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Assessing materials for accessibility

Dr. Neil Witt from the Institute for Science Education at the University of Plymouth provides essential insights into developing accessible academic websites. Emphasizing the importance of WCAG guidelines, he outlines key strategies from Level A to AAA for inclusivity. The effective use of markup and stylesheets is highlighted, along with recommended tools for accessibility evaluation. Understanding the distinction between accessibility and usability is crucial in ensuring that educational resources meet the needs of all users. Achieving accessibility is a strategic, not just mechanical, process.

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Assessing materials for accessibility

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  1. Assessing materials for accessibility Dr Neil Witt Institute for Science Education University of Plymouth

  2. How to achieve accessibility? • WCAG Level A (Priority 1) should be seen as the starting point for the development of an accessible academic website. • For an inclusive website Level AA (Priority 2) and Level AAA (Priority 3) need to be investigated and efforts made to fully exploit adoption of these guidelines

  3. Use common standards • WCAG Guideline 3. Use markup and style sheets and do so properly. • Mark up documents with the proper structural elements. • Control presentation with style sheets rather than with presentation elements and attributes.

  4. CSS • Cascading Style Sheets • W3C initiative • Valid CSS2 • Can be user defined • If a formal grammar is being used CSS will be embedded within the page design

  5. CSS • CSS has a much wider array of attributes than HTML and gives a greater choice of page elements. • Gives the designer greater choice and makes the page accessible. • However care still needed

  6. CSS • Link to non-scaling text • Link to scaling text

  7. How to check for accessibility • There are a large number of tools which can be used to support web page development, these include: • Evaluation tools. • Repair tools. • Filter and transformation tools.

  8. Are these tools of use? • Yes and No! • A full audit can be found at http://www.science.plym.ac.uk/warp • And next - the good, the bad and the ugly…………

  9. Types of Tools • Accessibility getting commercial • Don’t believe all you read • Differentiate between accessibility and usability • Accessibility tools not what they seem

  10. Types of Tools • Utilities – specific to one checkpoint or issue. Either installable or online • Online diagnostic (S508 or WAI) • Stand alone solution (S508 or WAI) • Third party embedded solution (S508 or WAI)

  11. Section 508 • Market is dominated by S508 • Useful indication but is it relevant to SENDA? • Use S508 tools with care – minus some P1 checkpoints, plus some P2 checkpoints

  12. Health Warning • None of these tools will guarantee accessibility • Human intervention is compulsory • Care is needed – marketplace is very commercial • Education and understanding is vital • Beware of the logo – it may bite back

  13. Types of Tool A-Prompt

  14. Types of Tool - Bobby

  15. Online Diagnostic • Bobby – http://bobby.watchfire.com/ • HTML Validator - http://validator.w3.org • CSS Validator http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/ • Lift Online http://www.techdis.ac.uk/usablenet/

  16. All-in-one Toolbar • Accessible Information Solutions - Web Accessibility Toolbar • http://www.nils.org.au/ais/web/resources/toolbar/

  17. Conclusions • There is no simple solution for SENDA and electronic information • W3C WAI gives us a benchmark • Inclusive design must be a priority • It is not a mechanistic process, it is strategic and embedded.

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