State of Connecticut Web Site Accessibility Committee

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State of ConnecticutWeb Site Accessibility
Committee

• Our Approach to Making Online Government
  Accessible
• Technology Accessibility Conference - SCSU
• October 12, 2007
• Kathleen Anderson

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History of the State of Connecticuts Web Site
Accessibility Policy

• Version 3.1 December 1996
• http//www.access.state.ct.us/policies/accesspolic
  y31.html
• Version 4.0 July 2000
• http//www.access.state.ct.us/policies/accesspolic
  y40.html
• Version 5 (proposed) 2005
• http//www.access.state.ct.us/wg/proposal.asp
• Version 6 (in progress) 2007
• Section 508 http//www.section508.gov/

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Version 3.1

• Written in August 1996
• Adopted in December 1996
• Based on the TRACE Center Unified Web Site
  Accessibility Guidelines
• No training given to state webmasters
• Not rigorously enforced
• No compliance date set

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Version 4.0

• Committee formed in October, 1999
• All Committee members are volunteers
• Policy written by Committee members in the Spring
  of 2000
• Adopted on July 26, 2000
• Incorporates the W3C WAI Web Content
  Accessibility Guidelines Priority 1 Checkpoints
• Encourages the use of valid HTML
• Requires a valid DOCTYPE declaration
• Target date for compliance was January 2002

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Version 5 (Proposed)

• Working Group formed in December, 2004
• Proposal developed in 2005
• Incorporates
• All WCAG Priority 1 Guidelines
• Some Priority 2 and Priority 3 Guidelines
• Section 508 Standards that are not WCAG P1
• One Guideline from WCAG 2.0 (Draft)

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Why not Section 508? Why not wait for WCAG
2.0?

• State Policy Version 3.1 December 1996
• http//www.access.state.ct.us/policies/accesspolic
  y31.html
• Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 May
  1999
• http//www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT/
• State Policy Version 4.0 July 2000
• http//www.access.state.ct.us/policies/accesspolic
  y40.html
• Section 508 Rules February 2001
• http//www.section508.gov/index.cfm?FuseActionCon
  tentID12Web
• Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 June
  2005 (Working Draft)
• http//www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20/
• State Policy Version 5 (Draft) 2005
• http//www.access.state.ct.us/wg/proposal.asp
• Refresh of Section 508 Standards
• http//www.access-board.gov/news/508update.htm
• State Policy Version 6 (in progress) 2007
• Section 508 http//www.section508.gov/

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Version 4.0 Implementation

• Communications
• Web Site http//www.access.state.ct.us/
• Listserv CT-Access http//www.access.state.ct.us/
  listserv/subscribeform.htm
• Monthly face-to-face meetings open to all state
  webmasters

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Version 4.0 Training

• Training provided to state webmasters
• External New Horizons Fall, 2000 Funded by
  the Department of Information Technology (DOIT)
• Internal All day Refresher course taught by
  Committee members Fall, 2001
• Resources, Tools and Tutorials available on web
  site

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Version 4.0 Testing

• Testing Center set up
• All hardware and software donated by state
  agencies
• Test Center Hardware
• PC running Windows 98
• Power Mac G4

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Version 4.0 Testing (Continued)

• Test Center Software
• Browsers/Emulators
• Internet Explorer
• Netscape(s)
• Opera
• Lynx
• WebTV Viewer
• Bobby Worldwide
• JAWS (PC), OutSpoken (Mac)

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Compliance

• Tutorials written by Committee members
• Six Steps to Accessibility Certification
• How to run Bobby against large web sites
• How to install the Lynx browser
• How to code a default DOCTYPE in FrontPage
• How to create Accessible PowerPoint presentations
• How to create Accessible PDF documents

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How to obtain Compliance Certification

• Agency webmaster writes to the Committee Chair
  requesting a site review
• Chair posts the request to the listserv
• A committee member volunteers to do the review
• The process is then taken off-list
• All communication is private, between the
  reviewer and the reviewee

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Compliance Negotiation

• Occasionally, the Chair is called in during the
  process as an arbitrator, by either the reviewer
  or the reviewee
• Some webmasters use the compliance certification
  request as a way of finding out whats wrong with
  their site, instead of doing a preliminary
  assessment themselves
• Differences of opinion spirit of the law
• Most reviews have a successful outcome

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Compliance Certification

• Site is certified to be compliant with the policy
• Webmasters place a compliance statement and a
  link to the policy on their site
• Webmaster and their agency head are presented
  with certificates at quarterly statewide
  webmaster meetings
• A list of all compliant (and non-compliant) web
  sites is available on our web site for all to see

