building a seamless digital accessibility strategy · 3.create a policy & statement 4.collect...

Building a SEAMLESS Digital Accessibility Strategy

Presented by:

Asher Rosenfeld

Director of Solution Architecture

SeamlessDocs

I specialize in working with governments to create digital processes and municipal-wide change management structures

What is Digital Accessibility

“The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)...generally require that state and local

governments provide qualified individuals with disabilities equal access to their programs, services, or activities unless doing so would

fundamentally alter the nature of their programs, services, or activities or would impose an undue

burden.”

ADA Best Practices Tool Kit for State and Local Governments:

DEFINING TERMS

AccessibleAc·ces·si·ble /əkˈsesəb(ə)l/adjective

1. Ability for ANYONE to have a means to have the same level of access.

CompliantCom·pli·ant /kəmˈplīənt/adjective

1. Ability to GUARANTEE that something abides by a certain level of criteria.

Goal: It is not enough for a platform to enable an organization to build accessible forms, they need to GUARANTEE that the output will be compliant.

The State of Accessibility

ACCESSIBILITYSTATE OF MARKET

Expected and Right

Best Practices

Legal Trends

LAW SUITSSTATE OF MARKET

Providing Accessible Information and Services is EXPECTED and the RIGHT thing to do.

EXISTING TOOLSACCESSIBILITY STATUS QUO

Website Remediation:PDF Remediation:Monitoring Tools:Manual Testing:Training:Form Building:

HOW TO BE ACCESSIBLE?ACCESSIBILITY STATUS QUO

Training:Consultants:Code Updates:Testing:

Insight: There is no easy way to create a sustainable accessibility playbook & procure tools to ensure accessibility compliance.

About SeamlessDocs

C U R R E N T P R O C E S S

The Form

In SeamlessDocs we Trust

TRACTION

SeamlessDocs Accessibility Journey

The Platform for creating Accessible Online Services &

eSignatures.

SEAMLESSDOCS

Find FormsComplete Forms

Process Forms

ACCESSIBILITY & COMPLIANCE TOOLS

AccessibilityPlaybook

Tools

Includes:

Features:

Creating an Accessibility Playbook

DigitalPlaybook.1. Build Empathy & Culture2. Establish Ownership & Commitment3. Create a Policy & Statement4. Collect & Track Feedback5. Example Analytics & Strategy6. Implement & Provide Basic Training7. Create & Document Roadmap8. Engage the Accessibility Community9. Build & Develop with Accessibility in Mind

10. Monitor Continuously & Test Periodically11. PUBLISH & DISTRIBUTE

It starts with making a commitment and

ensuring that your entire team understands

that accessibility should be a FIRST Principle.

It is important to make sure your team

understands basic etiquette towards people

with disabilities and basic inclusion principles.

In addition, it is important that the team

understands the basic tenants of the Law (ADA

& 508) and other web standards (W3C's, WCAG

2.0 Levels A & AA, and the WAI-ARIA).

Play 1.Build Empathy & Culture

Play 2.Establish Ownership & Commitment

Establish team members within the organization

that can make sure they are either addressing

accessibility concerns or helping make progress with

accessibility.

In addition, formally stating a commitment either

internally, externally or both is important to show

your organization.

Accessibility is no longer a should have, it is a must

have. Make sure to allocate appropriate resources.

Play 3.Create a Policy & Statement

Let your constituents know your basic policies

surrounding accessibility. Also, make a formal policy

surrounding how you will handle accessibility issues.

An Accessibility Policy can serve as a guide for your

team. You can use online resources such as W3C,

SeamlessDocs Accessibility Portal or your legal team.

AccessibilityPortal

Tools.

Features:

Form Templates

Requests / ADA ComplianceGeneral / Digital / Physical

AccommodationIn Person Events & Sessions

InvolvementVolunteer

Play 4.Collect & Track Feedback

Accessibility Portal

It is crucial to collect complaints and feedback.

Make it easy for the User to provide Accessibility

Feedback, whether it is physical or digital.

Play 5.Examine AnalyticsLet your users tell you where to start.

