Presented at 8:00am in Cotton Creek I on Wednesday, November 15, 2017.
#9136Speaker(s)
- George Joeckel, Online Training Program Manager, Utah State University / WebAIM
Session Details
- Length of Session: 1-hr
- Format: Lecture
- Expertise Level: Intermediate
- Type of session: General Conference
Summary
Participants will review a methodology for evaluating thousands of web pages from a national sample of disability service centers located in higher education institutions. Participants will receive an overview of the free and no-cost tools that are used to gather sample URLs, identify machine-detectable errors, and analyze the results.
Abstract
In this presentation participants will review a process for conducting web accessibility evaluations on thousands of pages. Websites from more than 50 higher-education hosting disability service centers, and their state websites provide a model for assessing the interaction of distinct websites in a common context. This model can readily be adapted to closely align with the contexts found in many higher-education institutions. Although the process was developed by a web accessibility consultancy that has conducted thousands of web accessibility evaluations over the course of 18 years, the design requirements were: (1) a low-cost process, (2) for individuals with an intermediate level of general web knowledge, (3) that leverages no-cost tools, (4) measures machine-discoverable errors to identify failures of six WCAG 2.0 Success Criteria, and (5) uses manual refinements to increase the validity of these automated results.
Keypoints
- System-wide web accessibility evaluations can be conducted using low-cost tools.
- A person with intermediate-level web skills can conduct a high-level web accessibility evaluation.
- Failures for a subset of six WCAG 2.0 Success Criteria can be detected with a no-cost resource.
Disability Areas
Cognitive/Learning, Deaf/Hard of Hearing, Mobility, Vision
Topic Areas
Assistive Technology, Legal, Uncategorized, Web/Media/App Access
Speaker Bio(s)
George Joeckel
George is the Online Training Program Manager at WebAIM. He has a master’s degree in instructional psychology and technology, and over 20 years of teaching experience. Since 2008, he has developed online courses at Utah State University, and he joined the WebAIM team at the end of 2015. The Accessible Documents video-based course went online in July 2018. To date, more than 7,000 independent-study learners have participated in the training.