Including Everyone: Web Accessibility 101

INCLUDING EVERYONEWeb Accessibility 101

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I’m Helena, and I’m a front-end developer at Lullabot!

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I specialize in making the web awesome for everybody.

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Strategy // Design // Development

We’re an interactive strategy, design, and development company.

We create delightful experiences using Drupal and open source technologies.

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What You’ll Learn Today

WHAT YOU’LL LEARNTopics Ahead

It’s going to be awesome.

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What accessibility is

How stakeholders benefit

Users who benefit

How agencies benefit

Accessibility standards

Organizational integration

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WHAT IS WEB ACCESSIBILITY?

Web accessibility refers to the inclusive practice of removing barriers that prevent interaction with or access to websites

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This may sound daunting, but the good news is that it’s easy.

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POUR Principles - the Foundation of Accessibility

It’s not about hard and fast rules or specific technical requirements. It’s about understanding the needs of users.

! ! !Perceivable Operable Understandable

22POURUnderstanding the Needs of Users

! Robust

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POURUnderstanding the Needs of Users

Perceivable Users should be able to perceive your content,

despite possibly needing to access the information

in an atypical way.

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Operable Users should be able to

operate your website using a variety of methods and

forms of technology

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Understandable Your content should be understandable. Be clear, concise, and allow users to explore content at their own pace

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Robust Your website should be robust enough to stand up to reasonably outdated, current, and anticipated tech standards and the AT that goes with them

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USERS WHO BENEFITTHE ‘EDGE CASE’ MYTH

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USERS WHO BENEFITWeb Accessibility Helps Everyone

Everybody Else

Vestibular Issues

Visually Impaired

Deaf / Hard of Hearing

Cognitive Differences

Seizure Disorders

Motor Impaired

Visually Impaired Visually impaired users may have trouble

distinguishing between colors, viewing content without enough contrast, or may

not be able to see at all.

Motor Impaired Motor impaired users may have trouble

with dexterity or movement. This may make using the fine motor skills required for using

a mouse difficult or impossible.

Vestibular Issues Individuals with vestibular issues can feel sick from content with special effects that

trigger motion sickness.

Deaf / Hard of Hearing Deaf and hard of hearing users may have trouble understanding audio content if there is not an appropriate alternative transcript or captioning.

Seizure Disorders Users who are prone to seizures can be triggered into an attack by flashing effects.

Cognitive Differences Users with cognitive differences might need more time to ingest material. Allowing users to explore content at their own pace is best.

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THE ‘EDGE CASE’ MYTHDid you know…?

38.3m

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There are 18.55 million more severely disabled people in the United States than there are people living in the entire state of New York.

Severely Disabled People in the US (illustrated by million)

19.8m

People Living in the State of New York (illustrated by million)

Source: US Census Bureau, 2012

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56.7m

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There are more than twice as many people with disabilities in the US as the entire population of Australia.

Disabled People in the US (illustrated by million)

24m

Population of Australia (illustrated by million)

Source: US Census Bureau, 2012

WEB ACCESSIBILITY STANDARDSQUALIFYING ACCESS AS BEST WE CAN

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STANDARDSQualifying Access as Best We Can

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.0)The WCAG 2.0 system provides three levels of accessibility rating based on conformance to the success

criteria outlined throughout the guidelines. It’s based on the POUR principles we just reviewed.

! ! !A Accessibility AA Accessibility AAA Accessibility

A Accessible websites conform to the minimum requirements for inclusive development. While sites meeting this standard may not be easy or convenient for PwDs to use, they are mostly accessible. This is pretty good.

AA is the general standard for accessibility. It’s the level that most closely aligns with the requirements laid out in Section 508 and balances ease of access for users and ease of development nicely. This is a great standard.

AAA is the Holy Grail of accessibility. This standard is most often used for websites built specifically for PwDs. For most businesses, this is above and beyond what is needed for users to interact with your website. This is the golden ideal.

