Why did I sign up for Introduction to Web Accessibility MOOC?

Introduction to Web Accessibility is a MOOC created and run by W3Cx.

I enrolled into this course because I wanted to know more about how other people interact with web.

How did it go?

Web accessibility is very broad and important topic. Introduction to Web Accessibility MOOC was in my opinion very intense, densely packed with information and extremely time consuming. As a result I was often unable to keep regular learning schedule and I had to do “study sprints” to catch up.

I think this course is great introduction to the topic. I appreciate that it often references specific standards, which means you always know where to go for more details.

Week one: Introduction

This module introduces different accessibility tools for web, who uses them and how are they used. What like about this course is that it goes a bit below the surface i.e.: I knew what is screen reader before enrolling into this MOOC, but i have never really seen anyone using it, or the fact that even within people with similar disability the use of accessibility tools can vary.

So what is Web Accessibility?

So far I have learned that from design perspective disability can be seen as mismatch between service and user. Web Accessibility means actively avoiding this mismatch.

One of the important points this module makes is that the core principles of accessibility are benefitial to everyone, even to people without disabilities.

Week two: People and digital technology

Second module goes in detail on specific accessibility tools and is further divided by type of impairment, but there is also section dedicated to technological standards and importance of user testing when it comes to accessibility.

Physical disabilities

This submodule is mostly about switch controls (ie.: sip and puff switch) and speech input used by people with physical disablity. What I found most surprising was the mousegrid function of speech input, which divides sceen into an addressible grid, to emulate mouse clicks.

Visual disabilities

This section touches on braile displays and screen readers. What i found interesting was the use of touch gestures to control screen reader on smartphone. Screen readers are also used by people with cognitive or learning disability.

Hearing and Speech disabilities

Focus of this section is on closed captions and transcripts used by people with hearing disability as well as introducing chalenges people with speech disability can face on the web. Important point is that people who have sign language as their first language may have dificulties understanding writen text, because sign languages have dramaticaly diferent structure than most spoken languages. I was a bit surprised that this section didn’t metion text to speech, which can be used by people with speech disabilities to enable them to use voice chat. This section also covers audio description in relation to visual media, which is a bit confusig as it would be better fit in previous section about visual disabilities.

Cognitive and Learning disabilities

This section introduces the the concept of visual overload and puts it into context of cognitive or learning disability. For example websites that are too “busy” and hard to navigate for people without disabilities can be almost unusable to those with disabilities. Users with cognitive or learning disability can also use some combination of accesibility tools mentioned in previous sections for their benefit.

Week three: Business cases and benefits

This section show how lack accessibility in services often means that the service is unusable by significant portion of population. Designing with focus on accessibility can also help to create user experience that is better for everyone.

This section also explains possible ROI for digital accessibility, mostly focusing on broader userbase, whether it is gained from people who need to use accessibility tools (about 25% of popoulation has some sort of disability), or from increase in brand reputation. Another important point is that proper support for accessibility can in some cases be mandated by law and non-compliance can lead to litigation.

Week four: Principles, standards, and checks

This section servers as an introduction WAI Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and its underlining principles. Also included is in-depth explanaiton of each principle, its components and examples of methods to assess if website adheres to them.

POUR - the four principles

WCAG is governed by four princibles and each of those can be further devided into specific guidelines and success criteria with three levels of compliance.

Perceivability

Perceivability focuses on information and how it can be presented wo meet the needs of different people with different conditions. Most recognizible parts of this are proper use of Alt-text for pictures and charts, transcripts and CC for for audio, or audio description for videos.

Operability

Operability principle is about ensuring everyone can properly use the website and its features. This includes providing multiple control methods (mouse, keayboard, speech…)

Understandability

Understandable website has to be presented in consistent and uncomplicated manner. Some examples of pracitce for understandability is proper use of headings, labels on buttons, as weel as easy to understand instructions for user inputs.

Robustness

Robust website is built in a way that ensures it will be usable with wide variety of browsers or assistive tools. Website that is not compatible with assistive tools can not be used by people who are rely on it.

Week five: Getting started with accessibility in your organization

The last section shows how to plan and manage web accessibility. It is based on W3C guide “Planning and Managing Web Accessibility” which describes web accessibility management as a four stage process, which can be further broken down to specific tasks. Involving people with disabilities in every step of this process is crutial to make sure you design with them and for them.

Initiate and Plan

  • Explore current tools, standards, practices and laws
  • Set objectives
  • Advocate for change
  • Create policy
  • Assign roles
  • Identify issues with current state of website
  • Set criteria for success
  • Engage with stakeholders

Implement and Sustain

  • Build
    • Build knowledge
    • Decide priorities
    • Assign tasks
    • Track progress
  • Deploy
  • Review
    • Monitor websites
    • Engage with stakeholders
    • Track standards and legislation
  • Repeat