Starting or Revamping an Accessibility Program in an Organization. Case Studies from Across the Country Part 2 of 2

Transcription

1 Starting or Revamping an Accessibility Program in an Organization Case Studies from Across the Country Part 2 of 2 Presenters: Jim Tobias Kendra Skeene Andrew Nielson Norman Robinson

2 Closed Captioning Closed-Captioning is available To open the Closed-Captioning window, do one of the following: Enter Control+F8 (Command-F8 on Mac) From the Window menu, select Show Closed-Captioning

3 Teleconference Access Audio Access via Phone if Needed PLEASE mute your phone if calling in Dial: Meeting PIN:

4 AMAC Accessibility Solutions AMAC Accessibility is a social change organization on a mission to create affordable services for governmental, private and nonprofit organizations working with individuals with disabilities. Services include e-text, braille, captioning, assistive technology, office management software and consulting. 4

5 AMAC Services AMAC creates practical solutions that work, with a focus on utility, ease of use, and high quality. Accessibility Consulting focuses on organizational accessibility needs with evaluation, technical assistance, customer support, and website accessibility solutions. Braille Services produces customized projects from both print materials and electronic text including partial books and chapters, or graphics only, using cutting-edge technology. Captioning Services makes classrooms, meetings, labs, and other audio environments fully accessible for the deaf or hardof-hearing. 5

6 Additional AMAC Services AMAC creates practical solutions that work, with a focus on utility, ease of use, and high quality. Audio Description Services makes visual information present in multimedia accessible to persons who are blind or low vision. Professional E-Text Producers provide high-quality e-text in many formats such as PDF, DOC, DAISY, and HTML. AMAC s Certified Assistive Technology team provides on-site and remote assessments, demonstrations, training, and technical assistance for education, work, and daily living environments. 6

7 AccessGA AccessGA represents a joint initiative of the Georgia ADA Coordinator s Office, AMAC, and GTA. The objective is to support Georgia s state agencies with ICT accessibility, and promote equal and timely access for employees and customers with a wide range of disabilities. 7

8 AccessGA Offerings Webinar Offerings Technical Assistance and Hands-On Training Monthly Newsletters Up-to-Date Wiki of ICT Accessibility Resources and Information Web Accessibility Audits Procurement and VPATs 8

9 Building Accessibility Into Your Organization Jim Tobias Inclusive Technologies inclusive.com More than 35 years experience in accessible and usable technology in public and private sectors Clients include AOL, California State University system, Cisco, HP, Microsoft, Panasonic and Verizon Co-chaired the U.S. Access Board s committee on updating accessibility requirements in Sections 255 and 508

10 Outline What s the problem? Where s the solution? Motivation Organization Operation Tales from the private sector

11 What s the problem? (1/2) A school buys 1000 brand A tablet computers for its general education students and 50 brand B tablet computers for special ed. A university fixes some accessibility problems on its website. 6 months later the website is re-designed, with new accessibility problems. A state agency s accessibility expert retires, and suddenly nothing is happening.

12 What s the problem? (2/2) No continuity weeks of anxious activity followed by months of being ignored No consistency No big picture what are users really experiencing? what s the plan, metrics, etc.? Everything is done ad hoc high cost, low impact Please tell your story in the chat window

13 The Maturity Model Borrowed from the world of software (Capability Maturity Model, ca. 1973) Many organizational paths to maturity how does your organization address similar crosscutting issues such as privacy or security?

14 Motivation Ideology is a foreign body ( Accessibilityland ) Business people are not stupid companies cannot do everything that is profitable not more $$, less lost $$ Use the grassfire to power your lawnmower Benchmark potluck Get an award for a boss

15 Organization Location Follow the dotted line Give everyone a simple job Make it count for performance eval

16 Operation Be real, because you ll never be perfect Accessibility and product development get into the processes Tools, not reports Training based on role Feedback from users

17 You can do it! Organizational accessibility is in a period of rapid growth across the board Find your natural allies Seek clear (if modest) support from executives/leaders Build small victories Find your peers elsewhere and share public sector should be much more collaborative, and visibly so

18 Thank You!

19 The GeorgiaGov Accessible Platform Initiative

20 Who I Am Kendra Director of Product GeorgiaGov Oversees the state s enterprise Drupal platform Directing product strategy and working with development partners to cultivate new product opportunities for the platform s customers Has managed a number of initiatives with the GeorgiaGov Interactive team, including the responsive and accessible platform initiatives

21 What We Do Enterprise Web Platform Managing over 75 state websites Over 400 content managers update content Georgia.gov state portal code and content

22 Enterprise Web Platform, Part 1

23 Enterprise Web Platform, Part 2 Multiple sites use the same themes (colors and fonts) Variations come from varied content and layouts Multiple page types for flexible content Improvements are inherited across all sites

24 Shared Themes and Page Types

25 Government has a responsibility to be accessible

26 Platform Built for Accessibility Base theme and layouts built and tested for Section 508 compliance No frames, no flash Fields for image alt text Fields to label tabular data Form labels Javascript to enhance not implement

27 That s a great start, but

28 We weren t there yet.

29 We re not exactly accessibility experts

30 So we teamed up with people who are.

31 Accessible Platform Initiative, Part 1 WCAG 2.0 (Level AA) compliant code and design

32 Accessible Platform Initiative, Part 2 Partnership with AMAC to find the gaps Reviewed 13 themes Reviewed 33 page types Provided 13 reports

