BS 8878: Systematic Approaches to Documenting Web Accessibility Policies and Practices

Brian KellyIndependent consultant UK Web Focus

Contact DetailsEmail: ukwebfocus@gmail.comTwitter: @briankellyBlog: http://ukwebfocus.com/

Slides and further information available athttp://ukwebfocus.com/events/iwmw-2015/

A workshop session at the IWMW 2015 event

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About This Workshop

Structure:• Introductions• Current approaches to Web accessibility

policies• Limitations of current approaches• How BS 8878 can help• Using BS 8878 (group exercises)• Reviewing what we’ve done• What Next?

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About You

• What is your interest in web accessibility?

• What are your responsibilities in this area?

• What knowledge of BS 8878 do you have?

• Do you have any specific issues you would like to see addressed?

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About Me

Brian Kelly:• Longstanding #a11y advocate & practitioner• Author of many peer-reviewed papers on #a11y• In 2004 realised limitations of WCAG guidelines for elearninghttp://ukwebfocus.com/papers/#accessibility

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Institutional Accessibility Policies (1)

Survey of accessibility policies in 9 north west universities: [Edge Hill] – [Liverpool] – [Liverpool John Moores] – [Liverpool Hope] – [UCLAN] – [Bolton] – [Manchester] – [MMU] – [Salford]

• All linked from home page (and in navigation bars)• Summarised at http://ukwebfocus.com/2015/07/14/

In brief:• Aspirational: “The University is committed to*

making its website and the material provided on it accessible to as many people as possible*”

• Aspirational to conform with WCAG: “All pages on this site aim to* be accessible to W3C AA compliance or better, complying with priority 1 & 2 guidelines of the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines”

* My emphasis

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Policies (2)• Specific WCAG conformance levels: “This

central site is intended to* meet at least level 2 (AA) of the W3C’s Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) Guidelines, and as far as possible to meet level 3 (AAA)”

• Browser policies: “We try to* make our website compatible with as many browsers as possible”

• Details of testing processes: “We have also tested the site extensively in a wide range of browsers and settings to ensure the site functionality is available to as many users as possible*”

• Techniques for users: “You can increase or reduce the text size by using your browser’s zoom function” * My emphasis

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Institutional Accessibility Policies (3)

• Specific techniques for users: “Microsoft Internet Explorer version 8 and above …; Mozilla Firefox: To alter text size, select ‘zoom’ select zoom in (Ctrl+) or zoom out (Ctrl-). To remove CSS stylings select …”

• Details of access keys: “Access keys for websites are defined as: Access Key 1 – Homepage; Access Key 2 – News;… Access Key 0 – Accessibility Help”

• Techniques used by content providers: “Steps we’ve taken: Using alt tags on images; Using sufficient contrast on colours; Using CSS to ...”

• Details of training and support: “Staff are offered a comprehensive training programme”

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Reflections

In brief accessibility policies:

• Typically go beyond statements of WCAG conformance

May include details of:

• Specific techniques for users & content creators

• Processes used to create web resources

• Testing processes used to ensure policies are being implemented correctly

• Contact details in case of accessibility problems

However:

• Approaches are not taken in a consistent manner

• None describe maintenance of policies (or mentioned mobile!)

Conclusions: There is a need for a consistent & standardised approach to build on existing approaches.

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Building on Research“web accessibility is not an intrinsic characteristic of a digital resource but is determined by complex political, social and other contextual factors, as well as technical aspects which are the focus of WAI standardisation activities. It can therefore be inappropriate to develop legislation … only associated with properties of the resource.”

