How to evaluate technology for accessibility

Terrill ThompsonTechnology Accessibility Specialist

University of Washingtontft@uw.edu

@terrillthompsonhttp://uw.edu/accessibility

What is "accessible technology"?

Can I access it without seeing it?

Can I access it without a mouse?

Can I access it without sound?

Accessible technologystandards

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)

• WCAG 1.0 published in 1999

• WCAG 2.0 published in 2008

WCAG 2.0

• Four principles:– Perceivable – Operable – Understandable – Robust

• 62 specific success criteria– Level A — 26 success criteria– Level AA — 13 success criteria– Level A — 23 success criteria

Example WCAG 2.0 Success Criteria at Level A/AA

• Alt text on images

• Captions on videos

• Color not the sole means of communicating information

• Proper heading structure

• Labels on form fields

• Visible indication of keyboard focus

Section 508 Standards (2000)

• Technical Standards – Software and operating systems – Web content and applications

(based on WCAG 1.0 Priority 1 checkpoints)– Telecommunications products – Video and multimedia products– Self contained, closed products– Desktop and portable computers

• Functional Performance Criteria

WCAG 2.0 Level AA as the de facto standard

• Many higher education policies• Many resolution agreements and legal

settlements • Many international accessibility laws • DOJ proposed new rules for the ADA

regarding web accessibility– Public comment period ended in 2011

• 508 standards refresh – Latest draft published February 2015

ARIA"Accessible Rich Internet Applications"

Communicates roles, states, and properties of interface elements to accessibility APIs, for the benefit of AT users. Answers questions like:

– What is this? – How do I use it? – Is it on/selected/expanded/collapsed? – What just happened?

<div role="alert"> The email you entered is not valid. Please try again.</div>

• role="tree"

• role="treeitem"

• aria-hidden="true"

• aria-expanded="false"

• aria-controls="id-of-submenu"

• etc.

ARIA Example

Is Product X accessible?How do we know?

Three Steps

1. Ask questions about the product's accessibility2. Ask your peers about the product's accessibility3. Test the product, and share your findings!

Ask about the product's accessibility

Who to ask

• The person/group making the purchasing decision

• The vendor

What to ask

• Is it accessible?• Can users perform all functions without a mouse?• Has it been tested using assistive technologies? • If so, which AT? What was your method? What

were your findings? Who did the testing? • If it supports audio, does it support captions?• If it produces output, is the output accessible? • Is accessibility documentation available?

Sources of Information from Vendor

• Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) • Accessibility information on website • Product user forums (search for "accessibility"

or "disabilities")– Note users' reported issues– Note vendors' response to these issues

Example: Vendor's Accessibility Web Page

Company X is committed to making its tools accessible for all users, including people with disabilities. Our tools comply with Federal Section 508 guidelines, Bobby, and W3C WCAG recommendations.

Example VPATs• Canvas LMS:

http://www.canvaslms.com/accessibility

• Adobe Captivate:http://www.adobe.com/accessibility/compliance/adobe-captivate-5-section-508-vpat.html

• TechSmith (Camtasia) Relay: https://www.techsmith.com/accessibility.html

• Some bad examples:http://www.karlgroves.com/2011/07/07/why-a-third-party-should-prepare-your-vpatgpat/

Ask your peers about the product's accessibility

Where the IT Accessibility People Are

• ATHEN http://athenpro.org

• EDUCAUSE IT Accessibility Constituent Grouphttp://educause.edu/groups/itaccess

• WebAIM Email Discussion Listhttp://webaim.org/discussion

• Accessing Higher Ground Conferencehttp://accessinghigherground.org

Test the product and share your findings!

Take the #nomouse challenge!

nomouse.org

How to approach product testing

• Define functions/workflows to test• Can you perform all functions?

– With keyboard alone – With a screen reader – With screen magnification / large fonts / high

contrast – With speech input

• Recruit users to help with testing – Understand that users have varying skill levels

Tools can help, but they don't tell the whole story

• WAVEhttp://wave.webaim.org

• Functional Accessibility Evaluator (FAE) http://fae20.cita.illinois.edu

• Various browser toolbars & pluginshttp://www.washington.edu/accessibility/web/tools-and-resources/

Overwhelmed?Don't be.

Everyone, in descending order by how much they should

know about web accessibility

• Web/IT accessibility specialists

• Web/IT developers

• Web/IT managers, administrators

• Support staff for content authors

• Content authors

• Everyone else

Everyone needs to know

• That users are incredibly diverse

• The sorts of questions to ask

• Where to turn for help

Overall Strategy

• Talk to vendors about accessibility

• Request VPATs, but review them critically

• Include accessibility requirements in RFPs

• Develop a procedure for evaluating products for accessibility

• Include accessibility requirements in contracts

• Participate in collaborative efforts with other institutions (e.g., through ATHEN)

Accessible Technology Resources

• UW Accessible Technology http://uw.edu/accessibility

• AccessComputinghttp://uw.edu/accesscomputing

• The DO-IT Center http://uw.edu/doit