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" CHECK IT TWICE

Section 508 is a civil rights law. Mistakes can be both

illegal and costly.

Section 508 Compliance


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Requires that all electronic and information technology (EIT) of federal agencies be accessible to people with disabilities

Grades each criteria item as pass/fail

Required for all agencies covered by Section 504

IT’S THE LAW!

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" CHECK IT TWICE


illegal and costly.

Section 504 Compliance


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Protects PwDs from discrimination or exclusion from organizations or programs receiving federal financial assistance

Includes all government agencies and federally-funded projects

Includes K-12 schools, state colleges, universities, and vocational training schools

IT’S THE LAW!

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TARGET CASE STUDYA COSTLY MISTAKE

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" CHECK IT TWICE


illegal and costly.

CASE STUDY: TARGETIgnoring Accessibility Exposes Companies to Lawsuits

! Lack of alternative (alt) text on the site

IT’S THE LAW!

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Accessibility Issues

Online purchases could not be completed without using a mouse

Image maps to show store locations were inaccessible

! Many headings important to navigating the site were missing

In short, they just didn’t bother.

" CHECK IT TWICE


illegal and costly.

Anti-Discrimination Foundation


! The Judge found that California anti-discrimination law covers websites whether or not they are, or are connected to, a physical place, and that those aspects of Target.com's services that are sufficiently integrated with those of physical Target Stores are covered by the ADA's non-discrimination provisions.

IT’S THE LAW!

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" CHECK IT TWICE


illegal and costly.


!California Unruh Civil Rights Act (California Civil Code Section 51 et. seq.) requiring any business establishment of any kind to be accessible if doing business in California

IT’S THE LAW!

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California Disabled Persons Act (California Civil Code Section 54 et. seq.) requiring any public place 'and other places to which the public are invited' to be accessible

!Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) which prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in "places of public accommodation”

Legal Foundation

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Total Cost to Target: Over $9,700,000.00!NFB vs. Target Target lost over $9,700,000.00 in 2008 in the US when they were sued by the US National Federation of the Blind for their inaccessible website. After the legal system upheld the case as valid, Target settled out of court with the NFB for $6 million plus court costs.

$6m $3.7m ?in paid damages for plaintiff’s court costs Target’s court costs

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The Happy Ending (for Accessibility)

This series of events supports the legal claim that websites are covered by the ADA in the US, and

individuals in California who are unable to use your website due to accessibility issues can and do sue for

damages - which can be very, very costly.

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Target.com is now WCAG 2.0 AA compliant, with a full page dedicated to outlining the

accessibility measures on their site.

BENEFITS TO STAKEHOLDERSINCREASING TRAFFIC & REVENUE WITH ACCESSIBILITY

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93%

7%

72%

11%

17%


IE Users 7%

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Total Disability 18.7%

Severe Disability 12.6%

There are over twice as many people who would benefit from web accessibility on your website than people using IE.

IE support remains a priority on nearly all web projects while web accessibility is often completely overlooked.

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Improved SEO

Decreased Bounce Rate

Increased Ad Impressions

STEP IT UP!How Accessibility Benefits Stakeholders

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Investing in having a website built with accessibility in mind is one of the strongest investments that you as a stakeholder can make.

Increased Sales

Increased Revenue

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SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION

SEO is the process by which websites are made more

attractive to search engine algorithms.

IMPROVE SEOHow Accessibility Benefits Stakeholders

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Better SEO leads to more people both with and without disabilities finding your website

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Reach More Users

Accessibility measures are awesome for SEO!

By making your site accessible, you’re making it easier for everyone to find.

Accessible websites are easier for search engines to crawl

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USER BOUNCE

User bounce is when a user discovers that they either

don’t like or can’t use a website upon arrival and

immediately leaves.

INCREASE RETAINMENT RATEHow Accessibility Benefits Stakeholders

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Sites with high bounce rates are penalized by search engines. Sites with low bounce rates are rewarded.

