Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 is celebrating its first birthday.

Although adoption of the web accessibility standards has been pretty slow going, awareness in WCAG 2.0 is increasing and the guidelines are starting to make their way into web policy making.

One of the first governments to embrace W3C accessibility was New Zealand. In March 2009 they adopted WCAG 2.0 as a government accessibility standard (Level AA).

With governments in India, the UK, Canada and Australia following this trend in migrating from WCAG 1.0, we should see an increase in web design accessibility.

To celebrate WCAG 2.0’s first anniversary, accessibleweb will be conducting a review of each component of the web accessibility guidelines within the Perceivable, Operable, Understandable and Robust sections.

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 became live in December 2008. The full WCAG 2.0 guidelines are available from the W3C website.

The new guidelines are divided into 4 main sections:

1. Perceivable
2. Operable
3. Understandable
4. Robust

Below is a very brief summary of what is included within the 4 WCAG sections.

WCAG 2.0

1. Perceivable
Web content can be seen and heard

• 1.1 Text alternatives – Alt text for images, labels for form controls, identification of embedded multimedia.
• 1.2 Time-based Media – Transcript of online audio files (MP3s and podcasts), transcript for web video.  Captions for multimedia files.
• 1.3 Adaptable – Correct use of headings, tables and lists in the HTML code. Flexibility to change page layout without damaging it’s structure.
• 1.4 Distinguishable – Contrasting foreground and background colours. Colour is not used as the sole mechanism for displaying content or interaction.

2. Operable
The page is operable

• 2.1 Keyboard accessible – The web page can be used via the keyboard
• 2.2 Enough time – Users have the ability to pause or cancel time based interactions.
• 2.3 Seizures – No flashing components that may cause a seizure
• 2.4 Navigable – Skip navigation option, descriptive page titles, clear link text meaning

3. Understandable
Page content and interface understandable

• 3.1 Readable – Correct use of the html lang attribute and abbr tag.
• 3.2 Predictable – Consistent navigation, no major page events (such as pop ups) on changes to focus or interaction
• 3.3 Input assistance – Identify required fields in a controls label, provide cues or error alerts.

4. Robust
Can be used by multiple browsers or devices

• 4.1 Compatible – Validate the pages

In the past there were a lot of controversy surrounding the development of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines for WCAG version 2.0 (which we also were not entirely innocent), but nearly all participants in the discussion had only one goal: a better standard for the benefit of users and Web developers. And that is since yesterday, the 11th December 2008, achieved – if that’s no reason to celebrate too!

Many controversies revolved around the complexity of the documents and ensure the guidelines are complex, where they are from front to rear reading (what we have done several times). But, as Shadi Abou-Zahra of the WAI said: “” Dear too much than too little documentation “.” The guidelines are not entirely without reason as extensive as expected, and there are two simple reasons: ruggedness and testability. The WCAG 2.0 is technology-neutral and robust, so that all current and especially future Web technologies, we still do not know, should be covered.

And they are 100% testable! (unlike its predecessor) In addition to the machine testable criteria, there are a number of non-machine-testable criteria, but all are formulated so that two different human testers independently to the same result would have come. This makes it easier to work with the guidelines but immensely.

And they are 100% feasible! An important precondition for the adoption of the guidelines was that the feasibility for each point could be demonstrated in detail. Without such proof no directive (incidentally were also some remarkable example implementations from the German-speaking countries here).

If you do not want to read entire documents – that we fully understand. At least the basic principles and guidelines but should any professional Web developers know. These are really brief – so brief and so obvious that we can print here in its entirety:
1st Perceivable – Information and user interface components must be presentable to users in ways they can perceive.
* 1.1 Provide text alternatives for any non-text content so that it can be changed into other forms people need, such as large print, Braille, speech, symbols or simpler language.
* 1.2 Provide alternative for time-based media.
* 1.3 Create content that can be presented in different ways (for example simple layout) without losing information or structure.

* 1.4 Make it easier for users to see and hear content including separating foreground from background.

2nd Operable – User interface components and navigation must be operable.

* 2.1 Make all functionality available from a keyboard.
* 2.2 Provide users enough time to read and use content.
* 2.3 Do not design content in a way that is known to cause seizure.
* 2.4 Provide ways to help users navigate, find content, and determine where they are.

3rd Understandable – information and the operation of user interface must be understandable.

* 3.1 Make text content readable and understandable.
* 3.2 Make Web pages appear and operate in ways Predictable.
* 3.3 Help users avoid and correct mistakes.

4th Robust – Content must be robust enough that it can be interpreted reliably by a wide variety of user agents, including assistive technologies.

* 4.1 Maximize compatibility with current and future user agents, including assistive technologies.

