web Accessibility on Your Campus
An 8-Step Web Accessibility
Implementation Model from WebAIM.
Step 1: Gather Baseline Information
Although WebAIM considers this a first step in the road to accessibility,
OSU chose to incorporate this step within the implementation plan of
our standards. That is, rather than checking all of our thousands of
pages first and then creating an implementation plan to repair them,
implementation includes necessary time to first evaluate and then repair
or the option to repair during evaluation. This strategy is perhaps best
suited for a large, decentralized site like OSU's. However, it should
be noted that before evaluation can occur a set of standards must be
in place (see Step 4) by which to evaluate compliance.
Instead of a full evaluation, consider evaluating several key access
areas, like the university home page, online registration or course catalogs,
and primary student services pages. Use this information to lobby for
the implementation of unified standards at your campus (Step 2).
- Choosing Validation Software: check out this guide
to validators from the WAC to get a list and short description of the most popular
automated validators, including pricing.
Step 2: Gain Top Level Support
The top-down model for accessibility will help the implementation on
several levels. It will increase visibility and priority for the issue,
provide opportunities for dedicated resources and will allow for monitoring
of compliance. All of which are necessary components to a successful
implementation.
Step 3: Organize a Web Accessibility Committee
Involving key groups in the development of the policy and standards
will help insure your implementation plan is practical and possible,
as well as gain support and momentum for the project. The group should
include both administrators and those "in the trenches" those who will
be required to assess and make the necessary repairs.
Step 4: Define a Standard
Your policy should cover the scope, implementation calendar, reporting/monitoring
requirement, and a method for handling pages/materials that cannot be
brought into compliance. Your standards should provide detailed, explicit,
and technical guidelines that define compliance for web developers. You'll
want to consider whether your institution should formally adopt/support
an existing set of standards (508/WCAG) or develop customized standards
tailored to the types of content most frequently found on your site and
method/s of construction and oversight.
Examples of Policies and Standards:
Step 5: Create an Implementation Plan
Your policy and standards will have little effect without a specific
plan for implementation, assessment and enforcement, and on-going monitoring
to insure continued compliance. Considering both the requirements of
the standards and the current compliance level of your site, you'll need
to develop a timeline for full compliance, priorities for which pages/areas
should be converted first, a clear chain of responsibility, and a system
for monitoring progress and providing training and support for those
areas that need it.
Examples of Implementation Plans:
Step 6: Provide Training and Technical Support
While it is usually not hard to make a web pages that are accessible,
most designers aren't taught about accessibility or only learn about
it as an afterthought separate from design and technology skills. Strategies
for bringing awareness and technical skills to your campus could include
distinctive web accessibility focused training or, perhaps even better,
working to incorporate issues of accessible design into existing faculty
and staff development programs. Further, some institutions may want to
require some level of training for all current web developers and as
required training for new hires. However it is delivered, training will
need to focus both on issues and awareness as well as technical skills
and compliance.
Online Accessible Design Tutorials:
Step 7: Monitor Conformance
Want to avoid spending valuable time and resources to bring your site
into full compliance, only to have it slowly slide back into a unruly
blend of compliant and non-compliant pages? If so, you'll need a strategy
for long-term monitoring. Once the site has been brought into compliance,
how will you insure that new pages meet the standards? How will you insure
that redesigns and outsourced sections don't override your hard work?
Committing to creating and maintaining an accessible web site is not
a short-term contract. Think of it as an on-going mission requiring regular
attention and continuing investment.
WebAIM offers these four ideas for
sustainability:
- Write the task of accessibility monitoring into the job description
of the head webmaster, chief technology officer, or another relevant
position
- Schedule yearly or quarterly checks of all Web content, and send
reports to the respective developers, as well as to their supervisors
- Hire an individual full or part time to be a permanent Web accessibility
consultant to all developers at the organization. This person could
check pages with a screen reader, with automated validators, with
screen enlarger software, with adaptive keyboards, and other assistive
technologies. Consider hiring an individual with a disability, and
ensure that the person you hire is a skilled HTML editor with knowledge
of accessibility issues
- Contract with an external consultant to perform yearly
or quarterly evaluations of the site. These evaluations could take
into account other elements other than just accessibility. For example,
if your organization has a style guide for the "look and feel" of the
Web pages, the evaluators could check to make sure that all pages comply
with this style guide as well as with the accessibility policy.
Step 8: Remain Flexible Through Changes
Consider this: the WAI will release major changes to its Web Content
Accessibility Guidelines within the next year. And this: the latest release
of Adobe Reader (v. 7) now allows users to fill-out and save form information.
How will your policies and standards change to reflect these new developments?
Having a system in place to review, alter, and revise your web accessibility
policy and standards will help insure that your requirements remain up-to-date
with current and emerging technologies.
Resources to Help You Keep Up With the Trends:
Resources on Web Accessibility in Education
Law
Section 504:
Section 508:
Postsecondary Education:
Standards
Tutorials/Guides
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