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Keep More Users

Accessibility measures are great at lowering your bounce rate

By making your site accessible, you’re making it inviting for everyone to stay.

If people can’t use your website, they won’t stay on ite

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PROFIT

Popular consensus has determined that nearly 100%

of companies prefer to increase their revenue.

INCREASE REVENUEHow Accessibility Benefits Stakeholders

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Customers who have positive experiences are more likely to return

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Make More Profit

People with disabilities count as ad impressions

By making your site accessible, you’re increasing your own profitability.

People with disabilities like to buy goods and services"

BENEFITS TO AGENCIESIMPROVING YOUR AGENCY WITH ACCESSIBILITY

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Higher Quality Work Overall

Increased Client Satisfaction

Increased Legal Safety

STEP IT UP!How Accessibility Benefits Agencies

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Investing in building websites with accessibility in mind is one of the strongest investments that an agency can make.

Increased Sales Opportunities

Increased Revenue

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INVEST A LITTLE GAIN A LOT

A developer who is trained to build websites properly can apply this knowledge to new projects over and over again

IMPROVE YOUR SKILL SETSHow Accessibility Benefits Agencies

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Working with positive intent boosts employee morale

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Focus on Quality

Most accessibility measures simply require adhering to standard best practices

By building websites accessibly, you’re improving your skill sets.

Adhering to standard best practices results in higher quality work overall, which results in fewer bug fixes and less technical debt

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AVOID EXPOSING YOURSELF

If your client gets sued for an inaccessible website, will they

hold you responsible?

AVOIDING NEEDLESS RISKHow Accessibility Benefits Agencies

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Clients who get sued for your work will likely not return or recommend you to others

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Increase your Legal Safety

As we saw before, companies can and do get sued for inaccessible websites

By building websites accessibly, you keep your company safe.

By providing your clients with accessible websites, you avoid the risk of being held responsible for damages

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HAPPY CLIENTS ARE GOOD FOR BUSINESS

Clients whose sites are built for accessibility enjoy the

numerous stakeholder benefits that we just reviewed.

Of course they’re happy!

HAPPY CLIENTSHow Accessibility Benefits Agencies

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Clients who see positive results will often stay loyal to you when more work is needed

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Increase your Customer Satisfaction

More clients are religiously reviewing metrics and ROI on their websites these days. The proof is in the pudding.

By building websites accessibly, you keep your clients happy.

Clients who see positive results will often spread positive reviews about your agency through their network$

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PROFIT

Popular consensus has determined that nearly 100%

of companies prefer to increase their revenue.

INCREASE REVENUEHow Accessibility Benefits Agencies

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With accessibility becoming more of a legal and social requirement, many clients are searching specifically for companies who can meet this need successfully

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Make More Profit

Increased sales leads due to positive word of mouth

By building websites accessibly, you’re increasing your own profitability.

Increased repeat business from happy past clients"

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THE EXPENSIVE ACCESSIBILITY MYTHWhy Accessibility Makes Us Nervous

But Helena, We Don’t Have Room in a

Competitive Budget for This

DON’T PANIC. It’s really less expensive than you think - if you do it right. The

key to implementing accessibility without hurting your budget is

working smarter, not harder.

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THE EXPENSIVE ACCESSIBILITY MYTH Why Accessibility Makes Us Nervous

Hours

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Avg. time needed to properly build (h) Avg. time needed to retrofit later (h)

It’s Most Cost Efficient Right at the Beginning.If you’re waiting to see if you have hours left over to use on accessibility, you won’t. What would likely take me five to ten hours over the course of the entire project as I naturally build could take me a week or two to retrofit later — if I can at all. By waiting to see if the project can afford accessibility, you essentially ensure that it can’t.