The elegant building on the guidelines is that the wealth of information is always bigger and the statements are always accurate, the farther you are in the depth vorarbeitet. Developers must therefore usually not everything from front to back read, but can eg using the customizable Quick Reference accurately select the techniques that are of interest to them.
The next steps?

Now the lawmakers asked from this steep submission as soon as there is a retread BITV in version 2.0 deduce. It would be from the perspective of those affected (and are not just people with disabilities, but also the Web developers who must implement it all, the manufacturer of test tools, editing systems and other authoring tools, the software industry, etc. pp.) desirable if the new regulation will be 100% compatible with the internationally applicable standard would be.

By :- Chicago Website Design

I’m so excited and pleased to announce after many years in the making that the W3C’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 is now a full blown official Web Standard.

WCAG 2.0 guides developers in how to develop their Web sites so that they’re accessible to the most people possible (especially people with disabilities).

My friend and W3C Web Accessibility Initiative Education & Outreach Coordinator Shawn Henry recently put out a call to action:

Let’s work together as a community to make WCAG 2.0 a unifying force for web accessibility. There are so many websites and exciting new web applications being created today with accessibility barriers that make it difficult or impossible for some people with disabilities to use them. Let’s change that, with WCAG 2.0.

Matt May has a good post about WCAG 2.0 being done at the Web Standards Project.

My congrats to the W3C, all my friends at WAI, and in the WCAG Working Group.  I know how hard you’ve all been working to make WCAG 2.0 a success.  Now lets get it out there and have lots and lots of people start using it.

The WCAG 2.0 guidelines for Web content accessibility were officially launched yesterday (11 December 2009).  Hurrah – the very dated and flawed WCAG 1.0 guidelines are no more!  And organisations which require Web resources to conform to WCAG 1.0 should be quickly updating their policies, their training course, their workflow process, etc.  Although as the WCAG 2.0 guidelines have been under development for several years (the first draft was published in January 2001!) with a number of iterations of towards the published version having been released over the past couple of years this should have given organisations plenty of time to plan their migration strategy.

The guidelines are much improved, with an emphasis on conformance with four key POUR principles (resources should be Perceivable, Operable, Understandable and Robust). And although it should be remembered that the guidelines have not yet been proven to demonstrably enhance accessibility and there is little experience in how the guidelines will be implemented in a real world context it should also be pointed out that the WCAG 1.0 guidelines have been shown to be flawed. So there is no excuse not to move on.

The challenge will be knowing how to apply WCAG 2.0, based on the experiences we’ve had in the past.  And as I learnt from the Designing For Disability event I spoke at last week, the Deaf together with those with learning disabilities do seem to find visually rich content more accessible – although I should hasten to add that these findings were described as feedback from particular case studies and should not be regarded as universal truths.  Indeed I would suggest that it is a truth which should be universally acknowledged that universal accessibility is a pipe dream, and that we should be seeking to enhance access and widening participation.

Något att bita i inför 2009 för alla tillgänglighetsfokuserade IT- och CMS-konsulter. Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 har godkänts och finns tillgängliga att anpassa efter.

Den nya versionen ska vara mer flexibel för konsulter samt vara mer öppen för olika typer av webbrowsing på olika enheter. Inom kort väntas även User Agent Accessibility Guidelines (UAAG) 2.0 samt Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines (ATAG) 2.0 slutföras och godkännas.

Vilket CMS eller tillämpning av CMS blir först att stödja de nya riktlinjerna?

Today, they announced that the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 has passed into the Proposed Recommendation phase of the standards process.

Congrats to all my friends at the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)!  Judy, Shawn, Shadi, Michael C. and others, I lift my glass to you.

This is the last step before WCAG 2.0 is completely and finally done.  They expect it to reach the final stage of the process and be an official W3C Recommendation (standard) by December.

This is AWESOME!  WCAG 2.0 is set of guidelines for making your content accessible so that regardless of how someone views your content or whether or not that user has a disability.

If we’re going to be in the business of making content on the Web, I think it’s important that we make it in a way so that we can have the biggest possible audience.  Getting the most users is the name of the game.  So… making sure the content is accessible to everyone is crucial.

WCAG 2.0 is a long long long long time in the making.   It’s definitely exciting to see that’s it’s just about done.

Hopefully now starts an even bigger outreach effort to tell the world about WCAG 2.0 and what it has to offer.

If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you know that one topic I’m passionate about is making the Web accessible to people with disabilities.  We all depend on the World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) guidance via the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines to help us through the process.

Well… WCAG 2.0 has just advanced to the next stage of the standards development process, Candidate Recommendation. What they need you to do is to go use it.

