A centre of expertise in digital information management Accessibility 2.0: A Holistic And...
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A centre of expertise in digital information management
www.ukoln.ac.uk
Accessibility 2.0: A Holistic And User-Centred Approach To Web AccessibilityBrian KellyUKOLNUniversity of [email protected]
UKOLN is supported by:
http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/events/conferences/mw-2007/professional-forum/http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/events/conferences/mw-2007/professional-forum/
This work is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 licence (but note caveat)
Resources bookmarked using ‘mw-accessibility-2007' tag Resources bookmarked using ‘mw-accessibility-2007' tag
Stephen BrownDe Montfort UniversityLeicester
A centre of expertise in digital information management
www.ukoln.ac.uk
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Aims Of ForumThe facilitators will encourage feedback on:
• The experiences the museum’s community has had in seeking to provide accessible Web sites
• The strengths and weaknesses of the WAI guidelines• The relationships between the accessibility, usability
and interoperability of Web sites• The relevance of guidelines in a Web 2.0 environment
At the end of the professional forum you should have:• Learnt about some of the limitations of the WAI
approach to Web accessibility• Heard about the experiences of other participants • Heard about and discussed the holistic approach to
Web accessibility• Taken part in discussions on a roadmap for future work
in this areahttp://edit.archimuse.com/mw2007/papers/kelly-brown/kelly-brown.htmlhttp://edit.archimuse.com/mw2007/papers/kelly-brown/kelly-brown.html
A centre of expertise in digital information management
www.ukoln.ac.uk
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ContentsWeb accessibility & Museum Web Sites:
• How do we try to address the issues?• How well are we doing? What difficulties do we
experience?What do we mean by Web accessibility?
• Compliance with (WAI) guidelines?• Something else?
Contextualising Web accessibility:• Based on the purpose of the service• Based on your organisation context• Based on wider contexts (e.g. cultural & legal)
What Next?• A roadmap for further work• Your feedback
A centre of expertise in digital information management
www.ukoln.ac.uk
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Web Accessibility & Museums
• How do you try to address the issue of Web accessibility within your museum?
• How well are you doing? What difficulties do you experience? How do you know?
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A centre of expertise in digital information management
www.ukoln.ac.uk
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Background: W3C WAI & WCAG
W3C (World Wide Web Consortium):• Body responsible for coordinating development of
Web standards
WAI (Web Accessibility Initiative):• W3C group responsible for developing guidelines
which will ensure Web resources are widely accessible
WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines):• One of three sets of WAI guidelines. WCAG
provides advice of accessibility on Web content (e.g. HTML pages)
• Other two WAI guidelines cover accessible user agents (UAAG) and accessible authoring tools (ATAG)
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A centre of expertise in digital information management
www.ukoln.ac.uk
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WAI Strengths
WAI work:• Provides valuable guidelines for helping to
make Web sites more accessible• Widely recognised• Widely adopted
Support by various tools:• WebXact (Bobby)• Cynthia Says• …
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A centre of expertise in digital information management
www.ukoln.ac.uk
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The WAI Model
The WAI model for Web accessibility is based on three components:
• Content• Authoring Tools• Browsers
Assumption: do three right universal accessibility
But:• We have no control over browsers & authoring tools• The browsers and authoring tools aren't great• The content guidelines are flawed• What if users are happy with their existing browser?
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A centre of expertise in digital information management
www.ukoln.ac.uk
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Interpretation of WAI WCAGHow do you interpret WAI WCAG (must use ALT tags for images; HTML must be valid; must use style sheets for presentation; …):
• Mandatory, with following characteristics:Clearly defined rules ObjectiveChecking mostly objectivePenalties for non-complianceSimilar to checking that HTML complies with the
standard
• Advisory, with following characteristics:Useful guidelines, to be interpreted in contextIt's about providing useful, usable resourcesIt's contextualChecking mostly subjectiveIt's similar to checking that a Web site is well-designed
Which reflects your views most closely?
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A centre of expertise in digital information management
www.ukoln.ac.uk
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Limitations of the WAI Model
WAI approach has shortcomings:• WAI model relies on conformant Web sites,
conformant authoring tools, conformant user agents• …and conformant users!• WCAG guidelines have flaws ("must use W3C
formats; must use latest versions; …")• Has a Web-only view of the world:
What about other IT solutions? What about blended (real world) solutions?
