Silicon Halton Meetup 57 - Website Accessibility

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Meetup #57: Website accessibility

• 7:00 pm Welcome• 7:05 pm Announcements• 7:15 pm Website accessibility• 8:15 pm G2KYM• 8:30 pm Mark your calendar• 8:45 pm Networking

Agenda

Show of Hands

• 1,036 members• 57 meetups• 8 peer2peer groups• Hundreds of LinkedIn

discussions

Announcements

Silicon Halton Day @ Burlington HiVE• Friday, August 29, Open 8:30 am – 5:30pm

(tentative)• Free for Silicon Halton members• Lunch & Learn?• Not an 8-hr business social event• Do your work• Collide, in a good way

SoloPreneur Peer2Peer #37• July 17, 8:30 – 10 am• Sales Generation Series• Hampton Restaurant at the

Quality Suites Hotel, Oakville (QEW/Bronte Rd)

Next Meetup – August 12

We Selected the TopicYou Select the Topic!

http://bit.ly/shmeetup58

Women in Tech Halton P2P• First meeting was Jun 25/14• Next meetup Sept 2014• Join / follow the conversation:

http://linkd.in/1qH5ddJ

Keynote

Andrea DubravskyWeb Strategist and

President of ADWebcom

@ADWebcom_

Speaker

Website accessiblity

UNDERSTANDING WEB ACCESSIBILITY

Purpose and legislature

The goal of web accessibility is to provide a better access to information for people with disabilities.

The government of Ontario has embarked on the road to make Ontario a fully accessible province. The new regulations are outlined in the Accessibility for Ontarians With Disabilities Act (AODA)

Web Accessibility guidelines

The actual guidelines are outlined in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 (WCAG 2.0)

These are established by the Accessibility Initiative of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)

There are three levels of accessibility Level A, Level AA Level AAA

Government of Ontario and the Legislative Assembly

January 1, 2012New internet and intranet websites must conform with WCAG 2.0 Level AA other than Captions (Live), and Audio Descriptions (Pre-recorded)

January 1, 2016All internet websites and web content must conform with WCAG 2.0 Level AA, other than Captions (Live), and Audio Descriptions (Pre-recorded).

January 1, 2020All internet and intranet websites and web content must conform with WCAG 2.0 Level AA

AODA - timelines to meet the requirements

Public sector organizations, businesses and non-profit organizations (50+ staff)

January 1, 2014All new websites must conform with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, Level A

January 1, 2021All websites must conform with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, Level A A other than Captions (Live)and Audio Descriptions (Pre-recorded)

AODA - timelines to meet the requirements

Benefits of an accessible website

Bigger market share - 3.8 million Canadians have disability (1.7 million Ontarians)- 5 million seniors- 250,000 newcomers to Canada each year

Better on-site SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

Improved website usability

Positive company image

Eliminates potentially high legal expenses

Who are the people with disabilities?

There are four main groups of disabilities: visual audio motor cognitive

Blind, low vision, color-blind

Deaf or hard-of-hearing

Users can read text but require captions and transcript to interpret audio and video content.

Transcriptions add keyword-rich content to your site which improves

your SEO.

Limited fine motor skills, slow response time

Trackball mouse is used by people with shaky hands or arthritis.

Limited fine motor skills, slow response time

If a person can move only the head he can tap on a switch placed to the side of the head.

The switch connects to a software that navigates the site.

Limited fine motor skills, slow response time

Sip and puff device can interpret users breath patterns to navigate the web

Limited fine motor skills, slow response time

Eye tracking software follows the movement of the eye and allows the person to navigate websites.

Limited fine motor skills, slow response time

Learning disabilities, distractibility, inability to remember or focus

Problems using complex websites

Website must be logically organized, easy to navigate, written in simple language

Good usability is paramount for web accessibility

The key web accessibility principles

Perceivable Content is readable for assistive technologies Graphics and images have alt text Audio and video content is accompanied by transcript or captions

Operable Website is keyboard accessible It is easy to navigate Users have enough time to read and use content Does not cause seizures

Understandable Structure is logical and follows linear order Does not contain extraneous text

Robust Website does not require specific technology and can be used by

assistive technologies

The key web accessibility principles

Perceivable provide alt text for non-text elements

E.g. alt text for this image would be: “venus project by jacques fresco”

When graphics contain useful information have this info available in text form

E.g. Use longdesc=http://www.website.com/graph_explanationor describe the graphic as part of the content

Do not rely on color to carry out meaning

Click green button to proceed, click red to cancel

Do not use color to emphasize required fields in forms

Accessible forms

Screen readers read forms in linear order

Form must be keyboard accessible

Keep labels close to the fields

Ask for minimum info

Help correct errors

When offering options (radio buttons, checkboxes) keep them close together

Inaccessible form

Accessible forms

Use proper color contrast

Contrast ratio for normal-size text should be at least 4.5:1

Operable

Website is keyboard accessible

Users can increase font size and adjust color contrast

Avoid splash pages and intro music (interfere with screen readers)

Content does not open in new window (users can’t find way back)

Content does not change without direct input(avoid pop-up windows)

Avoid pop-up windows

Understandable

Website is logically organized

Home page should confirm the company name and the purpose of the website

Website with extensive navigation allows for “skip to content”

Menus have descriptive titles

Internal pages have consistent layout

Website copy

Main titles are in H1 heading, are meaningful and contain keywords

Subheadings are in H2 heading, meaningful and contain keywords

Content is further divided into blocks or paragraphs constructed around a single major idea

Aim for 9th grade reading skills

Write clearly using short sentences

Avoid acronyms and abbreviations; or explain them

Avoid slang, industry jargon or marketing fluff

Use active voice, use positive terms

Ensure that every word and paragraph is necessary

Give direct instructions

Website copy

Notice the descriptive menu items, meaningful links and intro paragraphs on this government website.

Links

Benefits of an accessible website

Expand potential market share. 20% of world population has some kind of disability.

Improve your positions in search results (SEO)

Better website usability

Positive company image

Eliminate potentially high legal expenses

And most importantly – it’s the right thing to do

Penalties for non-compliance with AODA

Individuals or unincorporated organizations

Previous contraventions:

Major (priority requirement)

Moderate (organizational preparedness)

Minor (administrative/operational)

6 $2,000 $1,000 $500

2-5 $1,000 $500 $250

1st $500 $250 $200

Corporations

Previous contraventions:

Major Moderate Minor

6 $15,000 $10,000 $5,000

2-5 $10,000 $5,000 $2,500

1st $2,000 $1,000 $500

Andrea Dubravsky

www.adwebcom.com

in fo@adwebcom.com

Phone: 289 428 1100

#G2KYM(Get to Know Your Member)

Kara Morgan

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Mark Your Calendars

Networking Un-Meetup• August 12, 2014• Silicon Halton Meetup #58• Burlington Hive, Burlington

Open Floor