Rethinking Web ServicesAccessibility as a main

factor

12 December 2013

Claudio Morgia,

IT Chief,

UNECE

SUMMARY

• What is accessibility

• Accessibility as a non-technical factor

• Accessibility as a technical factor

• Practical accessibility

WHAT IS ACCESSIBILITY

Accessibility is not compliance

WHAT IS ACCESSIBILITY

Accessibility is a continuing

communication process

WHAT IS ACCESSIBILITY

Accessibility is the result of a collaborative,

inclusive process

WHAT IS ACCESSIBILITY

Everybody will benefit from accessibility

ACCESSIBILITY AS A NON-TECHNICAL FACTOR

• Accessibility is AWARENESS

• Accessibility is the result of a collaborative effort of all

the people involved in the design and implementation of

web contents

• It is about having a better understanding of the human

cognition and perception

• It is about translating this knowledge into technical

assets consumable by everyone

ACCESSIBILITY AS A TECHNICAL FACTOR

From the technical standpoint, accessibility is:

• guiding principle

• design techniques

• architectural style

• assistive technologies

WEB CONTENT ACCESSIBILITY GUIDELINES 2.0 (WCAG)

• Set of 21 guidelines distilled by W3C from practical

experiences

• Based on principles and NOT on technology

• Not an all-inclusive list of issues facing web users with

disabilities

• Internationally recognized and adopted standards

WCAG 2.0 PRINCIPLES

1. Perceivable

– Text alternatives, captions, different renderings and

assistive technologies

2. Operable

– Keyboard based, longer times, improved navigation

3. Understandable

– Readable text, predictable content

4. Robust, maximize future compatibility

WCAG 2.0 LEVELS

• Organized into three levels of conformance

– Level A – the most basic web accessibility features

– Level AA – deals with the biggest and most common

barriers for disabled users

– Level AAA – the highest level of web accessibility, that

many websites cannot reach

ACCESSIBILITY AS A TECHNICAL FACTOR

TOOLS ARE VALUABLE, BUT NO REPLACEMENT FOR KNOWLEDGEABLE

PRACTITIONER

PRACTICAL ACCESSIBILITY

• Accessibility is not just a technical test before the web site delivery

• Accessibility is a principle since the beginning

• Experience disabilities as a driving force

• Include potential users

• It’s not different than the “plain old way” of designing user experience

• LISTEN TO YOUR USERS