• Has a belief in a single universal solution: But isn't accessibility a very complex issue Is it reasonable to expect an ideal solution to
be developed at the first attempt?
Lim
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A centre of expertise in digital information management
www.ukoln.ac.uk
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What do we mean by Web accessibility?Can we provide accessible Web services without a clear understanding of what we mean by this?
Small group exercise:• What do we mean by Web accessibility?• Where does usability fit in? Where does
interoperability fit in?
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A centre of expertise in digital information management
www.ukoln.ac.uk
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Usability & Interoperability
What about:• Usability• Interoperability
http://www.rnib.org.uk/xpedio/groups/public/documents/code/InternetHome.hcsphttp://www.rnib.org.uk/xpedio/groups/public/documents/code/InternetHome.hcsp
Example:• Long, application-specific URLs can cause
accessibility/usability and interoperability problemsAddition Problems:
• We’ve got WCAG AA (and checked with users) We don’t need to do anymore (it’s costly) We don’t need to address usability
The focus on priority levels can limit what’s done
A centre of expertise in digital information management
www.ukoln.ac.uk
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Context for Web Accessibility
Are there universal aspects to Web accessibility or does Web accessibility determined by context of use?
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A centre of expertise in digital information management
www.ukoln.ac.uk
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Diversity – Content
WAI guidelines focus on informational Web sites:• Here’s the train timetable – I want the information
and I want it now• This is reasonable and desirable
But is this approach always relevant to learning and cultural contexts:
• Here’s something – you must interpret it (and being wrong can be part of the learning process)
Co
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A centre of expertise in digital information management
www.ukoln.ac.uk
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Universal Accessibility?
A centre of expertise in digital information management
www.ukoln.ac.uk
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Holistic Approach
See Developing A Holistic Approach For E-Learning Accessibility by Kelly, Phipps & Swift
See Developing A Holistic Approach For E-Learning Accessibility by Kelly, Phipps & Swift
Q How do you make highly interactive e-learning services universally accessibility (e.g. 3D model of molecules)?
A If this would be unreasonable, make the learning outcomes (rather than e-learning resources) accessible.
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Can we apply this approach to cultural resources, with an emphasis on providing a diversity of cultural experiences?
A centre of expertise in digital information management
www.ukoln.ac.uk
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Articulating the Approach
The "Tangram Metaphor" developed to avoid checklist / automated approach:
• W3C model has limitations• Jigsaw model implies
single solution• Tangram model seeks to
avoid such problems
This approach:• Encourages developers
to think about a diversity of solutions
• Focus on 'pleasure' it provides to user
This approach:• Encourages developers
to think about a diversity of solutions
• Focus on 'pleasure' it provides to user
Ou
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ork
A centre of expertise in digital information management
www.ukoln.ac.uk
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Tangram Model & Testability
"WCAG 2.0 success criteria are written as testable statements …" (nb. automated & human testing )
Issues:• What about WCAG principles that don't have defined success
criteria (e.g. "content must be understandable")?• What about 'baselines' – context only known locally• What about differing models or / definitions of 'accessibility'?
Note vendors of accessibility testing services will market WCAG tools e.g. see posting on BSI PAS 78
Tangram model can be used within WCAG• Distinguish between testable (ALT tags)
and subjective (content understandable)• Supports baselines
Baseline 1
Testable
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A centre of expertise in digital information management
www.ukoln.ac.uk
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An Emerging Roadmap
Accessibility Summit II held in Nov 2006 which agreed:
• Need for a manifesto: Building on WAI’s foundations Developing a user-centric approach Developing a contextual model Developing an evidence-based approach
• A roadmap for future work: Engagement with disability communities Engagement with WAI Identifying areas of research Gathering case studies of best practices …
A centre of expertise in digital information management
www.ukoln.ac.uk
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Building On This Work
Does the approach being developed in the UK seem applicable in your context?
What else may be needed to enhance this approach?
A centre of expertise in digital information management
www.ukoln.ac.uk
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What Next?
What should the next steps be in development of approaches for Web accessibility in a museum context?