Tackling 'Accessibility', for Web Managers.
If you're about to embark upon accessibility compliance then it's most likely for one of two reasons;
1) It's something you appreciate as being important... or...2) you have been placed in a position where compliance is now required. If for whatever reason you find yourself answering 'reason 2' and in need of some motivating then I would suggest trying to understand and experience what it can be like to use the internet as a disabled person might. The first big eye opener from myself was having the pleasure to watch Robin Christopherson deliver a presentation at the Future of Web Design conference in 2009. He demonstrated how a person with disabilities (in his case blindness) would actually get around and browse the internet. I have to say it was a dramatic moment for me and has made a big impact on my approach to all projects since that point. Get reading.
Well first and foremost I can really only recommend that you give the actual document (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0) a good read through before even looking at your work. This will lay out for you all the individual elements you will have to consider in order to comply with the standard and also at which level you are going to comply to. Now I am aware that WCAG 2.0 isn't very popular and some consider it 'next to impossible to implement' (maybe rightly so). However, one very valid point is that if you're working in either the public or the private sector and are tendering for contracts, then accessibility compliance is going to have it's place; the higher the level of compliance the more points you're going to score. This is just the land of red tape we live in I'm afraid. ... so off you go...... gone? ...... good, I'll be here then...... Hey, long wasn't it?Now before beginning to take any action you have a few decisions to make, depending on your circumstances. Whilst you may be embarking on a new project that you wish to make accessibility compliant, no doubt there will be many whom are having to consider a legacy issue. Some of you may be tasked with tackling accessibility compliance for the first time and have to review and update existing sites. So... Your next project will be compliant but is it the right thing to do to go back and bring the old sites up to date?Making a business case.
Well again this decision is dependent on your circumstances. Now please bear in mind that accessibility is important and I think we all agree on that. However, some would say there is a point of being reasonable and saying that 'this site is very old and it's not cost effective for me to spend time making it compliant'. In some cases you may be required to justify this development time and may only be able to work backwards chronologically, slowly. Please try and consider this a good thing as any efforts being made to aid accessibility in the web is a good thing. OK, so lets assume at this stage you have read through the guidance and decided on the project, be it new or updating old. The next step is getting to grips with the standard by creating a dummy page from scratch, something that covers as many of the compliance elements as possible. Taking an existing page from your site and remaking that might be a good place to start. As a web manager it's always vital that you carry out learning exercises in practical situations before disseminating work to your team. There will come a point where you will be made to make decisions relating to the project and you will need to fully understand the implications of your decisions. Where do we start?
OK well why don't we take a quick look at a couple of examples so that we can see how to structure the page appropriately.Where better to start than with "The Web Standards Project". When we disable the CSS we can see how the page has been laid out and immediately you're able to see the attention that has been given. Be sure to have a look through their tutorials section too. Also take a look at WebUsability for a good layout and some handy tips. Now you choose a site at random and go take a look at a non-styled page. See if you can draw any comparisons but also try to see what you might improve if you could.It's time to build your dummy page... when you're done run it through this automatic validator to check it for errors. Do note, this is only validating the compliance level of the document and nothing else. Do be aware that when it comes to testing a final product you will need to use other validators as well.
Right, now the next step.
You will need to review what compliance elements that will apply to this project and the best way to tackle this is to review the site plans (mock-ups) for each page. Simply listing the compliance elements as you read through will quite quickly give you a healthy checklist to use when the site is being coded but of course the official guidance document checklist itself will do just the job too. If like most web managers you are not actually going to be doing the build work yourself then it might be best to have one of your developers carry out this exercise (possibly two if you separate your front and back-end development). Also encourage them to read the W3C guidance document themselves so that you have people to lead within the team(s). Staking your claim.
It's important to note that you are under no obligation to make any kind of declaration of compliance but you are entirely free to do so if you wish. However, should you choose to make a declaration of compliance you will be required to back this up and detail the compliance information. So now you have the basic tools to tackle accessibility within your web projects and your ready to make the world a better place. What additional elements would you add to this process? How do you tackle accessibility within your team?