Use data to power your remediation strategy. It can be

powerful to start with the most used website pages,

documents and online services. Many websites have

hundreds if not thousands of pages of content; let data

help you craft an execution plan.

Tools Used: Google Analytics, SeamlessReports

Play 6.Implement & Provide Basic Training

Education and training will be essential to both

creating a Culture of Accessibility and ensuring that

accessibility is considered with any new content and

services.

There are many roles in your organization that will

benefit from basic training:

● Developers

● Designers

● Quality assurance

● Writers

● Project managers

● Human resources,

Tools Used: SeamlessCentral, DeQue

Play 7.Create & Document Roadmap

There are many aspects on content:

● Webpages

● PDFs and Documents

● Forms & Online Services

● Event Pages

Break your content into categories and then devise a

realistic strategy for each type and ideally

communicate your plan towards remediation.

No need to start from scratch. Take a look at ADA.gov

Tools Used: Service Center

https://www.ada.gov/pcatoolkit/chap5toolkit.htm

Play 8.Engage the Accessibility Community

The Accessibility Community has a saying, "nothing

for us, without us."

Tools Used: Volunteer Web Form

Play 9.Build & Develop with Accessibility in Mind

Make sure Accessibility is factored into Development

and Design moving forward.

There are multiple paths towards Execution:

● Training and Education

● Tooling and Software

● Task Force and Checklists

Some of the Accessibility goals we are trying to

achieve:

● Remediate or Build Websites

● Remediate or Replace PDFs

● Create new PDFs and Web Forms

● Build Better Online Services

Tools Used: Style Guide

Web FormsTools.

Includes:

Features:

Play 10.Monitor Continuously & Test Periodically

In addition to making sure our existing digital

content is accessible, it is equally as important to

make sure it stays compliant and any new

information published online is accessible.

Create a realistic plan for monitoring your online

resources and set goals for when periodic manual

tests should occur.

Tools Used: axe, SiteImprove, SeamlessAccess, Equal Entry

Monitoring Software

Tools.

Includes:

Features:

Play 11.Launch,Publish & Distribute

In addition to making sure our existing digital

content is accessible, it is equally as important to

make sure it stays compliant and any new

information published online is accessible.

Create a realistic plan for monitoring your online

resources and set goals for when periodic manual

tests should occur.

Tools Used: Service Center

AccessibilityPlaybook

Tools.

Includes:

Features:

A11YBar

Most online tools are either not accessible or can’t control

compliance.

The Problem

The ProblemThey want to use us, but need help!

Overall the theme: They love the solution and want to use it more, but often when

they work on a process, there are key gaps.

● They really want to be able to utilize this solution across the entire municipality but would need

processor only users who can’t create forms.

● They also don't quite understand how they could manager these users at scale.

A11YBarINTRODUCING

OUT OF THE BOX:

1. Skip To Main2. Accessible Feedback From3. Establishing Ownership4. Accessibility Statement

A11YBarAn easy to use widget that adds crucial accessibility features to your website and allows you to collect valuable feedback from users.

The ProblemThey want to use us, but need help!

Overall the theme: They love the solution and want to use it more, but often when

they work on a process, there are key gaps.

● They really want to be able to utilize this solution across the entire municipality but would need

processor only users who can’t create forms.

● They also don't quite understand how they could manager these users at scale.

Interactive Exercise

Next Steps

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Timeline

Who are the people involved? Do you have an Accessibility Coordinator?

Establish Stakeholders

This can be custom built or you can use a template.

Take a look at A11YBar.com to generate

your own!

Create an Accessibility Playbook

Find a partner who accomplishes these tool

out of the box. Forms, Governance, Website.

Find Tools

1. 2. 3.

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Focus on quick wins and biting off what you can chew. Then celebrate

those wins and move from there.

Execute on Plays

It’s not just about building for people with disabilities,

it’s about building a beautiful and seamless

experience for everyone.

ACCESSFORALL

LAUNCH & DISTRIBUTE

4. 5.

Takeaways:

1. Go To A11ybar.com

2. Contact Us for full Accessibility Services

3. Get Started with Digital & Accessible Forms

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Get in Touch

Asher Rosenfeld