Cooper, M., Sloan, D., Kelly, B. and Lewthwaite, S., 2012. A Challenge to Web Accessibility Metrics & Guidelines: Putting People and Processes First W4A2012: 9th International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility

It’s not just about the resource, it’s about people (wide range of stakeholders), policies (based on the context of use, the environment, resources, …) and processes (used to ensure policies are implemented correctly)

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#IWMW15#A3 Is Accessibility Really

Complex?Is web accessibility really “determined by complex political, social and other contextual factors”?Surely it’s about:• A simple set of rules to

be applied to web resources

• Legislation which mandates organisations to use the rule

• Education on how to implement the rules

Accessibility as purely a technical issue? Where’s the user? Where are the blended solutions? How are contextual factors addressed? …

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Challenges

Areas which may pose difficulties in ensuring WCAG compliance e.g.• Your corporate web site and the constraints of

the CMS• Your VLE with the limitations provided by the

vendor• Your institutional repository with author-

deposited PDFs but no ALT text for images in MS Word master

• Your plans to digitise lectures, but no funding for captioning

• Your MOOC plans and the accompanying uncaptioned video resources

• ….

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Enter BS 8878

BS 8878:• Developed in UK in parallel with our

holistic accessibility work• UK standardisation work aligned with

ideas described in “Accessibility 2.0: People, Policies and Processes”, W4A 2007

• Work led by Jonathan Hassell, Hassell Inclusion and former Head of Usability & Accessibility, BBC Future Media

• Costs £100 • See Getting Started Guide

and Hassell Inclusion

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BS 8878’s 16 Stages

BS 8878 describes 16 steps which cover 4 stages. See BS 8878 in 88 Seconds video

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BS 8878’s 16 Steps

Step 1:Define the purpose of the web productStep 2:Define the target audiences for the web productStep 3:Analyse the needs of the target audiences for the web productStep 4:Note any platform or technology preferences and restrictions of the

web product's target audiencesStep 5:Define the relationship the product will have with its target

audiencesStep 6:Define the user goals and tasks the web product needs to provide

Step 7:Consider the degree of user-experience the web product will aim to provide

Step 8:Consider inclusive design and user-personalized approaches to accessibility

Step 9:Choose the delivery platforms to supportStep 10: Choose browsers, operating systems & assistive

technologies to supportStep 11: Choose whether to create or procure web product in-house

or contract outStep 12: Define the web technologies to be used in the web productStep 13: Use web guidelines to direct accessible web production

Step 14: Assure the web product's accessibility through productionStep 15: Communicate the web product's accessibility decisions at

launch

Step 16: Plan to assure accessibility in all post-launch updates to the product

e.g. WCAG

Research

Decisions

Delivery

Maintenance

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In Brief

At its heart, BS 8878 encourages organisations to make all accessibility decisions based on the purpose of their product, its specific audiences, and a clear, researched understanding of the contexts in which those audiences will use the product. In the light of this research, organisations can then make high-level decisions on the overall degree of accessibility they wish the product to have, and more detailed decisions on the accessibility of user journeys to each of its goals based on the relative importance of the goals and the cost-benefits of making it accessible to that degree. From there organisations are advised on the relative cost-benefits of different testing methodologies for them to use across the lifetime of the product to assure themselves that they have achieved the degree of accessibility they were aiming for.

BS 8

878

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Group Exercises (1)

You will now use BS 8878 steps to document your policies & practices for a web site product of interest to you e.g.• Multimedia on the corporate web site• Multimedia for use in a VLE• The university prospectus• Event amplification (e.g. for a conference,

graduation ceremony, etc.)• The institutional repository (full of PDFs)• The corporate web site• A niche area (e.g. accessibility for blind maths

students)• …

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Group Exercises (2)

Working in small groups:• Document the steps using the 16 steps• Use a Google Doc:

bit.ly/iwmw15-bs8878-1 bit.ly/iwmw15-bs8878-2 (or iwmw15-a3-2) bit.ly/iwmw15-bs8878-3 bit.ly/iwmw15-bs8878-4

• Give brief summary of your approaches at end of session

Note:• Document will be world-writeable for another week• Feel free to continue afterwards• Content provided under a CC-licence• Approaches will be documented on UK Web Focus

blog

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Group Exercises (3)

Reminder:

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BS 8878’s 16 Steps

Step 1:Define the purpose of the web productStep 2:Define the target audiences for the web productStep 3:Analyse the needs of the target audiences for the web productStep 4:Note any platform or technology preferences and restrictions of the

web product's target audiencesStep 5:Define the relationship the product will have with its target

audiencesStep 6:Define the user goals and tasks the web product needs to provide

Step 7:Consider the degree of user-experience the web product will aim to provide