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13%13%

13%

38%

25%

Start Upon Request QA End, if Possible Never

PM Behavior

Trends

Why Accessibility Makes Us Nervous

When problems come back from QA

At the very start of a project

When laying out requirements is the ideal time to make sure that

accessibility is accounted for.

Only if it’s important to the client

Many project managers will not account for accessibility unless it is specifically requested by the client.

12.5%

25%

37.5%

24THE EXPENSIVE ACCESSIBILITY MYTH

At the end, if there’s leftover time12.5%

Never12.5%

Despite this, only a quarter of project managers are accounting for accessibility from the very beginning. 12.5% don’t at all.

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It’s so easy!

Accessibility isn’t a scary, costly undertaking. Your agency can make great accessible sites without hurting your time

or budget with three simple steps:

! !Inform Integrate

22THE EXPENSIVE ACCESSIBILITY MYTHWhy Accessibility Makes Us Nervous

! Advocate

INFORM, INTEGRATE, ADVOCATETHE KEY TO SUCCESSFUL ACCESSIBILITY ORGANIZATIONAL IMPLEMENTATION

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Of all developers, salespeople, and project managers surveyed, the majority rated accessibility as

‘An important basic feature that all websites need to have to be considered fully functional’

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So why are we still making websites that aren’t including everybody?

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THE FUNNEL OF RESPONSIBILITYWhy Accessibility Doesn’t Happen

CLIENTS

SALES

PROJECT MANAGERS

DEVELOPERS

Clients 50% of salespeople surveyed answered

‘sometimes’ or ‘rarely’ when asked how often clients ask them for accessibility.

62% of project managers surveyed answered that they were ‘rarely’ asked.

This isn’t surprising - most clients have no idea what web accessibility even is.

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Sales 50% of salespeople surveyed answered

‘sometimes’ or ‘rarely’ when asked how often they mention the importance of accessibility to

their current or prospective clients.

Project Managers 37.5% of project managers surveyed said that

they only account for accessibility in a project if it is specifically requested by the client

Developers 60% of developers surveyed said that they reliably review

work for accessibility when it is a project requirement, and the other 40% answered that they ‘sometimes’ did.

!If accessibility is not a project requirement, the number

for reliable accessibility review drops to a mere 20%, with 1/3 admitting to making no effort at all.

Source: Accessibots DrupalConLA Survey 2015

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Inform

The first step is to train everyone involved on the basics of what accessibility is and why it’s important. You don’t need an army of

specialists, because accessibility is honestly really, really easy. !

A one-hour training session will probably suffice for the majority of your team if you’ve got at least one person who knows accessibility well enough

to be a point-person to help others when questions come up.

22INFORMYou Don’t Know What You Don’t Know You Don’t Know

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Integrate

The next step is to integrate accessibility into your project workflow. By cementing checks for it into your company’s workflow and processes, it will

seamlessly blend in with other project requirements without getting forgotten or becoming a last-minute sticking point.

!Sales, architecture, design, project management, and development should all be part of the accessibility initiative team with important roles to play.

22INTEGRATEIt Takes a Village

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Advocate

Be courageous about insisting on accessibility. If you are met with resistance toward accessibility, don’t let it phase you. Be kind, and be firm. I like to use the phrase,

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“I’m sorry, but I can’t compromise my morals on this. Knowingly excluding individuals with disabilities is wrong.”

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Be helpful. Often resistance to accessibility is either out of fear or frustration. By offering to lend a hand or compassionately allaying concerns, you can be an a11y

warrior without going to war. !

22ADVOCATEDo the Right Thing

Hey, free stuff! I love free stuff.

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www.webaim.org

www.a11yproject.com

www.w3.org/WAI/intro/accessibility

groups.drupal.org/accessibility

@accessibots

http://www.webaim.org

http://www.a11yproject.com

http://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/accessibility

http://groups.drupal.org/accessibility

Thanks for listening!

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Let’s go make the web awesome for everybody.

Technology

Including Everyone: Web Accessibility 101