This weekend, get together with your friends and convert all of your sites and your blogs to being WCAG 2.0 conformant.  It won’t take that much work.  When you’re done, write about how it went.

Have you converted yet?  What do you think?  Let’s make our sites accessible so everyone can use them and access them.

CNET TV has recently shown a great deal of leadership in the online video space by starting to provide captions for their video. This is great news! I know it’s not easy to caption video… this is a big move for them. I hope more video shops (like Revision 3) will follow their move and start providing captions.

There is a chunk of the W3C’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 that deals with captioning. Success Criteria 1.2.1 says…

1.2.1 Captions (Prerecorded): Captions are provided for prerecorded synchronized media, except if the synchronized media is an alternative to text and is clearly labeled as such . (Level A)

Shawn Henry of the W3C’s Web Accessibility Initiative recently wrote a blog post entitled “Is WCAG 2.0 almost done?!” Well after reading the document, I say let’s advance the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 to it’s next stage.

Like Shawn, I’ve been following the development of WCAG 2.0 for a while and I think that this is one of the working group strongest drafts yet.

I’m going to start using WCAG 2.0 when making Web sites.  Will you join me?

The WCAG process gathers pace this week with a new call for review. The Last Call Working Draft represents the 2nd stage in the W3C document process.

Call for Review: WCAG 2.0 Last Call Working Draft
http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/w3c-wai-ig/2007OctDec/0060.html

This is the second time the document process has reached the Last Call Working Draft stage. The new deadline for comments is February 2008 and will deal with the following points:

• Are the guidelines and Success Criteria clear?
• Are the Success Criteria implementable and testable?
• Does meeting the Success Criteria improve accessibility?

The successful completion of this step will result in the document process reaching the Candidate Recommendation stage.

Well today the World Wide Web Consortium has just published the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 as a Last Call Working Draft. For those of us who’ve followed the development of WCAG 2.0, getting things to this stage is definitely a long time coming and we’re all very excited to see what the WCAG Working Group has come up with.

According to the WAI document “How WAI Develops Accessibility Guidelines through the W3C Process…“, Last Call Working Draft means the following:

When a Working Group believes it has addressed all comments and technical requirements, it provides the complete document for community review and announces the Last Call. For example, see the WCAG 2.0 Last Call Announcement and Extention e-mail. (Note that after the Last Call comment period, it can take weeks or months for a Working Group to formally address all comments, document the resolutions, and make necessary changes.) If there are substantive changes, the technical report would go through another Last Call Working Draft before moving to the next stage.

According to the Call for Review, “The WCAG Working Group hopes that it has resolved all substantive issues with this draft, and looks forward to progressing to the next stages in completing WCAG 2.0.”

Sweet!

If you’re going to review WCAG 2.0, make sure that you also check out the following updated documents…

• WCAG 2.0 Quick Reference
• Issues and Changes to WCAG 2.0: A Summary of Issues, Revisions and Rationales on WCAG 2.0 Working Drafts

I’m going to be doing a detailed review of WCAG 2.0. I’ll be publishing my thoughts here as soon as I get time to sit down with the document.

Stay tuned…

With the W3C working on HTML 5, many times I have wondered how I could get more involved. Do I want to get work to add me to the working group and get the 1000 emails a month? Should I start reading the spec and post about it on my blog? Reading the HTML 5 draft spec by myself interests me about as much as trying to read War & Peace. (I think they’re about the same size.)

What about HTML 5 reading parties? We could really do it for any of the W3C Specifications like WCAG 2.0 or CSS 2.1. We could get 5 to 10 people together with a couple cases of beer or nice bottles of wine. If people didn’t want to drink alcohol, we could meet at a coffee shop. We’d each take part of the spec and start reading it.

It’d be a fun and whole lot less intimidating way of jumping head first into the future development of the lingua franca of the Web, HTML.

At the end, we could have some collective notes that we could post on our blogs or maybe one big blog.

So… any of you interested? I’d buy the wine or the first round of coffees.

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 will not be made available this year.

When will WCAG 2.0 be available to use? The Web Accessibility Initiative predicts early 2008.

It had looked as though WCAG 2.0 would be available this year. However, with delays brought on by the W3C document process, the availability of the document has been pushed back.

 The W3C document process comprises a number of stages:

1. Working Draft
2. Last Call Working Draft
3. Candidate Recommendation
4. Proposed Recommendation
5. W3C Recommendation (Web Standard)

In addition to WCAG 2.0, a number of supporting documents are produced, such as “Working group notes” and “WAI Resources”.

Although the supporting documents are not subject to the scrutiny of the W3C document process, they will offer developers the technical know-how required to provide accessible content.