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The Pros and Cons of Policy vs. Law

• Funding
• Buy-in
• Training
• Compliance

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Funding

• No funding for a Policy
• All goods and services are donated
• Hardware
• Software
• Time
• Like Blanche DuBois, we depend on the kindness of
  strangers

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Buy-in

• A Law leaves no doubt whether or not to comply
• A Law normally has funding attached
• Provides an avenue and redress for complaints

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Training

• Training needs to be funded
• Training needs to be mandatory
• Training needs to be offered on an on-going basis
• New hires
• New technologies
• New consultants

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Compliance

• A Law mandates compliance
• A Policy mandates compliance however,
• Scope is unclear
• different branches of government
• Internet vs. Intranet vs. Extranet
• Physical location of server (state server or
  vendor server)
• Not a priority for agencies in an era of budget
  cuts
• No penalty for non-compliance

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External Issues

• Vendors
• Training
• Software

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Vendors

• Difficult to find qualified consultants already
  on state contract
• Proposals submitted by vendors were unrealistic
  in terms of
• Hours
• Scope of work
• Dollar amount of the proposal
• Raised the questions
• Did the vendors really know what they were being
  asked to do?
• Did they think we didnt know what we were asking
  for?

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Vendor Training

• Problem solved in Connecticut by requiring
  vendors to be trained in how to make Accessible
  web sites
• Training was provided by the State at no cost to
  vendors
• Test center made available for use by vendors
• Committee web site and listserv available as
  resources for follow-up

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Vendor Training Issues

• Billable hours
• Vendors thought the State should pay for the time
  the consultant was in class
• We said We dont pay for your database
  training, accessibility training isnt any
  different its a skill set required to qualify
  for a state contract
• Attitude
• Some consultants walked into class with a low
  enthusiasm level
• 99 walked out getting it and thanking us for
  the learning opportunity

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Keys to Training Successes

• Webmasters must experience the barriers in a
  hands-on environment
• Take them out of their comfort zone (out of their
  office, away from their PC)
• Take away the mouse
• Turn off the speakers
• Turn off images
• Training can be effective in either a classroom
  environment or online

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How did we do?

• Summer 2002
• 81 consultants representing 35 companies were
  trained in less than 3 months
• 2004 - 2005
• Vendors are asking for training for new hires so
  they can remain qualified
• They are given a choice of Acceptable courses to
  choose from

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Web Site Accessibility - Acceptable Training
Programs

• HTML Writers Guild http//www.hwg.org/
• Introduction to Designing Accessible Websites
• Key-Logic http//www.key-logic.com/
• Universal Web Site Accessibility Training

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Web Site Accessibility - Acceptable Training
Programs

• New Horizons Computer Learning Center
  http//www.newhorizons.com/content/index.aspx
• State of Connecticut Web Site Accessibility
  Training
• Email kathleen.anderson_at_po.state.ct.us
• Phone [phone]

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Software

• It is just as important that all people be able
  to author content as it is for all people to have
  access to it.
• W3C Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 -
  http//www.w3.org/TR/2000/REC-ATAG10-20000203/
• Questions to ask
• Does the web page authoring tool create
  accessible web pages?
• Is the web page authoring tool itself accessible
  to people with disabilities?

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How to choose an Accessible Authoring Tool

• Conformance Reviews done by the WAI Authoring
  Tools Working Group http//www.w3.org/WAI/AU/2002
  /tools
• Section 508 Buy Accessible http//www.section508.
  gov/index.cfm?FuseActionContentID2

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What factors contributed most to our success?

• Committee participation is voluntary
• Policy development
• Writing tutorials
• Web site reviews
• Support from DOIT
• Agreement to adopt a statewide IT policy
• Funding for state webmaster training
• Mandating vendor training

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And, strange as it sounds

• Change in the way state agencies communicate
  (email, web, listservs, etc.)
• Information available faster and accessible to
  more people
• Discussions held (and decisions made) online
  instead of waiting for a meeting
• Greatly reduces bureaucracy and things get
  done!

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For more information

• Visit our web site http//www.access.state.ct.us/
  
• Subscribe to the CT-Access listserv
  http//www.access.state.ct.us/listserv/subscribefo
  rm.htm
• Come to a meeting http//www.access.state.ct.us/m
  eetings/2005meetings.html
• Send me an email kathleen.anderson_at_po.state.ct.us
  
• Call me [phone]