BS 8878: Systematic Approaches to Documenting Web Accessibility Policies and Practices
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The document discusses BS 8878, a British standard aimed at improving web accessibility by outlining systematic approaches for institutions to document their policies and practices. It critiques current accessibility strategies and emphasizes the need for a consistent and standardized method for addressing web accessibility, focusing on audience-specific needs and context of use. The workshop encourages participants to utilize BS 8878's 16 steps to enhance their accessibility practices across various web products.
![#IWMW15
#A3
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”
5* My emphasis
CurrentApproaches](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/bs8878-iwmw-2015-150719180728-lva1-app6892/85/BS-8878-Systematic-Approaches-to-Documenting-Web-Accessibility-Policies-and-Practices-5-320.jpg)
BS 8878: Systematic Approaches to Documenting Web Accessibility Policies and Practices
- 1. BS 8878: Systematic Approaches to Documenting Web Accessibility Policies and Practices Brian Kelly Independent consultant UK Web Focus Contact Details Email: ukwebfocus@gmail.com Twitter: @briankelly Blog: http://ukwebfocus.com/ 1 Slides and further information available at http://ukwebfocus.com/events/iwmw-2015/ A workshop session at the IWMW 2015 event
- 2. #IWMW15 #A3 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? 2 Introduction
- 3. #IWMW15 #A3 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? 3 Introduction
- 4. #IWMW15 #A3 About Me Brian Kelly: • Longstanding #a11y advocate & practitioner • Author of many peer- reviewed papers on #a11y • In 2004 realised limitations of WCAG guidelines for elearning 4 http://ukwebfocus.com/papers/#accessibility
- 5. #IWMW15 #A3 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” 5* My emphasis CurrentApproaches
- 6. #IWMW15 #A3 Institutional Accessibility 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” 6* My emphasis CurrentApproaches
- 7. #IWMW15 #A3 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” 7 CurrentApproaches
- 8. #IWMW15 #A3 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!) 8 Conclusions: There is a need for a consistent & standardised approach to build on existing approaches. CurrentApproaches
- 9. #IWMW15 #A3 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.” 9 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)
- 10. #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 10 Accessibility as purely a technical issue? Where’s the user? Where are the blended solutions? How are contextual factors addressed? … Limitations
- 11. #IWMW15 #A3 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 • …. 11 Limitations
- 12. #IWMW15 #A3 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 12
- 13. #IWMW15 #A3 BS 8878’s 16 Stages BS 8878 describes 16 steps which cover 4 stages. See BS 8878 in 88 Seconds video 13
- 14. #IWMW15 #A3 BS 8878’s 16 Steps Step 1: Define the purpose of the web product Step 2: Define the target audiences for the web product Step 3: Analyse the needs of the target audiences for the web product Step 4: Note any platform or technology preferences and restrictions of the web product's target audiences Step 5: Define the relationship the product will have with its target audiences Step 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 support Step 10: Choose browsers, operating systems & assistive technologies to support Step 11: Choose whether to create or procure web product in-house or contract out Step 12: Define the web technologies to be used in the web product Step 13: Use web guidelines to direct accessible web production Step 14: Assure the web product's accessibility through production Step 15: Communicate the web product's accessibility decisions at launch Step 16: Plan to assure accessibility in all post-launch updates to the product 14 e.g. WCAG
- 15. #IWMW15 #A3 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. 15 BS8878
- 16. #IWMW15 #A3 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) • … 16 GorupExercises
- 17. #IWMW15 #A3 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 17 GorupExercises
- 19. #IWMW15 #A3 BS 8878’s 16 Steps Step 1: Define the purpose of the web product Step 2: Define the target audiences for the web product Step 3: Analyse the needs of the target audiences for the web product Step 4: Note any platform or technology preferences and restrictions of the web product's target audiences Step 5: Define the relationship the product will have with its target audiences Step 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 support Step 10: Choose browsers, operating systems & assistive technologies to support Step 11: Choose whether to create or procure web product in-house or contract out Step 12: Define the web technologies to be used in the web product Step 13: Use web guidelines to direct accessible web production Step 14: Assure the web product's accessibility through production Step 15: Communicate the web product's accessibility decisions at launch Step 16: Plan to assure accessibility in all post-launch updates to the product 19 e.g. WCAG
- 20. #IWMW15 #A3 BS 8878 & Event Amplification for IWMW 2015 20 http://iwmw.org/iwmw2015/technology/ accessibility-event-amplification/ Policy for event amplification at IWMW 2015 Note: • Difficulty in writing this from scratch • Policy available under a CC licence • How ‘patterns’ would help identify appropriate practices
- 21. #IWMW15 #A3 BS 8878 & Event Amplification for IWMW 2015 http://iwmw.org/iwmw2015/technology /accessibility-event-amplification/ 21
- 22. #IWMW15 #A3 What of the Risks? 22 Risk assessment available at http://iwmw.org/iwmw2015/technology/accessibility- event-amplification/#risks
- 23. #IWMW15 #A3 BS 8878 Elsewhere BS 8878 steps may be valuable for internal use, but may be confusing for end users Accessibility statement on Hassellinclusion site is written for end users (www.hassellinclusion.com/ accessibility/) 23
- 24. #IWMW15 #A3 Possible 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/ 24 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.
- 25. #IWMW15 #A3 Conclusions To conclude: • BS 8878 provides a standard to address challenges in enhancing web accessibility • Benefits in adopting common practices 25 What do you think we should do next?
- 26. #IWMW15 #A3 Book on BS 8878 See http://www.hassellinclusion.com/landing/book/ 26 “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
- 27. #IWMW15 #A3 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. 27 Slides and further information available at http://ukwebfocus.com/events/iwmw-2015/ Licence and Additional Resources
Editor's Notes
- #14: BS 8878 describes 16 steps which cover 4 stages : the research before you start the work; the strategic decisions you make based on the research; the delivery and launch of the Web site (which is where decisions on WCAG are made) and the ongoing maintenance of the Web resource. Note a BS 8878 in 88 Seconds video is available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJ4MRCyMTRQ
- #15: The 16 steps in BS 8878 are shown. Note that step 13 includes the implementation of the web standards, such as WCAG, which have been selected. From this we can see that BS 8878 isn't intended as an alternative to WCAG, but a much broader approach which standardises processes when can help in the development of accessible services.
- #16: I've highlighted the key aspects. The standard: "encourages organisations to make all accessibility decisions". These decisions are based on several contextual aspects including "the purpose of their product and the specific audiences". Having carried out the research the organisation can then make the decision on overall degree of accessibility they wish the Web product to have. Finally organisations should document methodologies for use across the lifetime of the product to ensure that we don't see "accessibility rot" after the launch of the product.
- #20: The 16 steps in BS 8878 are shown. Note that step 13 includes the implementation of the web standards, such as WCAG, which have been selected. From this we can see that BS 8878 isn't intended as an alternative to WCAG, but a much broader approach which standardises processes when can help in the development of accessible services.
- #26: To conclude: If you care about accessibility you’ll think beyond the digital resource and the digital tools You should engage with a wide range of stakeholders in enhancing accessibility You should also consider alternative perspectives of ‘accessibility’ and disability It’s OK to reject ‘universal accessibility’ and focus on ‘accessibility for these users in these circumstances’ WCAG is still relevant, but shouldn’t dominate BS 8878 provides a standard for further work
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