Dont forget the C in WCAG

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Dont forget the C in WCAG!
OzeWAI Melbourne 2009
OMG, look what theyve done to our templates!
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Presented at OZeWAI, 2009

• Presenter Dey Alexander
• Email dey_at_deyalexander.com.au
• Phone [phone]
• Notes
• 1. Some slides hidden from the presentation view
  contain text alternatives for images
• 2. I have not provided text alternatives for
  screenshots demonstrating each success criterion
  discussed. See the WCAG 2.0 techniques document
  instead.

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OMG, look what theyve done to our templates!

• Your web templates might be accessible, but
• Your writers can have a big impact on the
  accessibility of the final page
• If you want an accessible website, you need to
  understand where your writers are at, and address
  their information and training needs

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Accessibility? Whats that?
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A technical issueisnt it? Whats itgot to do
with uswriters?
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but thats for blind people and we dont have
any here
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Oh, no, I thought the web team took care of all
that stuff
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Common comments from writers

• Accessibility? Whats that?
• A technical issue isnt it? Whats it got to do
  with uswriters?
• But thats for blind people and we dont have
  any here
• Oh no, I thought the web team took care of all
  that stuff

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You said the CMS would take care of all of this!
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Management may not be happy about this

• Many think that your content management system
  means that
• Accessibility is locked down
• Authors cannot make accessible templates
  inaccessible through the content they add

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The problems

• Many content authors do not know about web
  accessibility
• Some think
• Its about blind people, and we dont have any of
  them
• Its a technical issue
• The web team will handle it

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Potential impact of writers
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Potential impact of writers

• Even when your content is created within a
  content management system, there are many things
  that writers can do to break accessibility
• Writers can mean your site fails (or passes) 19
  of the 59 success criteria in WCAG 2.0
• If you do not use a content management system,
  writers can have an even bigger impact!

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(No Transcript)
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WCAG what? They dont really expect us to
understand THIS?!!
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How to manage this issue

• Do not expect writers to read and understand the
  WCAG 2.0 documents
• Huge document set
• Technical language
• Instead, provide training around the specific
  issues relevant to writers

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Finally, some training that is relevant to my work
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Images, emoticons, ASCII art

• Train writers on how and when to use
• Short descriptions (alt, img links, groups of
  imgs, text)
• Long descriptions (alt longdesc, text, linked
  text)
• No description (null alt)

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Example of poor text alternatives for images
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Example of long text alternative for an image
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Example of decorative use of images
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Example of poor text alternatives for decorative
images
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Information, structure, relationships

• Train writers on how and when to use
• Semantic elements (em, q, blockquote, cite, code,
  etc.)
• List elements (ul, ol, li)
• Heading elements (h1-h6)
• Variations in text format/font (explained in
  text)
• Show them how to do the first three using the CMS
  editor

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Example of headings in web content
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Example of use of heading element markup
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Sensory characteristics

• Train writers to avoid writing instructions that
  use sensory characteristics such as shape, size,
  visual location, orientation or sound
• When they do, remind them to identify these
  elements in the text

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Example of text that refers to sensory
characteristics
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Use of colour

• Train authors to avoid using colour by itself to
  convey information or show meaning. They should
• Use colour and pattern
• Make information available in text as well
• This will mainly relate to images, since colour
  should be locked down in your CMS

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Example of colour used to show meaning
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Example with colour removed
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Contrast

• Train writers to use contrast ratios for
  fore/background colours of
• 4.51 for small text
• 33 for larger text
• 71 for text over a background
• This will mainly relate to images, since text/bg
  colour should be locked down in your CMS

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Colour contrast checker from snook.ca
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Images of text

• Train authors to avoid using images of text
  except for logos and
• Offer to help them achieved desired visual
  outcomes by using scripting or relevant CSS
  techniques

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Example of images as text
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Page titles

• Train writers to write descriptive page titles
  for each page they publish

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Example of poor page title
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Example of poor page title
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Example of poor page title
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Links

• Train writers to write link text that describes
  the purpose of a link
• In context (title attrib, sentence, paragraph,
  table cell/heading, preceding heading, nested
  list)
• Stand alone

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Example of links that only work in context
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Example of links that work in context, but not in
JAWS links list
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Example of links that work on their own
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Section headings

• Train writers to organise content with headings
• Show them how to use the heading levels relevant
  to the structure of the content

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Example of page with structured content
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Example of use of headings to show structure
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Foreign language

• Train writers to identify foreign language words
  and phrases
• Show them how to apply language attributes using
  the CMS editor

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Unusual words

• Train writers to minimise non-literal or unusual
  use of words. If they do use them, when words
  have
• One meaning within the page, define the first use
  (in text, linked, via a glossary or searchable
  dictionary)
• Different meanings, define each instance

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Example of non-literal use of language
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Abbreviations

• Train writers to minimise use of shortened forms,
  but where they use them and they have
• One meaning within the page, define the first use
  (in text, using ABBR or ACRONYM, via a link, via
  a searchable dictionary)
• Different meanings, define each use

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Example of overuse of shortened forms
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Example showing how to avoid shortened forms
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Reading level

• Train writers to write at lower secondary level,
  or to
• Provide an alternative version that is easier to
  read
• Write a summary at lower secondary level
• Supplement the text with explanatory visuals
• You could help them with
• Audio version
• Sign language version

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Example of original content at grade level 14.1
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Example of rewritten content at grade level 7.7
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Example of original content at grade level 15.6
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Example of rewritten content at grade level 6.6
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Pronunciation

• Train authors to include a pronunciation guide
  where the meaning may be ambiguous otherwise
• After the word
• Linked pronunciation
• Glossary

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Consistent identification

• Train writers to use labels, and text
  alternatives consistently for components that
  have the same function

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Summary

• Dont overlook
• The content its the reason people come to your
  site!
• The potential of web writers to affect your
  sites accessibility
• Dont assume
• Writers know about accessibility
• Writers will read or understand WCAG 2.0
  documents
• Your CMS will prevent accessibility problems
• Do offer
• Accessibility training tailored for writers
• Accessibility topics in any web writing training

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The (happy) end!