If you haven’t heard, there has been the following update about the W3C’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0…

The WCAG Working Group received many constructive comments on the 17 May 2007 Drafts. They separated the comments into about 450 issues, ranging from minor edits to technical issues. In the first two weeks of July, the Working Group had eight half-day worksessions where they addressed about 150 of those issues and started work on another 100. It will likely take 3 to 4 months to address all of the issues and prepare the next draft.

The Working Group will respond to each comment. Once the comments have been addressed, the Working Group plans to publish a second WCAG 2.0 Last Call Working Draft to provide for review of the completed edits before moving on to the next stages. The next stages are described in How WAI Develops Accessibility Guidelines through the W3C Process.

An insight to the development of WCAG 2.0 is provided by Judy Brewer (Director of the Web Accessibility Initiative) during a recent interview.

For developers, some positive observations include the reduction of constraints faced whilst creating accessible content. The provision of support materials will also be welcomed.

For people with disabilities, access to a broader range of web technologies is promised.

Interview extracts are available from the webstandards.org website.

Yesterday, the web magazine A List Apart posted an article from Gian Sampson-Wild, “Testability Costs Too Much,” where she makes the claim that the requirement of having every success criteria within the W3C’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 be testable is too steep of a requirement.

I completely disagree.  Success criteria that can’t be tested shouldn’t be included in a document that is supposed to give guidance.

I was going to use the metaphor that Jeffrey Zeldman jumped on.  If someone says don’t speed in your car because it will hurt people, thats fine but how do I know what speeding is.  It’s a toothless and unenforceable law.   But if you say that I can’t go above 65 mph or 100 kph, that is a testable and  enforceable law.

I can’t tell a developer to do something unless I know specifically what I’m asking of them.  Just giving some one general advice isn’t going to work.  It is going to be interpreted a variety of ways.  This leads to fragmentation of guidance and  inconsistent implementations which don’t help anyone.

If the principle of testability of the success critieria is inconsistently applied within the document, I think thats a legitimate concern.  Commenting on the latest WCAG 2.0 Working Draft closes on Friday.

Doesn’t taking out testability dilute the guidance that we’re really want and asked for?  Am I missing something?

Yahoo! has been posting so many great videos on Web Accessibility. While in London, Web Accessibility expert and W3C staffer Shawn Lawton Henry stopped by Yahoo to talk about the Web accessibility guidelines that the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is working on. It’s a great talk. Check it out.

(Photo of Shawn Lawton Henry by Richard Ishida.  Taken at the 2007 @media conference in London, UK. )

I recently read some obscene statistic about the HUGE amount of video that is getting uploaded to the Web everyday. It’s a probably safe bet to say that the majority of that online video doesn’t have any captioning.  This is a big problem for people who are deaf or hard of hearing and are trying to understand the message of your video.  According to Gallaudet University, about 8.6% of the American population or 20+ million people have some form of hearing problems.

Captioning takes time and its not easy. I wish there was a magic button that you could press and captions would magically appear on the videos you were making.

Regardless, the W3C’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 has the Success Criteria 1.2.1 which says:

1.2.1 Captions (Prerecorded): Captions are provided for prerecorded multimedia, except for multimedia alternatives to text that are clearly labeled as such.

Well authoring tool vendors and developers have responded to our call for better tools.

In the latest version of Adobe Flash CS3, there is integrated captioning functionality. According to Adobe Accessibility Engineer Andrew Kirkpatrick, the new functionality makes “delivering captioning in Flash really easy.” While, I haven’t seen this at work. I’m pretty excited that Adobe has made this a priority.

There is also MAGpie, the free open-source tool from WGBH’s National Center for Accessible Media.  If you already have the transcript for your video, you can quickly turn the transcript into the xml file format you need to make captions for your online video.  I have seen it in action.  It’s not super seamless but it gets the job done.

The US Library of Congress has started to integrate the use of MAGpie and Flash video to provide captioning for some of their videos.  Check out the videos for the MacDowell Exhibit. (Full Disclosure: With my government contracting job, I work at the Library of Congress full time.)

One of the most interesting tools I have seen is dotSub.  You can submit your video to the service and then you or any of the members of the service can transcribe and caption the video.  Once you have the initial captioning done,  the captions can be translated into many languages.  This is all done through the wisdom and knowledge of the community.

Lee Lefever did it with his Wikis In Plain English video.  dotSub really worked for him.  Not only was he able to get his video transcribed and captioned in English.  It was also subtitled into a dozen other languages.  His video is now accessible to people with auditory disabilities where it wasn’t before.

The updated Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 Working Draft was made available at W3C on May 17th 2007 - http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20/