Making IT Accessibility Accessible (and Fun?)

Making IT Accessibility Accessible (And Fun?)

Greg Kraus(Temporarily Able Bodied)

University IT Accessibility CoordinatorNorth Carolina State University

@gdkraus

@gdkrausGreg Kraus

The Problems with Accessibility

• Accessibility can be hard to understand• People are afraid they are going to mess it up• Non-technical people are often the ones

needing to fix the problems• Accessibility is not fun

Typical Accessibility Audit Report

Please Go Fix the Errors in Here

@gdkrausGreg Kraus

Aristotle

• “If you want to become a major league baseball player, you cannot simply wake up one day and declare yourself a baseball player, capable of hitting a curve ball. You must become habituated in the ways of being a baseball player through a lifetime of practice.”

@gdkrausGreg Kraus

How to Learn To Be a Major League Baseball Player

1. Start easy2. Gradually build skill over time3. Learn to see patterns and know how to react4. Reactions become intuitive and natural5. Practice

@gdkrausGreg Kraus

What Accessibility Needs

• Achievable goals– broken down into manageable tasks

• A way for everyone to be able to take responsibility for accessibility

@gdkrausGreg Kraus

Four Strategies

• Quick Training Videos• Accessibility Handook• IT Accessibility Quick Guides• Accessibility Scan/Game

@gdkrausGreg Kraus

Quick Training Videos

• Short (5-10 minute) videos• Each video covers 1 specific topic• (Usually) give you something actionable you

can do• http://accessibility.oit.ncsu.edu/trainingvideos

/

@gdkrausGreg Kraus

Quick Training Video Example

• Microsoft Word Headings– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbVl4IYqmIU

@gdkrausGreg Kraus

Some Quick Training Video Topics

• Accessibility Evaluation Tool Tutorials• Using Headings in Microsoft Word• Using Headings in Google Docs• Accessible Math on the Web• Skip to Main Content Links• Language Attributes for Screen Readers

@gdkrausGreg Kraus

IT Accessibility Handbook

• Resource for Web developers• Takes you through the steps for designing

accessibly– Gives you a way to think about accessible design

• http://go.ncsu.edu/accessibility-handbook

@gdkrausGreg Kraus

Section 508

• Procurement and development requirement for Federal agencies– (You don’t have to follow Section 508, unless you have

to follow Section 508)• Released in 1998• 16 criteria• 381 words long• Does not tell you how to technically do any of it

@gdkrausGreg Kraus

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 (WCAG 2)

• Standard published by the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) within the W3C

• Released in 2008• 14,000 words in the standard• 300,000 words of support documentation

This is what they see

But this is what they want

Accessibility HandbookStep 1: Understand legal accessibility requirementsStep 2: Choose the most appropriate technology and document formatStep 3: Start with some of the basicsStep 4: Plan your document structure Step 5: Plan your user interactions Step 6: Design alternate ways for users to access your content when the content is dependent on a single human sense

@gdkrausGreg Kraus

Accessibility Handbook Demonstration

• http://go.ncsu.edu/accessibility-handbook

@gdkrausGreg Kraus

IT Accessibility Quick Guides

• What about content creators?

@gdkrausGreg Kraus

IT Accessibility Quick Guides – What They Do

1. Overview of NC State’s accessibility responsibilities

2. Profiles of commonly used technologies on campus

3. Overview of how to build it accessibly4. How to check if it is accessible5. Where to get more information

@gdkrausGreg Kraus

IT Accessibility Quick Guide Demo

• http://go.ncsu.edu/accessibility-quick-guide

@gdkrausGreg Kraus

IT Accessible Game

• Can accessibility be fun?• Should it really be a game?• Isn’t accessibility a human right?

@gdkrausGreg Kraus

Gamification

• Gamification [n]: the use of game design elements in non-game contexts

@gdkrausGreg Kraus

Competing in a Marketplace of Demands

• Prioritizations– “Keeping the lights on”• Production services to run and maintain

– Security and Compliance• This impacts everyone, not just “those people”

@gdkrausGreg Kraus

Gaming Principles

• A good game…– Lets everyone play, regardless of skill level– Lets you improve skills over time– Gives you instant feedback

We’re Not Talking About Wheelchairs with Lasers

Make a Game Everyone Can Play

1011

32

1

4

69

57

8

Mario Didn’t Save the Princess in World 1-1

@gdkrausGreg Kraus

Prioritization

• 4 = fatal error, user cannot interact at all with the element

• 3 = significant error, user can only partially recover or it causes a significant hardship

• 2 = significant error, but user can usually mostly, if not fully recover

• 1 = minor annoyance• 0 = usually can ignore

@gdkrausGreg Kraus

Level 4

• Missing alternative text• Unlabeled form element• No keyboard event for an equivalent mouse

event

@gdkrausGreg Kraus

Level 3

• A form control has more than one label• Page auto refreshes• No skip to main content link

@gdkrausGreg Kraus

Level 2

• Spacer image does not have an alt attribute• Pages have unique titles and don’t say

“Untitled Document”

@gdkrausGreg Kraus

Level 1

• Invalid code• Heading levels are skipped• No titles for frames

@gdkrausGreg Kraus

Level 0

• No alternative content for iframes• Contrast ratio to pass WCAG 2 Level AAA

Weighted Errors Corrected

Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov0

50,000100,000150,000200,000250,000300,000350,000400,000450,000500,000

642

190,311

88,029

19,641 3,111 0

431,227

138,294

317,659

Weighted Errors Corrected With Contests

Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov0

50,000100,000150,000200,000250,000300,000350,000400,000450,000500,000

642

190,311

88,029

19,641 3,111 0

431,227

138,294

317,659

16,82950,488

98,537

317,659

@gdkrausGreg Kraus

Demonstrate System

• http://accessibility.oit.ncsu.edu/accessibility-scan/