33 Time for Us to Get to Work

34 We Developed a Plan of Action

35 Accessible Platform Code: Result 76 sites improved 24 code improvements link text tabbing visibility structural HTML and heading order

36 Now for the really tedious part

37 We reviewed every element of every theme for color contrast and font legibility

38 Accessible Platform Themes, Part 1 Reviewed Using Common Tools: Google Chrome FontFace Ninja ColorZilla WebAIM Color Contrast Checker Google Spreadsheet

39 Color Testing Tools, Part 1 Chrome Extensions: FontFace Ninja Hover to see properties of any type on a page. FontFace Ninja:

40 Color Testing Tools, Part 2 Chrome Extensions: ColorZilla Click to see value of any color on a page. ColorZilla: m/

41 Color Testing Tools, Part 3 WebAIM Color Contrast Checker: Enter color values to see if your colors are compliant WebAIM: ources/contrastchecker /

42 Accessible Platform Themes, Part 2 Shared Google Spreadsheet to list results

43 Themes: Color Palette Updates

44 Before:

45 After:

46 Accessible Platform Themes: Result 76 sites improved 13 themes updated color contrast text legibility

47 Accessible Platform!

48 Accessible Websites: It Takes Two Content Managers have to do their part We provide training and encouragement: Blog Posts Integrated into training sessions Newsletters GOVTalks

49 We all have to take responsibility

50 Connect with interactive.georgia.gov/accessible

51 Chris Law Extensive experience in the area of IT Accessibility Has worked with Dept. of Homeland Security in the area of IT Accessibility provides consulting services to federal government and industry clients on their organizational responses to accessibility issues Dr. Chris M. Law President and Owner of Accessibility Track Consulting:

52 The Unified Testing for Accessibility Project (UTAP) Pilot Report: Results of the Pilot Individual Case studies at 1. US Mint 2. Department of Education 3. FDIC 4. Department of Labor Guide: How to conduct your own UTAP process (dhs.gov/accessibility)

53 Who are Trusted testers?

54 Test Process

55 Who is a Trusted Tester? A Trusted Tester is someone who has Taken the required training courses to use the unified test method with the unified code inspection test tools Passed the Trusted Tester Certification Exam

56 I ve Heard About Trusted Testers

57 How do I implement a Trusted Tester program in my organization?

58 Who Does What? Programmers and developers Good at using code inspection tools Pretty much averse to learning to use niche assistive technology products to diagnose problems and to come up with solutions... Assistive Technology Specialists Adept at using assistive technologies Have niche skills Usually work in a niche department (i.e., not integrated with the development team)

59 Basic Trusted Tester Implementation Options

60 Option 1. Unmanaged

61 Scenario of Dropping AT Testing

62 Option 2. Also unmanaged

63 Varied Responses to Trusted Testing

64 Option 3. Managed

65 The UTAP Stages 1.Establish common goals 2.Understand the system you're replacing 3.Learn your options for changing the system 4.Design the new system 5.Make an implementation plan 6.Implement 7.Monitor

66 Basic TT implementation support options Self-directed Peer support Other agencies that have done the same thing DHS-OAST Consulting services

67 Report of the case studies 1.US Mint 2.Department of Education 3.Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation 4.Department of Labor

68 Subject Matter Expertise Dr. Chris M Law has a full time consultancy practice offering assistance with Accessibility Program Improvement Program Measurement Trusted Tester Implementation (Conducting your own UTAP) For more info on working with Chris

69 Case study from Dept. of State Norman Robinson Section 508 Program Mgr for the Dept. of State Actively engaged in Federal Accessibility Community of Practice Supports interagency collaboration and sharing of good accessibility practices Promotes use of open source and open access in developing agency IT solutions Served as the HQ Section 508 Coordinator at the Dept. of Homeland Security, contributed to the Section 508 Trusted Testing Process and Certification for accessibility testing Was Section 508 Coordinator at the United States Postal Service IT Project Management while in industry Honorable service in the United States Marine Corps

70 Considering Agency Section 508 Programs Section 508 Reporting in Addressing IT Accessibility & Program Maturity

71 What Is a Section 508 Program? Does your agency have a Section 508 Program? Are you 'just a coordinator' or 'the coordinator'? Policy? Governance? Budgeted resources?

72 How to Measure Program Maturity

73 How to Define Scope - Business Requirements Starting point: Where is the most work performed today? If you are covering the areas where the most significant work is performed, that can be a good benchmark for gauging agency maturity Use the narrative to discuss progress & plans to extend practices across existing component, or to move to higher maturity levels in specific areas

74 How to Define Maturity Levels Examples: IT Acquisition Life Cycle Activities Testing Training Complaints

75 How to calculate 508 conformance metrics

76 Presenter Section Department 202 Norman Robinson 508 Program Manager of State (office)

77 Resources Presenter: Excerpts from How to Measure Your Agency s 508 Program: linked via CIOC 508 Reporting Template 508 Reporting Template Instruction Manual

78 Questions for Presenters? Please type your questions in the Chat section and let us know which presenter(s) your question is for.

79 AccessGA Visit us at: This webinar and PPT will be archived at under the Archived Webinars tab at the top of the page