Accessibility Guidelines
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines provide an international set of guidelines*. These guidelines are the basis of most web accessibility law in the world. These guidelines are based on four principles:
- Perceivable: Available to the senses (vision and hearing primarily) either through the browser or through assistive technologies (e.g. screen readers, screen enlargers, etc.)
- Operable: Users can interact with all controls and interactive elements using either the mouse, keyboard, or an assistive device.
- Understandable: Content is clear and limits confusion and ambiguity.
- Robust: A wide range of technologies (including old and new user agents and assistive technologies) can access the content.
Under each principle there is a list of guidelines that address the principle. There are a total of 12 guidelines. A convenient list of just the guidelines can be found in the WCAG 2.0 table of contents.
One of the key objectives of the guidelines is to ensure that content is directly accessible to as many people as possible, and capable of being re-presented in different forms to match different peoples' sensory, physical and cognitive abilities.
* Applicable laws include ADA, IDEA, and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Sections 504 and Section 508).
Using the Tools
How-to use the automatic testing tools:
We recommend you first test with the WAVE tool, fix any issues and then re-test. Once WAVE passes your guide, then test your guide with CynthisSays to find any other issues WAVE might have missed.
- Go to Wave portal
- Enter the URL to your guide
- Click on WAVE this page button
- Check the results for any red or yellow icons
- Click on each tab and check for issues
- Consult the icon legend or hover over the red or yellow icons to identify the issues
- Fix all issues that are red. Try to fix yellow issue if possible.
- NOTE: You only need to fix issues that are in the content that you create. You do not need to fix issues with content you did not add.
- Retest and fix until there are no red icons in content area of guide
- Go to Cynthia Says
- Enter the URL to your guide
- Select the "Do not fail" options
- Click "Test this Site"
- NOTE: You can only check the same URL once a minute.
- NOTE: You must test each tab individually
- Check the report to see if the page passed the tests
- At the top of the report you will see either Failed Automated Verification or Passed Automated Verification
- If the tool failed the guide, consult the checklist for areas where the guide did not pass
- Fix and retest until the guide and all the tabs pass.
What does it mean if your guide fails the tests? First, it's not the end of the world, nor did you do anything wrong. There are cases where you may not be able to fix all the issues on a guide. A good rule of thumb is to fix what you can and either remove what you can't or provide an alternative to the information in a way that will pass the tests.
A video that demonstrates how to perform the testing described above (no sound).
What LALC Does for You
There are many things being done automatically to help make all guides created in Library a la Carte accessible. The following is a list of what's being done for you.
- Guide templates are compliant: The basic template for the guides have been tested for accessibility issues and code compliance. The templates pass the test and are compliant prior to any content being added.
- Metadata is added upon creation: Upon creation metadata, such as author, language, and creation date are added automatically.
- Skip to Content and Skip Navigation Links: The guide templates include a link to skip to content at the top of the page which jumps to the main content of the page. The portal pages include a link to skip navigation at the top of the page which jumps over the main navigation to the content of the page.
- Full Text Pages: As a failsafe way to provide accessiblity, each guide includes a link in the footer to a Screenreader friendly format which displays the guide as text only. Note: this does not mean that the page is compliant.
See each tab for additional information about what's being done for you per each module type.
Introducing Web Accessibility
- Access to the Web is an essential requirement for full participation in the information society
- Web accessibility is a key aspect of providing equality of access to the Web
- WAI guidelines provide an international standard for making the Web accessible
Information is also accessible when it achieves the highest level of usability.
Disabilities And Assistive Technology
Disabilities addressed by the Accessibility Standards
- Blind Users
- Color Blind Users
- Users with weak vision that cannot read small text
- Deaf users
- Hard of hearing users
- Users that cannot use a mouse
- Users with disabilities like arthritis or other motor-
control issues - Photosensitive epilepsy – Not as common but it is
addressed by the standard.
"Introduction to the Screen Reader" with Neal Ewers of the Trace Research Center is a short 6 minute video demonstrating how screen readers assist people who are blind navigate the web, access the electronic page, and more. Transcript
Why should our site be accessible?
Offering equal access to disabled users is compelling, and for many reasons:
- Build your Web site audience.
- Take a position of leadership in your particular
business sector. - Grow a loyal customer base.
- If you are doing business with the government, it is the law.
- It is apparent for non-government Web sites that it will become the law.
- The cost of retrofitting is much higher then building an accessible site from scratch.
- It simply makes good business sense to increase the number of your potential customers.
- It is the right thing to do at a minimal cost.
Accessible Web design contributes to better design for other users:
- Multi-modality: (support for visual, auditory, tactile access) benefits users of:
- mobile phones with small display screens, Web-TV, kiosks.
- low bandwidth (images are slow to download);
- noisy environments (difficult to hear the audio);
- screen-glare (difficult to see the screen);
- driving (eyes and hands are "busy").
- Redundant text/audio/video can support:
- different learning styles; low literacy levels; second-language access.
- Captioning of audio files supports:
- better machine indexing of content; faster searching of content.
Accessibility Evaluations
An accessibility conformance evaluation determines if a Web site meets accessibility standards.
Automatic Testing
Web accessibility evaluation tools are software programs or online services that help determine if a Web site meets accessibility guidelines. To perform the test you should run your guides through both of these tools.
- Wave: WAVE shows the original web page with embedded icons and indicators that reveal the accessibility of that page.
- Cynthia Says: The HiSoftware Cynthia Says portal is a web content accessibility validation solution.
Manual Testing
Manual testing needs to be done to test guidelines that automatic test can not. Manually view and inspect each section of your guide to test for compliance.
- Apply Accessibility Checklist: Use the checklists included in this guide for each module type.
- Read and Evaluate Guide Content: Is the text clear and simple to the extent appropriate for the purpose of the Web site?
- Evaluate Guide in terms or P.O.U.R. Is the guide's content perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust?
