Web Accessibility Evaluation and the use of Web Standards

Presented at 9:00am in Standley I Lab on Tuesday, November 14, .

Speaker(s)

• Jon Gunderson, Coordinator of IT Accessibility, University of Illinois

Session Details

• Length of Session: 5-6-hr
• Format: Lab
• Expertise Level: Intermediate
• Type of session: Pre-conference

Summary

This hands on workshop will help participants understand the process of evaluating web accessibility based on web standards. The workshop will help participants understand how automated and manual checking procedures to evaluate the structure, labeling, colors and interaction of a web site for accessibility.

Abstract

The workshop will help people understand how to use the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0, Accessible Rich Internet Application (ARIA) Authoring Practices and HTML5 specifications to evaluate web content for accessibility features. Participants will learn the strengths and weaknesses of automated checking tools like WAVE for Chrome, AInspector Sidebar for Firefox, aXe for Chrome and other accessibility browser plug-ins to evaluate accessibility by trying them on example websites. The session will cover manual inspection techniques like evaluating keyboard support and focus styling, and determining the quality of ALT text for images and the accessible name for links. Participants will use NDVA on Windows and Voice Over on the Mac to view accessibility information as seen by users of assistive technologies. The session will also demonstrate the Functional Accessibility Evaluator (FAE) 2.0 for evaluating the accessibility of an entire website.

Keypoints

1. The strengths and limitations of automated tools in understanding accessibility
2. Important manual testing procedures for evaluating accessibility
3. The role of standards in evaluating accessibility and reporting results

Disability Areas

Topic Areas

Assistive Technology, Uncategorized, Web/Media/App Access

Speaker Bio(s)

Jon Gunderson

Dr. Jon Gunderson is the Coordinator of Assistive Communication and Information Technology Accessibility in the Division of Disability Resources and Education Services (DRES) at the University of Illinois in Champaign/Urbana, Illinois. He leads the development of open source web accessibility evaluation tools and coding practices resources to help web designers and developers understand accessible coding techniques. He is a member of the W3C ARIA Working Group has been a major contributor to the ARIA Authoring Practices and is a contributor to the ARIA Assistive Technology community group to test ARIA implementation in assistive technologies. He has given numerous presentations, workshops and courses related to web accessibility. He is a Certified Professional in Web Accessibility (CPWA) form the International Association of Accessibility Professionals (IAAP).