Step 8:Consider inclusive design and user-personalized approaches to accessibility

Step 9:Choose the delivery platforms to supportStep 10: Choose browsers, operating systems & assistive

technologies to supportStep 11: Choose whether to create or procure web product in-house

or contract outStep 12: Define the web technologies to be used in the web productStep 13: Use web guidelines to direct accessible web production

Step 14: Assure the web product's accessibility through productionStep 15: Communicate the web product's accessibility decisions at

launch

Step 16: Plan to assure accessibility in all post-launch updates to the product

e.g. WCAG

Research

Decisions

Delivery

Maintenance

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#IWMW15#A3 BS 8878 & Event Amplification

for IWMW 2015

http://iwmw.org/iwmw2015/technology/accessibility-event-amplification/

Policy for event amplification at IWMW 2015Note:• Difficulty in writing

this from scratch• Policy available

under a CC licence• How ‘patterns’

would help identify appropriate practices

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2015

http://iwmw.org/iwmw2015/technology/accessibility-event-amplification/

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What of the Risks?

Risk assessment available at http://iwmw.org/iwmw2015/technology/accessibility-event-amplification/#risks

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BS 8878 Elsewhere

BS 8878 steps may be valuable for internal use, but may be confusing for end usersAccessibility statement on Hassellinclusion site is written for end users (www.hassellinclusion.com/accessibility/)

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#IWMW15#A3Possible Accessibility Policy for an Institutional Repository

Possible accessibility policy for an institutional repository. See blog post at http://ukwebfocus.com/2011/01/24/web-accessibility-institutional-repositories-and-bs-8878/

Statement Note

The repository service is an open-access information storage & retrieval system containing the university’s research findings and papers, openly and freely accessible to the research community and public. A full description of each item is provided, and where copyright regulations permit, the full-text of the research output is stored in the repository and fully accessible. Items are deposited in the repository from various sources including author self-deposit, deposit by authorised staff in departments and deposits by repository staff.

Description of the purpose of the ‘web product’

Items are normally provided in PDF format although other formats such as MS Word or HTML may also be used.

Carry out audit

Items are normally deposited in the format required by the publisher. Popular formats should be accessible using standard viewing tools. However some formats may require specialist browsers to be installed.

Audit will show unusual formats

Items may not conform to appropriate accessibility guidelines due to the devolved responsibilities for depositing items & complexities of implementing the guidelines across the large number of items housed in the repository.

If so, details should be given

Future developments to the service will include an "Accessibility problem" button which will enable repository staff to be alerted to the scale of accessibility problems.

Include if planned

Repository staff will work with the University Staff Development Unit to ensure that training is provided on ways of creating accessible documents which will be open to all staff and research students.

Include if true!

Repository staff will carry out periodic audits on the accessibility of repository items, monitor trends and act accordingly.

Include if true!

The Web interface to repository conform with University Web site accessibility guidelines.

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Conclusions

To conclude:• BS 8878 provides a standard to address

challenges in enhancing web accessibility• Benefits in adopting common practices

What do you think we should do next?

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Book on BS 8878

See http://www.hassellinclusion.com/landing/book/

“I want you to imagine for a moment that, Professor Jonathan Hassell's `Including your missing 20% by embedding web and mobile accessibility' is like a large set of well labelled keys. Each chapter is part of that key set and enables the reader, whether expert or layperson alike, to unlock the power of BS8878, the British Standard on Web Accessibility. If your organisation is looking to embed web accessibility from the outset or to adopt best practice then you need go no further, this book is for you.”Amazon review

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This presentation, “BS 8878: Systematic Approaches to Documenting Web Accessibility Policies and Practices” by Brian Kelly, is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Licence

Note the licence covers most of the text in this presentation. Quotations may have other licence conditions.

Images may have other licence conditions. Where possible links are provided to the source of images so that licence conditions can be found.Slides and further information available athttp://ukwebfocus.com/events/iwmw-2015/

Licence and Additional Resources